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Utilitarianism and Abortion

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Utilitarianism and Abortion

The abortion argument centers on whether it is ethically permissible to terminate a

pregnancy prior to natural delivery. Some people believe that abortion is always morally wrong.

Some people believe that abortion is appropriate when the mother's life is in danger. Others

believe that abortion is ethically permissible in a variety of circumstances. If you do not want to

keep your baby, there are better options. Adoption is the greatest option for a woman who

becomes pregnant but does not want or cannot care for the kid. Many couples who are unable to

conceive on their own would like to adopt. Also individuals should not be having sex if they

aren't prepared to cope with the repercussions of their decision to participate in intercourse.

According to utilitarianism, an ethical action is one that maximizes utility. According to

Jeremy Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism, utility is the total of pleasure derived from an

activity minus the suffering experienced by every individual participating in an action. The

usefulness to three distinct parties will be considered in this instance, including the pregnant

mother, the fetus, and society. Utilitarianism is a kind of consequentialism in which the

outcomes are simply standard, incorrect, or right. In the abortion issue, the “pro-choice

movement” believes that women have the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. It is

all about usefulness in terms of utilitarianism. Is there a utility on the side of the pregnant lady

who is undergoing an abortion? Yes and no, respectively. A kid is known to provide delight to

her parents, and abortion removes this value. Furthermore, as a result of the abortion, the mother

is likely to suffer mentally. Because of the reduced usefulness, the behavior is immoral. On the

other side, the mother may be doing it to save her daughter's life. Again, she might be doing it to

relieve herself of the burden of child-rearing. These are the elements that make it ethical in terms

of utilitarianism.
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From my side of argument, because it is a person, the fetus has a right to life. Abortion

deprives a fetus of the chance to live. Again, if such a person were to be born and succeed in life

as a result of abortion, all of this is denied to them. These criteria suggest that the fetus's

usefulness is diminished, rendering the conduct immoral. On the other hand, not everyone is

successful in life. In reality, some people experience a great deal of pain and suffering in their

lives. If this turns out to be the case after the individual is born, abortion would alleviate such

suffering. There is also the issue of the fetus's suffering during an abortion. The morality of

abortion can be difficult to evaluate using Utilitarianism. This is due to the fact that whether it is

wrong or right can only be judged by the positive and negative impacts it has on the fetus, the

mother, and society as a whole. Again, each of these parties has both positive and negative

consequences.
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References

Shrage, L. (2013). Moral dilemmas of feminism: Prostitution, adultery, and abortion. Routledge.

Roberts, M. A. (2010). Abortion and the moral significance of merely possible persons: Finding

middle ground in hard cases (Vol. 107). Springer Science & Business Media.

Woodcock, S. (2011). Abortion counselling and the informed consent dilemma. Bioethics, 25(9),

495-504.