Abortion: A Moral and Ethical Dilemma

This paper discusses whether abortion should be permissive or not and if yes, under what conditions. It takes into consideration the moral status of the expecting mother and ethics along with the moral framework of abortion.

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Introduction:
The society that we live in is discriminated on the basis of good and evil or right and
wrong. However this distinction that is made is extremely subjective in nature therefore is not
always quite self-evident. The issue in question here deals with abortion which is one of the most
polarizing topics of recent times. The thesis resolves around the topic whether Abortion should
be morally permissible when in the woman's best interest (LaFollette, 2014). The paper discusses
whether abortion should be permissive or not and if yes, under what conditions. This paper aims
to justify this statement through the portrayal of various arguments for and against the topic by
taking into consideration the moral status of the expecting mother and ethics along with the
moral framework of abortion. The paper also aims to take into consideration the legal rights of
women regarding abortion and will discuss it using philosophical arguments. Through the use of
literature and personal arguments, it will be elucidated in the paper that why abortion should not
be legally permissible except in exceptional cases where the pregnancy is due to rape or the
unborn child might be deformed thus leading to a poor life expectancy of the unborn child.
Argument paper 1 concerning main thesis:
With respect to the ethical frameworks, the first question that rises is that whether we
should or should not use our moral consciousness to determine the feasibility of abortion. This
paper analyzes the question whether or not abortion is ethically correct. There have been several
arguments regarding this, however it is evident from various discussions, that the unborn child
has the right to have a future like ours (FLO) (LaFollette, 2014). The concept of FLO determines
that why killing of adult or children is wrong. Similarly the process of abortion deprives the

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unborn child of the right to life, hence making abortion morally wrong. However this argument
is based on the aspect of wrongness of killing which is an end result of the judgment taken by the
nature of the unfortunate event of death. Therefore, the account of FLO is able to show that
abortion, is seriously wrong with the exception of rare cases. In terms of physical arguments, the
idea of the consequences needs to be taken into consideration which is related to the concept of
utilitarianism. The pregnant woman and the developing child are interconnected, therefore the
woman also has an equal right to a decent standard of living. The right to life is the most basic
right one can think of. However often in such contradictory circumstances, and it is also seen that
the right to life is greater than the right to bodily integrity. Therefore in order to decide that
which of these highly conflicted interests prevail, it is important to put the arguments “side by
side” and then compare them under a conceptual light. It has been put forward by Thompson that
like the process how the adult has to pass through various stages, it is also similar in case of the
unborn baby. On looking at the subject from a philosophical point of view, where the people
consist of a dual-natured body and mind, it can be said that the unborn child has every right to
live and sustain till death. However it is important to think and pay attention to the roles of both
the mother and the unborn child in order to determine the consequences and see which one of it
is able to prevail as the strongest. However, the weaknesses that are preset in the arguments
portrays how people use or should use the “principle of utility” however at the end what matters
is that what maximizes “happiness” and diminishes “pain”. The concept of Utilitarianism and
Consequentialism do not treat unborn babies as objects and not as humans, which cannot change
into anything which is greater than that, based on the theories that have developed so far.

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Argument paper 2 concerning main thesis:
There has been several discussions as to why abortion is morally incorrect, however
consideration is required in exceptional cases like serious health issues, abnormal development
of the child or issues like rape and incest. In order to answer this argument whether these factors
are enough to settle the question of legality, it is important to focus on the woman’s rights on
corporeal integrity argumentation. In spite of astounding improvements that have taken place in
gender equality, women of our society are still subjected to the acts of discrimination, violence
and the several institutional barriers in terms of equal participation in the society. In this respect
if we shift our focus to the issue of abortion, it is often addressed with the sentence “it’s my
body, I can abort if I want to.” this shows that a pregnant woman has the authority over her body
so she can dispose an unplanned child if she desires to. Another more justifiable statement might
be “all persons have a right to determine what happens in and to their bodies, as long as by doing
so they do not thereby infringe upon the rights on others” (LaFollette, 2014). In cases where
pregnancy or the continuation of pregnancy might lead to a threat to the woman’s life where the
developing child is abnormal on medical ground, exceptions are required to be made in the legal
considerations. Therefore there should be an analysis of the situation so as to determine what is
at stake while asking a pregnant woman to continue her pregnancy, which is usually emphasized
by analyzing the medical risks. While pregnancies might go smoothly, there might be several
cases where it does not. In the society, pregnancy often acts as the indicator which marks the
increase of domestic violence. This situation often results in the abandonment of the community
as well as the family along with the occurrence of a condition where the women feel tied up to a
relationship where otherwise she would leave. All these outcomes needs to be taken into

