Medical Ethics Abortion
Lawrence Lazarus
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Has a woman sole rights over what to do with her own body? Considerer this question in relation to abortion
2006
Most moral issues in medicine and healthcare will instigate lively debate, but no subject seems to inflame tempers more than the question of abortion. The gulf between pro-life and pro-choice can be an uncompromising stance of deeply held beliefs and principles. On the one hand, there is the claim that the foetus is a human being with the same right to life as any other human being, and abortion is therefore nothing less than murder. On the other hand, it is argued that a woman has a right to choose what happens within her own body, and is therefore justified in deciding to have her foetus removed if she so wishes. Even a liberal view is problematic; these tend to take the view that it is permissible for an abortion to take place before a certain stage in the foetuses development, but not beyond that given point. Such an arbitrary perspective does seem difficult to quantify; how can anyone determine the criteria that would navigate a decision that finds termination acceptable today but morally reprehensible tomorrow? It is sometimes argued that the foetus reaches personhood well before birth. “By the tenth week, for example, it already has a face, arms and legs, fingers and toes; it has internal organs, and brain activity is detectable.”[1] But does this undermine a woman’s right to self determination—can it still be reasonable for her to choose abortion, given its level of development? We shall explore this question; not from the perspective of whether the foetus is human, but from the premise “that the woman’s rights over her body are more important than the life of the person or part person in her womb.”[2]
A Woman’s Right to Self-Defence
Judith Jarvis Thomson presents the following hypothesis:[3] a woman becomes pregnant and then learns that she has a cardiac condition that will cause her death if the
[pic]
Has a woman sole rights over what to do with her own body? Considerer this question in relation to abortion
2006
Most moral issues in medicine and healthcare will instigate lively debate, but no subject seems to inflame tempers more than the question of abortion. The gulf between pro-life and pro-choice can be an uncompromising stance of deeply held beliefs and principles. On the one hand, there is the claim that the foetus is a human being with the same right to life as any other human being, and abortion is therefore nothing less than murder. On the other hand, it is argued that a woman has a right to choose what happens within her own body, and is therefore justified in deciding to have her foetus removed if she so wishes. Even a liberal view is problematic; these tend to take the view that it is permissible for an abortion to take place before a certain stage in the foetuses development, but not beyond that given point. Such an arbitrary perspective does seem difficult to quantify; how can anyone determine the criteria that would navigate a decision that finds termination acceptable today but morally reprehensible tomorrow? It is sometimes argued that the foetus reaches personhood well before birth. “By the tenth week, for example, it already has a face, arms and legs, fingers and toes; it has internal organs, and brain activity is detectable.”[1] But does this undermine a woman’s right to self determination—can it still be reasonable for her to choose abortion, given its level of development? We shall explore this question; not from the perspective of whether the foetus is human, but from the premise “that the woman’s rights over her body are more important than the life of the person or part person in her womb.”[2]
A Woman’s Right to Self-Defence
Judith Jarvis Thomson presents the following hypothesis:[3] a woman becomes pregnant and then learns that she has a cardiac condition that will cause her death if the
Bibliography: Dwyer, Susan, The Problem of Abortion. London: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1997 Glover, Jonathan, Causing Death and Saving Lives. London: Penguin Books, 1997 Harris, John, The Value of Life. London: Routledge, 1985 Info on Abortion “Abortion”, Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopaedia, Richards, Janet, The Sceptical Feminist. Harmondsworth: Pelican, 1982 Sherwin, Susan, No Longer Patient 1, No. 1, 1971: pp. 47-66 Tooley, Michael, Abortion and Infanticide