A Foetus is Not a Person
A foetus is not a person . Discuss
Arguably, a foetus is a person. The Catholic church would argue that the foetus is a person from conception, for there is genetic material present at conception. Equally, someone who believes in the sanctity of life would potentially believe foetuses are people, for if all life is God given then even at this early stage God must have created life.
However, it is certain that a foetus is not a person. Even followers of the Bible will find it hard not to justify that something cannot be a person until is born. Genesis 2:7 said that man was created before he was given the breath of life. Until a baby can breathe outside of the womb it cannot be considered a human, even by followers of religion, surely. Peter Singer goes further to suggest that even babies up to the age of one month old are not people, for they have still not developed rational capacity, and to a certain extent he is right. Judith Jarvis Thompson listed the traits of personhood, including the ability to make rational decisions. It is certain that at birth babies do not have this ability, so perhaps cannot be considered to be people until a certain age of birth, however extreme this perspective may be.
It is almost undeniable that a foetus is not a person. Even religious followers would struggle to argue against this, and in addition babies display few traits of personhood, even up to birth. A sensible time to assume that a foetus becomes a person would be at birth, though even at this stage they may not display the traits of personhood, so by some would still not be considered people. A foetus is categorically not a person.
Explain how a belief in the Sanctity of Life may influence ethical approaches to abortion.
The sanctity of life theory is the idea that all humans are created in the image of God and because of this only God has the right to give or take life. An embryo, if considered a person, cannot be aborted if someone believes in the sanctity of life, for
Arguably, a foetus is a person. The Catholic church would argue that the foetus is a person from conception, for there is genetic material present at conception. Equally, someone who believes in the sanctity of life would potentially believe foetuses are people, for if all life is God given then even at this early stage God must have created life.
However, it is certain that a foetus is not a person. Even followers of the Bible will find it hard not to justify that something cannot be a person until is born. Genesis 2:7 said that man was created before he was given the breath of life. Until a baby can breathe outside of the womb it cannot be considered a human, even by followers of religion, surely. Peter Singer goes further to suggest that even babies up to the age of one month old are not people, for they have still not developed rational capacity, and to a certain extent he is right. Judith Jarvis Thompson listed the traits of personhood, including the ability to make rational decisions. It is certain that at birth babies do not have this ability, so perhaps cannot be considered to be people until a certain age of birth, however extreme this perspective may be.
It is almost undeniable that a foetus is not a person. Even religious followers would struggle to argue against this, and in addition babies display few traits of personhood, even up to birth. A sensible time to assume that a foetus becomes a person would be at birth, though even at this stage they may not display the traits of personhood, so by some would still not be considered people. A foetus is categorically not a person.
Explain how a belief in the Sanctity of Life may influence ethical approaches to abortion.
The sanctity of life theory is the idea that all humans are created in the image of God and because of this only God has the right to give or take life. An embryo, if considered a person, cannot be aborted if someone believes in the sanctity of life, for