Philosophy

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Why Abortion is Immoral - Don Marquis

In this essay, I will defend my position and adjudicate between the arguments analyzed and criticized from the article which is entitled “Why Abortion is Immoral.” The article is written by Don Marquis and was published in the year 1989. The author has argued about the abortion debate, while mainly holding the position that abortion is immoral because of the fact that the fetus holds the position of a potential human being and it is not morally rights to take away that right of living. The author has highlighted both sides of the opinion while supporting the point that abortion is immoral. I will explain and defend my position in the abortion debate in light of the arguments presented in the article by Marquis.

I support the argument of the anti-abortionists group that the fetus holds the status of human beings because it is a potential human being and has a future ahead of it. According to my opinion, killing a fetus is like killing a human being. On the other hand, the supporters of abortion are of the few that killing a fetus is not a wrongful or immoral act because of the fact that it is unconscious and does not have the ability to feel the pain. I do not agree with this stance on the basis that killing a human being should not be associated with his or her pain. If a human being is killed in a painless manner, the act does not become justified just because the death was painless. A fetus does have the potential of developing into a human being and killing it in any manner is immoral (Marquis, 195).

The supporters of the abortion debate claim that the fetus is only the collection of few living cells and it would not be right to say that it is equal to adult human beings. They have presented their point in quite an effective manner claiming that killing human cells which have the future is baseless because of the fact that the culture of cancer cells also has a future; however, it cannot be permitted to continue its existence. I do not agree with this stance of the abortionist stand firm on the point that abortion is immoral. The reason for my opposition to the claim is that it is not right to compare the cells of the fetus with the cells of cancer. There is no doubt that cancer cells are destructive and have the potential of harming the body of human beings. On the other hand, the cells of a fetus do not cause any harm to the human body, except for the pain that is part of their creation process. The fetus cells develop into human beings, while the cancer cells would only develop into diseases, which would eventually take the life of human beings. I firmly support the point that abortion is immoral because it takes away the right of living and developing from a fetus which is on the mercy of human beings (Marquis, 198).

Marquis has presented the claims of the supporters of abortion and the anti-abortionist groups in quite an effective manner. I support the point of view that abortion is immoral and cannot be justified in any manner. The fetus is unconscious and does not have the ability of feeling pain is not enough to justify its killing. Killing a human being in a painful or painless manner remains the same brutal act, which should not be supported. Moreover, nothing can deny the fact that a fetus would develop into a human being, and killing it even before it becomes unconscious is immoral.

Taking Life

The Embryo and Fetus - Peter Singer

In this essay, I will defend my position and adjudicate between the arguments analyzed and criticized in the article "Taking Life, The Embryo and Fetus." The article is written by "Peter Singer" and was published in the year 1993. The author has argued about the status of embryo or fetus while presenting his point about the abortion debate. The author holds the point of view that the fetus is a sentient being therefor should not be harmed. Moreover, the author has also discussed the views of the conservatives and liberals about the debate of the morality or immorality of abortion. I will explain and defend my position in the abortion debate in light of the arguments presented in the article by Singer.

Singer has explained the point of view of the conservatives who support the anti-abortionist ideology on the grounds that embryo and fetus cannot be distinguished and both denote the potential human beings. I support their point of view that a fetus represents the human child and it is wrong to take away its right to living. The author has also discussed the stance of the liberalists in his article and highlighted their claim that fetus is not a conscious being and does not have the ability to feel the pain, so it is right to kill it. I oppose this point on the grounds that killing cannot be justified just because the victim did not feel the pain of death. On the other hand, the killing of the fetus cannot be justified just because it is claimed to be unconscious. While in reality, the fetus is not unconscious. It is conscious in its particular space and has the ability to respond to the danger and seeking the protection in the womb of the mother, so deliberately killing such a being is an immoral act (Singer, 165).

Singer has presented his argument in quite an effective manner that there is no way of assessing the fact that the death is painful or not for the fetus, which is the main point of the supporters of the abortion debate. They are of the view that killing the fetus is justifies because it cannot feel pain. I support the point of view of Singer in this regard that the supporters of abortion do not have any way to know or measure that death causes any pain to the fetus or not. Even if does not cause pain, the painless killing is also not justified, because of the fact that killing in itself is a brutal act and the no developed or even potential human being should be subjected to it. I also support the point of view of Singer that fetus has a well-developed brain and nervous system, which depicts that it is a potential human being. On the other hand, during the first weeks of conception, the fetus has not reached the stage where its brain and nervous system is not developed, even then it is not right to kill the fetus, on the grounds that it is a potential human being which would develop in to a healthy being, if provided with the chance of survival (Singer, 170).

Singer has shared the stances of the liberals and the conservatives in his article. I support the claims of the conservatives that abortion is wrong and immoral on the grounds that fetus is a conscious being having the potential of developing into a human being. I oppose the point of view of the liberals that killing of the fetus is justified because it cannot feel pain because killing cannot be justified if it is painless. So abortion is immoral and cannot be justified in any manner.

Works Cited

Marquis, Don. "Why abortion is immoral." The Journal of Philosophy 86.4 (1989): 183-202.

Singer, Peter. "Taking life: The embryo and the fetus." Practical Ethics (1993): 135-174.