Running head: ETHICS SURROUNDING THE ISSUE OF ABORTION

Ethics Surrounding the Issue of Abortion

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Introduction

The act of killing the fetus raises many ethical issues amongst people within the medical

field as well as the human rights activists and other concerned people. The arguments brought

forward against the act of abortion emphasize that the act of killing the fetus is like committing

murder because it takes away the life of a potential human being (Patil, Dode, & Ahirrao, 2014).

Some of the questions raised include: “Why would people support abortion when they were

allowed to live to become what they are because their mothers never aborted them?” (Patil,

Dode, & Ahirrao, 2014). Those opposing the idea of abortion seemingly suggest that once one

becomes pregnant, there is no going back until the process of parturition takes place. The

proponents of abortion suggest that the act is moral because any individual has no obligation to

give birth to children (Patil, Dode, & Ahirrao, 2014). If an individual feels that their pregnancy

could have detrimental effects on their life, especially when it is unplanned for, the right thing to

do is to terminate such pregnancy. Similarly, in case the pregnancy threatens the life of the

mother, the best thing to do should be aborting the pregnancy. These arguments raise debates

across the world with people suggesting that the arguments brought forward by the other groups

are unethical. Well, ethics stands for what is right and that which supports human life and

growth. The ethical dilemma arises especially where one life must be chosen of the two. A

mother who is having complications during the delivery period may be at risk of dying. In this

scenario, medical practitioners may choose to save the fetus or the mother. But whose life is

more important? Is there a life that matters more than the other? Such are the ethical questions

asked. While saving the fetus might be right, saving the mother would be the most important

thing because through her more children can be born. Besides, she already has a closer

connection with the people than the unborn child. The issue of abortion is a very controversial
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topic that poses challenges amongst men and women when they find themselves at the center of

the ethical dilemma of whether or not to terminate a pregnancy. Many perspectives try to justify

either of the sides that support or oppose the action, but the best decision regarding the issue can

only be made by analyzing the situation at hand.

Conflicts/controversies in abortion ethics

There exist controversies and conflicts around ethics in abortion with some people

supporting it, others opposing it, and others maintaining a middle ground. Conflicts of right

involving two people arise in the issue of abortion (Patil et al., 2014). The right of the unborn

offspring in the uterus to develop and live fully and the right of the mother to decide what befits

her. Questions emerge as to whether the mother has the right to plan her reproductive life,

including when to give birth and how many children to have. Equally, there are questions

whether the fetus is a person and whether it is a violation of the right of the fetus to life in the

termination of pregnancy. Biologically, the fetus is the unborn creature of a mammal particularly

human which develop from an embryo. There is lack of clarity whether the unborn creature has

equal rights as the already born individual. Furthermore, there are concerns on whether the

doctor has a right to permit or help terminate the life of the unborn creature in the uterus at the

mother’s request. Health practitioners are guided by medical ethics which is simply the moral

ethics system that apply values to professional practice in the medical field as well as scientific

research. The basis of medical ethics is established values whose reference to governing

professionals whenever there is confusion of conflict. The many concerns and questions that

revolve around the issue of abortion have resulted in different factions with some arguing for

while others arguing against abortion.

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The category opposed to abortion, hold the view that a fetus is a human being and

forceful termination of its life is morally wrong. They hold the view that a fetus, being a human

being, has the right to life as it is the case for all human beings. Willingly killing of an innocent

person is morally wrong. Abortion is a means of ending the life of a human being and hence

performing, supporting, or permitting abortion is ethically wrong. According to Fredrik (2018), it

is controversial for a mother to cause harm to a fetus, which is part of her body. The aspect of

self-consciousness, memory, and planning activities in support of abortion raises the question of

whether a woman can willfully hurt her body part since the growing embryo is part of her body.

Adamant opposers to abortion are committed to values that require women who intentionally or

unintentionally conceive to endure the pregnancy process until birth regardless of the distress

that may ensue. This view anchors on the abstract concept of the value and protection of fetal

life as opposed to the focus on morality of suffering in women. Extreme anti-abortion people

equate abortion to murder and hold the stand that there is no amount of suffering can justify

women killing their children.