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consideration while delivering a judgment on the fact that whether abortion should be
permissible or not.
Assessing the arguments:
Through the analysis of the arguments which have been put forward above, it is
important to have respect for the unborn baby since it belongs to the same family similar to all
the human beings. By considering the results of abortion, the consequences of the unborn child
who is deprived of its life, which would be more devastating than the one’s of the mother, when
considering there are no extreme situations. The argument stating the FLO, the wrongness of
killing is seen to be associated with the degree of wrongness hat related to the killing which
varies inversely with the age of the victim. Another objection to the account of FLO leads to the
factor of immortality of abortion that involves the argument that the unborn babies have FLO.
The beings which have the moral status are generally capable of caring regarding the fact that
what is done to them. The process of gestation is not only just an activity, it involves the sharing
of one very body. Additionally there is also an emotional intertwinement which is able to reshape
the entire life of an individual. While analyzing the arguments, it is also important to decide
whether the pregnancy should be continued or not and under what consequences. It is often
considered the decision related to whether to go on with the pregnancy is similar to writing a
check for use in charity. This might be as large as required, therefore the gigantic undertaking is
connected to the reverberations for an entire lifetime. For the sake of arguing that the women
might possibly decline the need to deal with the view that grants no such value to life. It is
important to recognize the level of moral prerogative which is not entirely understood. Through
the analysis of the main arguments from both the pro-life and pro-choice perspective, it is seen

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that there is no such concrete answer on the status of the unborn child. The unborn child will be
seen to grow up enough in order to develop a complex mental and intellectual traits along with
the full moral consideration for his or her existence.
Conclusion:
In conclusion it is important to mention that in order gain the rights today, the women
have struggled quite hard. Therefore depriving of their rights to abort might lead to depriving
them of their freedom, hence there freedom needs to be protected against the barrier of any kind.
It is established that the women have the right to their bodies and also to control it in the way
they want it to. The unborn child develops as a part of their body especially in the sense that
emerges from inside them and not from the organs that they possess. This unborn child has a life
of its own and is considered to be an entity that is separate from its mother. The woman has
corporeal rights and the unborn child has the right not to be killed. Deprivation of the unborn
child from the body of the woman by association often leads to the loss of its life. The rights
which are also violated since the performance of the abortion also need to dismantle it in the
process therefore it cannot be extracted in an intact way. In spite of the fact that the unborn child
has a right to life, it does not mean that the mother owns that right to it. The state of the unborn
child also recognizes the right of the mother is greater than the right to life of the unborn child.
The legal institutions therefore applies a balance in order to distinguish between the weight and
consequences of those two conflicting rights. There are certain factors which should be taken
into consideration while making a judgment in this context are the factors like liberty of the
person, the mental and physical pain faced by the mother, the non-existence for the unborn child
in addition to the loss of life for the mother. There are also other hardships for the mother, along

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with the appreciation of the unborn child’s life in the future for not being aborted along with the
possibility of decrease in the maternal hardships by the processes of adoption. There is always an
uncertainty regarding the right that is chosen is the least vital between the two.
References
LaFollette, H. (Ed.). (2014). Ethics in practice: an anthology. John Wiley & Sons.