SSP 114 | BSA 2

ABORTION

ILAO, ZARINA
LA LUNA, NERISON I.
ABORTION
is described as the expulsion of
the products of conception
before the embryo or fetus is
viable. Any interruption of human
pregnancy prior to the 28th week
of gestation or the delivery of a
fetus weighing less than 500
grams is known as abortion.
An abortion is a medical
procedure that ends a
pregnancy. It is a basic
healthcare need for millions of
women, girls and others who can
become pregnant. Worldwide, an
estimated 1 in 4 pregnancies end
in an abortion every year.
TYPES OF ABORTION:
Spontaneous Abortion (Miscarriage)
-this is defined as the delivery of a nonviable
embryo or fetus (fetus cannot survive) before the
20th week of pregnancy due to fetal or maternal
factors.
Therapeutic Abortion
-this procedure is performed to preserve the
health or life of the mother. It can be induced for
medical reasons or an elective decision to end the
pregnancy (eg. Prevent the birth of a deformed
child or a child conceived as a result of rape or
incest.)
TYPES OF ABORTION:
Elective (Induced) Abortion
-defined as a procedure intended to terminate a
suspected or known intrauterine pregnancy and to
produce a nonviable fetus at any gestational age
(CDC, 2010), deemed necessary by the woman
carrying it and performed at her request.
 Natural Law
-does not look at the people involved

APPLYING in a decision about abortion, or the

consequences of the action, instead,
ETHICAL Natural Law considers the act of
abortion itself. Reproduction is a
THEORIES primary precept and abortion goes

TO against this, as it stops the purpose

and outcome of procreation.If you

ABORTION consider the foetus to be a human

person from conception, then abortion
also goes against the primary principle
to preserve innocent life.
 The natural law theory utilizes established
rights that are universally acceptable. The
right to life is one of the principles that the

APPLYING natural law theory applies to the issue of

abortion. The natural law criminalizes
ETHICAL abortion because it violates the right to life
of a fetus (Stefan, 2014). From the
THEORIES perspective of the natural law, women

TO
have limited rights over their body for they
cannot abort a fetus according to their

ABORTION
will. The natural law identifies a fetus as a
human with equivalent rights to life as the
mother. However, in some instances such
as rape or medical interventions, the
natural law permits abortion.
 Another principle of the natural law is the
right to care for fetus and babies in line
with the precept of respect for life. As

APPLYING women have the right to conceive and

bear progeny voluntarily, the natural law
ETHICAL compels them to take care and provide
for their children. In this perspective,
THEORIES abortion violates the right of a fetus to life

TO
and receipt of required protection and
care from parents. Stefan (2014) explains

ABORTION
that the universal principle of the right to
life requires parents to protect and take
care of their children. The natural law
anchors on this principle by ensuring that
mothers do not abort their fetuses.
FROM PRIMARY
PRECEPTS YOU DERIVE
SECONDARY PRECEPT
From Primary Precepts you derive
Secondary Precept. This is a rule to
follow in life. In regards to the issue of
abortion, a likely secondary precept
that could be derived would be –“Do
not commit abortion.”
DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS
Deontological ethics determines morality based on the nature of the
action and the inherent attributes of humans. By focusing on actions but
not consequences, deontological ethics perceive abortion as an immoral
act. Since humans have the rational capacity, their actions can be moral
or immoral irrespective of their consequences. The assessment of the case
study of abortion shows that deontological ethics does not support
abortion. Deontological ethics recognizes a fetus as a person with equal
rights to life and care as the mother. Moreover, deontological ethics holds
that abortion is wrong because it entails the termination of life. According
to Stafan (2014), the right to life is a categorical imperative that prohibits
anyone from ending the life of a person. Thus, abortion is an immoral act
because it allows one to end the life of another person.
DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS
As humans have a rational capacity, they act according to their
obligations, duties, and prevailing rules. The union between a man and a
woman takes a rational decision, which gives them the obligation and
duty to take care of their fetus and, later, a baby. In this view, abortion is
unethical since it permits parents to be irresponsible by absconding their
obligations and duties. Stafan (2014) asserts that the divine order requires
humans to take responsibility for protecting and caring for their young
ones. To pursue a career, afford parenting, and avoid single parenthood
are some of the reasons women offer to justify abortion. Critical analysis of
these reasons shows that they are luxuries rather than requirements of
proper parenting. Hence, deontological ethics does not support abortion
because it is against human nature and responsibilities.
 Virtue ethics determines morality based on the
moral character or virtues that a person
exhibits. Virtue ethics does not support
abortion because women who terminate the

VIRTUE
lives of their fetuses are not considered
virtuous. Virtue ethics believes in the sanctity
of life since it recognizes a fetus as an

ETHICS
innocent human being with equal rights to life
(Countryman, 2014). In contrast, pro-
abortionists argue that a fetus is not human
because it lacks viability and consciousness.
Hence, from the perspective of virtue ethics,
women who perform abortion do not have
virtues in their moral character for they neither
respect the sanctity of life nor recognize a
fetus as a human.
 The analysis of reasons that women give to
justify abortion shows that they are against
virtues that people hold in society. By having
an abortion, women hope to attain happiness

VIRTUE
because babies restrict them from pursuing
their careers, strain their finances and time,
and make them single parents. Such reasons

ETHICS
are callous and flimsy for they do not consider
virtues associated with happiness.
Countryman (2014) argues that abortion
violates virtues such as kindness, temperance,
selflessness, modesty, and friendliness, which
enable people to attain happiness and
satisfaction in life. Thus, virtue ethics opposes
abortion because it degrades human
character and violates the virtues of life.
 KANTIAN ETHICS –THE CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE:
UNIVERSAL MAXIMS; TREATING OTHERS AS ENDS IN
THEMSELVES AND LIVING IN A KINGDOM OF ENDS.

