New Era University

College of Engineering and Architecture

GECETH – 18 ETHICS
SUBJECT

LEARNING KIT

ABORTION, MORAL OR IMMORAL?

RESEARCHERS:

FACTURAN, JHON KARL C.

NIEVA, RENZ MILLECENT R.
DOLORIEL, ADRIAN REY C.
3AR – 2 / TH 1:00 – 4:00 PM

INSTRUCTOR:

DR. MARISSA R. OPERARIO

 ABORTION, MORAL OR IMMORAL?

I. OBJECTIVES

a. WHAT IS ABORTION
b. IDENTIFY THE CAUSES OF ABORTION
c. IDENTIFY THE REASONS OF ABORTION
 II. NOTES / DISCUSSION

ABORTION
Definitions of abortion vary from one source to another. Abortion has
many definitions that can differ from each other in significant ways. Given
the contentious nature of abortion, lawmakers and other stakeholders often
face controversy in defining abortion. Language referring to abortion often
reflects societal and political opinions (not only scientific knowledge).
Influential non-state actors like the United Nations and the Roman
Catholic Church have also engendered controversy over efforts to define
abortion.
An abortion is a procedure to end a pregnancy. It uses medicine or
surgery to remove the embryo or fetus and placenta from the uterus. The
procedure is done by a licensed health care professional. The decision to
end a pregnancy is very personal. If you are thinking of having an abortion,
most health care providers advise counseling.
Mary Warren, “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion”, 1973
Warren defends an extremely permissive view on abortion, according to
which abortion is morally permissible at any stage of the pregnancy and
under any circumstances.
Warren considers the following anti-abortion argument:
1) It is wrong to kill innocent human beings.
2) Fetuses are innocent human beings.
3) Therefore, it is wrong to kill fetuses.

She claims that the plausibility of the premises rest on an equivocation on

the term ‘human being’
Human in the genetic sense = being a member of the biological species
homo sapiens.
 • This includes not only functioning children and adults, but also
includes fetuses (even very early fetuses) and living human bodies
without functioning brains (e.g. those in irreversible comas).
Human in the moral sense = being a full-fledged member of the moral
community.

Warren: The moral community is the set of beings with full moral rights,
and consists of all and only persons.
If ‘human being’ has the same sense in both premises then one of them is
question-begging. Either the argument assumes that it is wrong to kill
something merely because it is homo sapien, or the argument assumes that
a fetus is a member of the moral community. Both of these claims are
contentious and would require further argument.

CAUSES AND REASONS OF ABORTION

Although abortion occurs in every society, and a substantial proportion of
pregnancies are resolved by abortion worldwide, there is little empirical
research on why women obtain abortions. This lack of information is part of
an overall scarcity of data on abortion. Legal, moral and ethical issues
surrounding abortion make research on all aspects of abortion difficult to
undertake, and also affect the quality of the information obtained.
Collecting good information on reasons for abortion may be especially
difficult, because it requires asking women to articulate the often complex
and sensitive process that led to the decision.

REASONS SOMEONE MIGHT SEEK AN ABORTION

• Therapeutic - reasons relating to the life and health of the pregnant

woman
• Eugenic - reasons relating to fetal abnormality
• Humanitarian - Reasons that deal with a pregnancy due to incest
or rape
 • Socioeconomic - Reasons relating to poverty, social stigma, or
family size
• Personal - Reasons other than any of the ones just mentioned that
relate to a woman's preferences and projects. Two examples:
desire to devote time to a professional career or not wanting to be
inconvenienced by the pregnancy.

• Timing births and controlling family size. The desire to postpone a birth
or to stop childbearing is a very common reason given by women
seeking abortion. In almost half of the 23 studies (in 20 countries) with
this information, about 50% or more of women gave the birth-timing
and family-size control cluster of reasons as their most important reason.

• Poverty and economic reasons. Economic reasons or women saying

that they could not afford to properly care for a child come second
overall in importance. The proportion who gave this reason was more
than 20% in six of the 19 studies with relevant information.

