Abortion

Background and JP II

Fetal Development Abortion is another issue for which it is

important to develop a shared vocabulary. Timmons’s chart on pp. 268-9 summarizes

the biology of fetal development. Notice the shifting terminology: zygote,

morula, embryo, fetus. Obviously, a key stage is that of viability

(~Week 21).

Defining Abortion The most important term to define is

“abortion.” A first definition is: “the termination of a

pregnancy before viability” (269). A key to any acceptable definition is that it

distinguishes between spontaneous abortions (miscarriages) and induced ones.~40% of pregnancies end in miscarriage.

What this definition doesn’t capture is the category of spontaneous or induced termination after viability.

Another Definition Spontaneous abortions after viability are called

premature births. On occasion, such births will be induced to protect the life of the mother or fetus.

A more morally problematic class are those abortions after viability which encompass the death of the fetus.

Abortion (in its morally contentious form) “refers to all cases in which a pregnancy is intentionally interrupted and involves (as part of the process or aim of interruption) the intentional killing of the fetus” (270).

Why is it Morally Contentious? Disagreements over the moral status of

abortion are often grounded in disagreement about the moral standing of the fetus.Moral Standing: a measure of something’s moral

worth, of how it should count in our moral evaluation.○ Direct Moral Standing: possession of properties in

virtue of which it counts morally.○ Indirect Moral Standing: counts morally only relative to

something with DMS.

Does a Fetus Have Moral Standing? It is relatively uncontentious to argue that a

fetus can have IMS. What about DMS? Depends on what properties it is thought

DMS depends and when the fetus achieves them.Candidates include: immortal soul, human

genetic code, personhood, sentience, brain activity, being a potential person, having a future like that of an adult human being, viability, birth.

Reasons for Having Abortions Another important consideration in

evaluating the morality of abortion is the reason(s) which a person might have for seeking one.

Common reasons include:Therapeutic: health of pregnant woman;Eugenic: related to fetal abnormality;Humanitarian: in cases of incest or rape;Socioeconomic: related to family size, poverty,

stigma;Personal: related to preferences, plans, etc.

Where do you stand? With all of this terminology in place, we can refine

the basic moral question concerning abortion to:

“At what stage of fetal development (if any) and for what reasons (if any) is abortion ever morally permissible?”

We have tended to divide the field of evaluation up very simply into pro-life and pro-choice camps, but that grossly oversimplifies the complicated range of opinions that exist.

A better distinction is between Liberal, Moderate and Conservative views.

Liberal, Moderate or Conservative? The Liberal view is that abortions are always

morally permissible at any stage of fetal development, for any reasons.

The Conservative view is that abortions are never morally permissible at any stage of fetal development, and there are never any mitigating reasons.

The Moderate view is that some abortions are wrong and some are morally permissible depending on the stage and reasons.

It is important to acknowledge that for each of these views, a range of alternatives is possible.

Abortion as a Legal Matter Since 1973, due to Roe v. Wade, many abortions

have been legal in the U. S.. The decision was a balance between the acknowledged right to privacy that a woman is presumed to have and the interests of the state in promoting and protecting human life.

In 1992, in the case Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the SCOTUS, upheld the basic principle of Roe, but changed the terms, making viability the stage at which state interests can overwhelm the privacy rights of the pregnant woman.

Moral Theories? Consequentialism: focus on the question of

intrinsic value or consequences of abortion. NLT: If fetus is a human life in the relevant

sense, abortion is wrong. Kantian: Universal Law formulation

includes a consistency requirement that may make universalizing a maxim favoring abortion impossible.

Virtue: Depends on the character and motives of the person(s) making the choice.

John Paul II on Abortion The title of the selection says it all. From the perspective of the Catholic

Church (and implicitly from the NLT perspective) abortion is clearly wrong.

JPII wants to reinforce this and also explain why that is not clear to many people.

This lack of clarity is for him a sign of a dangerous incapacity to distinguish right from wrong.

The Risk of Complexity JPII places the blame for this incapacity

on the sort of biological and terminological distinctions we’ve just rehearsed.

He insists on a definition that he believes clearly expresses abortion’s nature:“…the deliberate and direct killing…of a

human being in the initial phase of his or her existence, extending from conception to birth” (276c1).

Attenuating Reasons? Though JPII acknowledges the crises of

conscience that often precede the decision to have an abortion, he rejects the possibility that there is ever a reason sufficient to justify the decision.He explicitly rules out therapeutic, eugenic,

socioeconomic an personal reasons. Does not mention humanitarian concerns (276c1).

He also casts blame for these decisions on men, families and legislators who may pressure or facilitate the decision.

Moral Standing? The position of the Catholic Church, and

JPII, is that the fetus has DMS from conception.

The possession of a soul is the deciding factor, but JPII points also to the possession of full set of human genes.

He concludes by quoting from Donum Vitae:“The human being is to be respected and treated as

a person from the moment of conception; and therefore from that moment has rights as a person that must be recognized…[including] the right to life” (277c2).