KANT ARGUED THAT REASON ENABLES

PEOPLE TO IMPOSE SUCH LAWS UPON
THEMSELVES AND WHEN THE CATEGORICAL
IMPERATIVE IS APPLIED TO ABORTION THERE
ARE IMMEDIATE DIFFICULTIES.
Abortion would be hard to universalise, as there are so many different situations and
motivations for obtaining an abortion – all consideration of emotions is to be
disregarded and yet abortion is an emotional decision.
KANT WOULD ALSO TAKE NO
ACCOUNT OF THE STAGE OF
PREGNANCY AT WHICH THE
ABORTION IS TO TAKE PLACE.
There is also emphasis on treating people as
ends in themselves and not as a means to an
end – abortion would go against this if the foetus
is considered to be a person. Kant’s stress on
acting out of duty alone, with no account taken
of compassion or love, means that all
consequences are ignored whatever they may
be.
 KANTIAN ETHICS
Categorical Imperative – people are treated as ends in themselves.
If an embryo is considered a person, a follower of Kantian ethics
would need to ask whether the destruction of so many embryos in
order to create one life is justified. Danger of treating the creation
of a human life as just another consumer good. Selecting an
embryo as a genetic match to cure another sibling could also be
seen as using the embryo as a means to an end, as would using a
surrogate mother.
UTILITARIANISM – THE
GREATEST GOOD FOR
THE GREATEST NUMBER.
Doesn’t accept the principle that human life has
absolute value and that this should be upheld whatever
the consequences but attempts to assess each
individual situation on its own merits to promote the
greatest happiness for those concerned.
Only works if it is actually possible to assess the results
of an abortion and decide whether they favour all
concerned.
Cannot predict all consequences – mother may not be
able to have any children after the abortion.Preference
Utilitarianism might be a better approach – considers
the preferences of the mother, the harm to other family
members and so on.
UTILITARIANISM
As a consequential theory, utilitarianism defines the morality of
an action based on its consequences for individuals and
society. In essence, a moral action is the one that offers
maximum utility, happiness, and pleasure to most people. For
abortion to be morally and legally justifiable, the positive
outcomes ought to outweigh the negative consequences.
Utilitarianism supports pro-abortionists because it empowers
women and gives them absolute rights to decide what
happens to their bodies. Moreover, utilitarianism does not
regard a fetus as a person for the rights of a mother override its
rights. In instances where a pregnancy threatens the life of a
mother, doctors prescribe abortion based on the utilitarian
principle. In this view, saving the mother’s life is more beneficial
than saving the life of a fetus. Stefan (2014) argues that a fetus
is a potential person that can achieve the status of a human
through successful birth. Thus, at the individual level,
utilitarianism supports abortion because it gives more benefits
to mothers than fetuses.
UTILITARIANISM
At the family and society level, utilitarianism determines
whether a mother should procure an abortion or not.
Since women live in a social setting, significant people
such as a husband, friends, doctors, and relatives have
marked influence on ethical decisions concerning
abortion. From the utilitarian perspective, the
importance of a fetus is dependent on its relationship
with people in the family and society. Usually, fetal
abnormalities, rape issues, and medical problems are
some of the factors that influence the ethical decision of
abortion (Stafan, 2014). For instance, rape cases cause
unwanted pregnancies and violate the will of a mother,
family, and society to bear children in a planned
manner. In this view, mothers, families, and society
apply the utilitarian approach to considering the welfare
of unwanted fetuses.
THE RIGHT TO
A CHILD
Louise Brown – the first ever test tube
baby – 1978.Discussions about the
right to a child covers issues such as
whether a child is a gift or a right,
whether it is right to obtain sperm
samples by masturbation, whether it
is right to pay someone to carry a
baby and what the moral status or
the foetus is on the journey from
zygote to newborn baby. The process
of IVF also raises ethical questions as
many more embryos are made than
are needed.
Ethical questions
raised by IVF
When does human life begin and what is the status
of the fetus? Remember the egg is fertilised before it
is implanted in the woman’s uterus.IVF is for treating
infertility, what about the spare embryos that may
be kept for up to 14 days for experimentation?The
screening of embryos before implantation means
any imperfections can be weeded out – will parents
remove undesirable traits? What’s an undesirable
trait?India already allows sex selection in IVF clinics
– designer babies?Older women past child bearing
age can have menopause reversed and are able to
have children.Embryos are treated as properties.IVF
is not very successful. It’s expensive and requires
the woman to take a lot of hormone drugs which
can be really dangerous.
 ….. BUT DOES AN INDIVIDUAL
HAVE A RIGHT TO HAVE A CHILD?
UN declaration of human rights states: “… a right to marry and
found a family free from constraint.”This does not clearly state that
there is a right to reproduce. This right seem to have followed the
technological advances in assisted reproduction.It could be
argued that reproduction is fundamental to our freedom to act –
but society already places restrictions on this; for example,
incestuous reproduction.It could also be argued that that the right
to reproduce is simply a basic need or desire – or do we just have
a basic sexual drive rather than a need to continue the human
race with our own genes?
The analysis of the case study on abortion using four ethical
theories, viz., utilitarianism, deontological ethics, virtue ethics, and
natural law theory, highlights different stances. From the case study
is it evident that utilitarianism supports abortion for it does not
recognize a fetus as human but grants women to have absolute
rights over their bodies. However, deontological ethics, virtue ethics,
and natural law theory do not support abortion since they identify a
fetus as human and limit the rights that women have over their
bodies. Therefore, the analysis concludes that abortion is immoral
because most theories demonstrate that it violates the right to life
of a fetus and degrades human values and virtues.
 SOURCES

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Download. https://slideplayer.com/slide/7805025/
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