• Relationship problems. Relationship problems, including the partner's

objection to carrying the pregnancy to term, are moderately
important in explaining why women have abortions. The proportion of
women citing such problems as their overriding reason for the abortion
reached 25-42% in four studies (Chile, Honduras, Mexico and Nigeria).
It was the main reason for fewer than 10% of respondents in nine studies,
and for 10-20% in seven studies.

• Young and unmarried. Being too young or fearing that parents or

others would object to the pregnancy is a fairly common reason for
having an abortion. In 10 countries, more than 10% of women gave this
as their main reason, and 20-37% did so in five of them (three in Latin
America and two in Sub-Saharan Africa).

• Risk to maternal health. This reason was somewhat important overall,

having been cited as the main reason by 5-10% in seven countries and
by 20-38% in three (Kenya, Bangladesh and India). This factor is
 apparently less important in Latin America and in the developed
countries included here.

• Fetal defect. Women rarely report that fetal defects or potential

problems for the baby motivated their decision to have an abortion.
This probably stems from one or more factors, including the low actual
incidence of birth defects, the fact that most women obtain abortions
before such defects could be known, and fetal defects are generally
not detected in developing countries (where advanced testing and
modern medical care are not widely available).

• "Other" reasons. Almost all studies have a residual category of "other

reasons." However, fewer than 10% of women cited them as primary in
most studies, although the proportion doing so reached 14-16% in the
Czech and Sri Lankan studies. In most studies conducted with women
who have abortions, the factors that fell into the "other" category were
usually unspecified, especially since the studies mostly gave little
attention to why women seek abortion in general.

For many women, more than one factor undoubtedly contributed to their
decision. In such situations, it may be difficult to identify a single factor as
the most important one. Even if a woman identifies one overriding reason,
pertinent information would still be lost, because the whole range of
reasons guiding the decision would not be measured. Thus, using
questions that allow women to give multiple reasons adds another
dimension to understanding the factors that underlie the abortion
decision.
III. EVALUATION
When it comes to physical health effects, the committee identified high-
quality research on numerous outcomes of interest and concludes that
having an abortion does not increase a woman’s risk of secondary infertility,
pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders, abnormal placentation (after a
D&E abortion), preterm birth, or breast cancer. Although rare, the risk of very
preterm birth (less than 28 weeks gestation) in a woman’s first birth was found
to be associated with having two or more prior aspiration abortions
compared with first births among women with no abortion history, the risk
appears to be associated with the number of prior abortions. Preterm birth is
associated with pregnancy spacing after an abortion, it is more likely if the
interval between abortion and conception is less than 6 months (this is also
true of pregnancy spacing in general). The committee did not find well-
designed research on abortion’s association with future ectopic pregnancy,
miscarriage or stillbirth, or long-term mortality. Findings on hemorrhage during
a subsequent pregnancy are inconclusive. About mental health issues, the
committee identified a wide array of research on whether abortion increases
women’s risk of depression, anxiety, and/or posttraumatic stress disorder and
concludes that having an abortion does not increase a woman’s risk of these
mental health disorders.
In the other side, there are some benefits that a woman that makes the
abortion as their option than delivering a baby. Less life-threatening but still
serious complications occur even more often in pregnancy. Consider these
numbers: 11.3% of pregnant women experience hypertension, eclampsia or
pre-eclampsia; 13.2% experience genitourinary tract infections; 9.9%
experience anemia; 5.6% experience an ectopic pregnancy (also possible
with medical abortion but far less likely); 5.2% experience hemorrhage; 8.2%
experience gestational diabetes; and 6.3% experience hyperemesis gravid
arum, a severe condition of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy that can
be fatal. No similar risks are associated with abortion at these rates in the short
term or long term. The risk of death from childbirth is at least 11 times greater
than the risk of death from surgical abortion before 20 weeks' gestation.
Approximately 800 women a year die from pregnancy-related or childbirth-
related conditions in the U.S. (a number which is rising). Meanwhile, only two
women died from legal induced abortions in the U.S. in 2011, the most recent
year for which data is available.
 An alternative view of abortion is the pro-life activists who call for the right
of life for everyone including fetuses. They advocate that moments after
pregnancy occurs, the fetus becomes a human life with a soul. This fetus,
according to pro-life activists, has the rights to live just as his mother does. In
short, they claim that life starts at conception and that during the surgery the
fetus actually feels the pain of such procedure. (Furedi, 2016) Furthermore,
pro-life activists encourage women who are considering abortion because
they do not want to raise a child to give themselves the chance to re-think
of such huge decision. If they’re aborting because of simply not wanting to
raise a child, activists recommend women to give birth and give up the kid
for adoption or “foster care”. Millions of people out there who are unable to
have children opt to adopt kids. So, instead of aborting the fetus, the mother
may just give him or her up for adoption rather than taking the fetus’ life. With
those data, in the end, every woman should have the right to decide the
future of her pregnancy according to her conscience, whatever her reasons
or circumstances.
QUIZ:
1. The process in which pregnancy is intentionally interrupted occurs in
the death of the fetus.
a. Abortion
b. Reproduction
c. Therapeutic
d. Operation