Gendercide is another controversy that surrounds the termination of pregnancy.

Antagonistic views arise in consideration of abortion ethics in legal and social as well as

healthcare perspectives. Gendercide involves selfish intentions that favor a particular gender and

targets another. Favoritism for males compels some women to terminate fetuses of the female

gender. According to Jeanne et al., (2017), pregnancy terminations that selectively target

particular genders are not only illegal but also unethical. Such abortions decide who to live and

who should not instead of nature controlling the process, and such targeted abortion is unethical.

A question emerges that if abortion interferes with the natural way of things, what do those who

support it consider?
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Proponents of abortion do not only consider abortion to be morally right but also consider

criminalization of abortion an act of ethical despotism. The argument, in this case, is that there is

no compelling obligation for childbearing if it is harmful or not fashionable to a person.

According to Hewson (2001), a fetus is an invading creature, and hence, it should be eliminated

if unwanted. He indicates that a mother should be allowed to terminate the pregnancy if she is

not ready to continue carrying the baby. He further argues that it is an element of unethical

despotism to force a mother to carry the pregnancy of a child she does not want. Individuals

have varying reasons for having or not having children, and that is at their discretion. It is

unethical to force a mother to have an “unwanted child” if it can cause a massive detrimental

impact in her life, that of the child, and for her family (Patil et al., 2014). As such, women have a

basic right to made decisions for themselves on whether to allow or terminate pregnancies.

Nevertheless, several questions emerge about the view of allowing pregnancy in cases of

unwanted pregnancy. There is controversy on what constitutes unwanted pregnancy. Issues arise

whether unwanted pregnancy is limited to cases of rape or incestuous actions or it extends to the

later realization of poor planning. Another concern is on the possible reaction and frequency of

abortions in the guise of unwanted pregnancy. Therefore, the argument on abortion ethics based

on unwanted pregnancy is surrounded by too much controversy resulting in a section of people

seeking a trade-off between opposing and proponent views.

People who seek the trade-off between opposing and supporting arguments have come up

with a moderate school of thought about ethics in abortion, which brings about the

“circumstantial” aspect. In this category of argument, there are situations where termination of

pregnancy can be considered to be morally and ethically right. According to Franck and

Laurence (2009), abortion is ethically necessary if the pregnancy endangers the life of the mother
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as it is the case with some pregnancy complications. Nonetheless, controversy arises on the

capability to effectively establish that the mother will lose her life if there is no termination of

the pregnancy. A question arises on the justifiability of abortion in saving a mother and killing a

child if doctors can explore other options that will save the lives of both the mother and the child.

The various arguments about abortion ethics resort using various methods/theoretical

perspectives to support their views for or against abortion.

Methods/Theoretical models applied in the issue of abortion ethics

Kant’s Categories imperative finds its application in the dilemma on abortion ethics.

Many opposers of abortion use Kant's categorical imperative in trying to establish views around

abortion. According to Kant’s theory, people are supposed to act in a manner that could

universally be considered a standard for every human being (Denis, 2009). The meaning of such

postulation is that in any case if an act is not desirable for all people as it happens in a single

case, then the act should be avoided in totality. Based on Kant’s categorical imperative, if it is

desirable to have one woman undertake an abortion, then it should be desirable for all women to

undertake abortion (Batten, 2013). In any case, if all women perform abortions, the result will be

extinction. It is obvious that people cannot desire for their extinction. Since people cannot will

for their extinction, then they should not wish for all women to do abortions. Therefore, it should

not be desired of any woman to perform abortion as the same cannot be desired of all women as

the principle of universality demand that what is not good for all is not good for one.

Kant’s argument extends the views contained in modus tollens in which two main

arguments ensue. First, if people will for abortion for all women, people will be advocating for

their own extinction. People should not willingly desire to become extinct. Since people are not

expected to advocate for their own extinction willingly, there should be no willingness for all
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women to undertake abortion (Batten, 2013). Hence, no single case of a woman performing

abortion should be acceptable. Secondly, no person or case should be handled in exception to

universal moral laws (Batten, 2013). Based on the universal moral law, abortion, in any case, is

wrong because it cannot be desired for all women. Thus, no woman has permission to abort the

unborn being as it is against the universal moral law.