2. The possesses properties in virtue of which it has moral standing. There

is something inherent in the item in questions that ground its standing?
a. Indirect moral standing
b. Secondary Moral Standing
c. Direct moral standing
d. Asymmetrical Moral Standing

3. The reason that might seek an abortion that relating to the life and
health of the pregnant woman.
a. Humanitarian
b. Therapeutic
c. Eugenic
d. Socioeconomic

4. Reason that might seek an abortion that deals with pregnancy due
to incest or rape.
a. Eugenic
b. Socioeconomic
c. Therapeutic
d. Humanitarian

5. _____ made many abortions LEGAL. Struck down a Texas law. Gave
the woman a constitutionally guaranteed right to an abortion
throughout the first two-thirds of pregnancy (allowing some
 restrictions on methods and circumstances of abortions for medical
reasons).
a. Roe V. Wade
b. Ray W. Void
c. Rae V. Vlade
d. Rie W. Winston

6. An argument that pinpoints "Abortion is wrong because the fetus is,

biologically speaking, a human being."
a. Genetic code argument
b. Default argument
c. Positional argument
d. Arbitrary keyword argument

7. Who's philosopher argument "On the moral and legal status of

abortion" 1973
a. Frank Lloyd Wright
b. Anne Frank
c. Mary Warren
d. Karl Joe Facturan

8. Warren thinks the word human has two different senses. ___ and ___?
a. Genetical, monarch
b. Adaptive, difference
c. Tripod, refence
d. Genetic, moral

9. According to ____, a fetus is NOT a person at any stage in its

development, and from this, she concludes that abortion is not
morally wrong.
a. Facturan
b. Nieva
c. Acosta
d. Warren
 10. Warren thinks that the moral community consists of all and only _____
rather than all and only human beings.
a. Animals
b. People
c. Things
d. Structure

Answer key:
1. A
2. C
3. B
4. D
5. A
6. A
7. C
8. D
9. D
10. B
IV. REFERENCES

Akinrinola Bankole, S. S. (1998, September 2). Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved from Guttmacher
Institute Web site: https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/reasons-why-women-have-
induced-abortions-evidence-27-countries

Biggs, A. M., Gould, H., & Greene, F. D. (2013, July 05). BMC Women's Health. Retrieved from BMC:
https://bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6874-13-29

Ellison MA: Authoritative knowledge and single women's unintentional pregnancies, abortions,
adoption, and single motherhood: social stigma and structural violence. Med Anthropol Q.
2003, 17 (3): 322-347. 10.1525/maq.2003.17.3.322.

Furedi, A. (2016, August 11). The Moral Case for Abortion. Retrieved from
https://www.palgrave.com/: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/media-centre/press/the-
moral-case-for-abortion/10263984

Guttmacher Institute: Laws affecting reproductive health and rights: 2011 state policy review.
2012, New York: Guttmacher Institute.

Haelle, T. (2016, June 27). 5 Reasons The Supreme Court Abortion Decision Benefits Women's
Health. Forbes, pp. 1-10.

Joe Foyle. (n.d.).

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. The Safety and Quality of
Abortion Care in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
https://doi.org/10.17226/24950.

Morag‐Levine. (1998). legal culture and the local dynamics of Israeli abortion politics. Imported
problem definitions, 108-115.