Some people argue that circumstances should be a consideration in determining whether

or not abortion is permissible. According to such thought, people could universally will that a

person under those situations undertake abortion. However, in Kant’s categorical imperative,

there is no room for such kind of reasoning as he did not envisage or allow the use of

circumstance as a basis for exemptions to moral laws.

Another theoretical perspective applied in arguing out the issue of ethics in abortion is

Ayn Rand’s perspective. The views of Ayn Rand conform to the views of the proponents of

abortion. According to Ayn Rand, abortion is not only a moral right but also women have the

discretion to keep or terminate the pregnancy. Ayn Rand’s focus is on the first trimester of

pregnancy in which the argument is that the embryo is a potential and not an actual human being.

Ayn indicates that opposing abortion is failing to recognize the context of rights from both

angles and imposing childbearing on a woman. The other aspect that emerges in Rand’s

argument is that in the first trimester, the embryo is just a collection of cells and hence cannot be

considered to be a human being. Based on Rand, the right to life supposed to be objective rather

than intrinsic. The consideration of the fertilized ovum as a human being is holding intrinsic

views. According to Rand, it is vicious to claim to support the rights of a potential human being

as opposed to the actual human being[ CITATION Mor13 \l 1033 ]. Therefore, the right of
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choice of the mother is above in the precedence than that of a “potential” human being as per

Ayn Rand’s notion.

I neither apply Kant’s categorical imperative nor Ayn Rand’s view in the issue of

abortion ethics. I have a stance that rests between the extreme ends of the postulations of the two

methods. I hold the view that all abortion cases are different and should be analyzed separately

rather than being considered universally as Kant’s method suggest. Equally, I am opposed to

Ayn Rand’s claim that mothers should have absolute discretion on what to do with the unborn.

The right to abort should be the mother’s choice where circumstances compel and not for

convenience.

Conclusion

Abortion cases vary in motivation and desired goal. The best practice is to consider

circumstances every abortion case separately depending on the matters arising to decide on the

ethical or unethical element of the act. Some cases such as pregnancies arising from rape make

abortion necessary. Situations where mothers decide to abort for convenience and to avoid

responsibility qualify to be unethical and a sign of lack of morality. Circumstances leading to

pregnancy and growth of the pregnancy vary and hence moral, ethical, and acceptability of

termination of pregnancy should be focused on a particular case and not universally.

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References

Batten, J. (2013). Kant's Categorical Imperative and Abortion. Abortion, Apologetics, Culture of

Death, Feminism, 1.

Denis, L. (2009). Abortion and Kant's Formula of Universal Law. Canadian Journal of

Philosophy, 37(4), 547-580.

Frank, C., & Laurence, M. (2009). An Ethically Justified Practical Approach to Offering,

Recommending, Performing, and Referring for Induced Abortion and Feticide. American

Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Retrieved from https://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-

9378(09)00620-6/pdf

Fredrik, S. (2018). Phenomenology of Pregnancy and the Ethics of Abortion. Medicine, Health

Care and Philosophy, 21, 77-87. Retrieved from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5814550/pdf/11019_2017_Article_9786.

pdf

Hewson, B. (2001). Reproductive Autonomy and the Ethics of Abortion. Journal of Medical

Ethics. Retrieved from https://jme.bmj.com/content/medethics/27/suppl_2/ii10.full.pdf

Jeanne, M., Catriona, M., & Lesley, H. (2017). Abortion in Legal, Social, and Healthcare

Contexts. 27(1), 4-14. Retrieved from

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0959353516689521

Morgan, L. (2013). The Potentiality Principle from Aristotle to Abortion. Current Anthropology,

54(7), 17.

Patil, A., Dode, P., & Ahirrao, A. (2014). Medical Ethics in Abortion. Indian Journal of

Clinical Practice, 25(6). Retrieved from

http://medind.nic.in/iaa/t14/i11/iaat14i11p544.pdf
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