The Irish Times. (2000). The Catholic Church's position on the difference between direct and
indirect abortion is considered by Joe Foyle. Defining the undefined key in abortion debate,
6-13.
 V. REFLECTION
It can be complicated and confusing to discuss the values and ethics of
any topic, and abortion is no exception. Few people think that a clear
right/wrong issue is the ethics of abortion. It is not uncommon for women to
feel that their ethics are questioned in some way by each pregnancy choice.
If you feel conflicted and this is getting in the way of making a decision,
talking to a counselor could be helpful in making a decision that will support
you.
Doloriel, Adrian Rey C.

It is safe to say that abortion is immoral and a sin, but there is always a thin
line that says it depends what is the purpose of it. From what I am
understanding, from what its nature, abortion is an immoral doing. Ending
once life is forbidden, it is in fact written in Holy Scriptures. I have a friend who
I have a conversation about this kind of topic and he said “why aborting?
you’ve done it in the first place. From that moment, you have at least know
the consequences of might happened.” Being a member of the Church Of
Christ, this is immoral, no more defense no more discussions. But, for some
reasons, why these kinds of this are prominent now a days? Because world is
changing. From our research, teenage pregnancy is massive on the other
hand, medical problems are in fact one of the reasons why it sometimes
necessary. So, abortion in a bigger picture, moral or immoral, depends on
the person it’s her choice.
Facturan, Jhon Karl C.

Abortion is a very sensitive topic to discuss, but studying it makes the

people understand the context of abortion. In generally speaking when we
hear the word abortion we know it is bad because it is like killing someone’s
life. That is why many people doesn’t accept it as an option. Most of the
country doesn’t legalize this act just like here in the Philippines because
we’re a catholic country, and it says in the holy bible that it is a sin. On my
own opinion, abortion is not a first option to do. Killing is not an option. That’s
why being responsible in everything is very important thing to do. So that we
don’t have to make a decision in the end that will make you regret. Still the
person has the one to make its own decision to make.
Nieva, Millecent
VI. CURRICULUM VITAE
 CORE SKILLS
Fast learner
Can adapt into different environment
Good Communication skills
Innovative and visionary
Can perform skill using different architectural
software such as AutoCAD, Sketch-Up, V-ray
Capable on using Microsoft Word, Excel and
PowerPoint

“I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO BE A

SUCCESSFUL ARCHTECT SOMEDAY, ACADEMIC HISTORY
AND TO ACQUIRE THAT TITLE I
PREPARE MYSELF TO BE ONE. I EAT ELEMENARY
LOTS OF ART AND DESIGNS
KNOWLEDGE AND I’M NOT DONE SAN ROQUE I ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
EATING.”
HIGH SCHOOL
SAN JOSE NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
JHON KARL C. ❖ VISUAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR
❖ CAMPUS JOURNALIST

FACTURAN COLLEGE
OCCIDENTAL MINDORO STATE COLLEGE
BS Architecture NEW ERA UNIVERSITY
3rd year
❖ BS ARCHITECTURE (2018 – PRESENT)

CONTACT EDUCATION
PHONE:
+63921-245-8864 HOBBIES
Playing mobile games
Social Media: Watching movies
https://www.facebook.com/karl.facturan
Drawing

EMAIL:
karlkyle21@gmail.com
 CORE SKILLS

• Proficient in Microsoft Office

“Highly-motivated, versatile
and innovative student and
currently taking BS in Architecture
in New Era University. Skilled in
various hand and power tools, with
competent computer skills. Has the
capacity to excel at things when
time, a ttention and effort a re put
in.”
DOLORIEL,
ADRIAN REY
C.
Bs in Architecture
3rd Year
• Proficient in using photo & video editing
software
• Proficient in AutoCAD & Sketch-Up plotting
• Proficient in using rendering application
ACADEMIC HISTORY
ELEMENTARY
• Colegio De San Gabriel Arcangel
(City of San Jope Del Monte, Bulacan)
HIGH SCHOOL
• First City Providential College
(City of San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan)
COLLEGE
• New Era University
(Quezon City)

CONTACT
PHONE:
0956 659 3784

WEBSITE:
www.Euph.com.ph

EMAIL:
a.doloriel29@gmail.com