Define embryo
Fertilised ovum in the first 8 weeks of development before organs
Define foetus
Unborn human between 8-24 weeks gestation
Define viability
Point at which the developing foetus becomes capable of surviving outside of the womb
Jonathon Glover argues you must not let abortion after this point because there is no difference between a born baby and a foetus who is unborn
Define consciousness
State of being aware, awake or sensitive to one’s surroundings
Sometimes suggested as a definition of personhood
Ability to feel pain and pleasure, a sentient being
Define personhood
Ethical quality or human condition which denotes a morally significant or valuable individual being
Facts of abortion
92% in 2013 were under 13 weeks, 80% under 10
Under 16 rate- 2.5 per 1000
Decrease from 185,311 to 184,571 in 2014
Conception in relation to abortion debate
- moment of fertilisation
- Christian view of when life begins- sanctity of life, formed you…knew you…, do not murder
- not certain at this point whether it is 1,2,3+ lives
- no genetic imprint
- Part x, part James- John Gallagher
- Judith Jarvis Thomson- acorn is not oak tree
- critics say the fertilised egg is too different from what we recognise as a person to be the same thing
- Johnathon Glover- to call a foetus at the point of conception a person stretches beyond normal boundaries
Value of potential and real life- when life begins- quotes from scholars
- John Grigg- ‘conception is the magic moment’
- Dee Wells- ‘I do not believe that a fertilised ovum is a human life…I believe life begins at birth
- Pope Pius IX- ‘a foetus is a human person at the moment of conception’– scientifically all genetic information is necessary to form a unique human being is present at moment of conception
- Judith Jarvis Thomson- ‘acorn has potential to become an oak tree but is not yet an oak tree’
- Mary Anne Warren- ‘birth rather than an other earlier point marks the beginning of true moral status’
Value of potential and real life- opinions of when life begins in general
-presence of primitive streak or central nervous cortex- 14days, unclear about how many people
-consciousness- cannot be applied to all living tissue e.g. Even though animals can experience pleasure and pain they are not humans, we cannot use the ability to communicate as a definition because dolphins and chimpanzees do. Small babies or people with severe mental disabilities have no sense of past and future but are still humans
-point of viability- up until then it is only a potential person. Only problem with this is that it is getting earlier with technological advances. Foetus has intrinsic value not because it can survive but because of what it is
-
Define abortion
The deliberate termination of a pregnancy which results in the death of the foetus usually before 24 weeks gestation
Primitive streak in relation to abortion
- 14 days, also point of central nervous cortex forming
- determines number of babies, cells differentiate
- all experimentation has to stop here
- RC Church argue that at this point it changes from a potential being to a being with potential
- foetus does still not yet have the same rights as a human and it isn’t minded because it still doesn’t present features that are similar to a human so cannot yet identify as one
- Thomson and Glover’s opinions on conception apply here too
Viability in relation to abortion
- time at which baby could survive outside, usually 24 weeks, limit for UK abortions
- argued that the foetus must have same rights as a healthy, able bodied premature child born at 24 weeks- Johnathon Glover’s view
- even with technology this is unlikely to be earlier
- after 24 weeks it is late abortions only- mothers life at risk or severely disabled child, unlikely to survive, kindest thing for mother and baby
CofE views on abortion
- accept abortions in special cases- potential death of mother/baby
- but it still strongly opposed- ‘CofE combines strong opposition to abortion with a recognition that there can be strictly limited conditions under which it may be morally preferable to any available alternative’- General Synod
- worried about a rise in no. of abortions, ‘the number of abortions carried out since the passage of the abortion act 1967 is unacceptably high’
- see abortions as morally evil and too many ‘pointless’ abortions happen
- ‘gravely contrary to moral law’
Roman Catholic views on abortion
- completely opposed to abortion- all having one are excommunicated
- believes abortion has serious physical and emotional side effects
- playing God- stopping natural cycle of events as God planned it
- only approve if mother’s life is in grave danger e.g. pre-eclampsia or ectopic pregnancy- JJT mother in house
- ‘life must be protected with utmost care from moment of conception; abortion and infanticide are the most abominable of crimes’- Second Vatican Council
- ‘from first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognised as having the rights of a person-among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life’- Catechism of the Catholic Church
- ‘go forth and multiply’
Outline the Hippocratic oath
- taken by doctors and other medical professionals
- ‘nor counsel any such thing nor perform the utmost respect for every human life from fertilisation to natural death and reject abortion that deliberately takes a a unique human life’
Teleological perspective to right to life
Everyone has right to life but also right to take your own life
Deontological perspective on right to life
E.g. Kant
- no one is ever morally justified in taking a life- their own or another’s
- because life is an inalienable right therefore killing is always wrong
Judith Jarvis Thompson opinions on abortion- in ‘a defence of abortion’
-by rape- shouldn’t have an abortion but it is acceptable, it is kinder to keep the baby- ‘only nine months…not nine years’- you can have it adopted
-ectopic pregnancy- ‘trapped in a tiny house with a growing child’ ‘the child’s right to life is weightier than anything other than the mother’s own right to life’
-by failed contraception- ‘a woman voluntarily indulges in intercourse knowing of the chance it will issue in pregnancy…she is in part responsible for the presence…of the unborn child’
‘Fix up your windows with fine mesh screens…one is defective…you are responsible…could have lived with…sealed windows’ ‘anyone can avoid a pregnancy due to rape by having a hysterectomy’
Consciousness or personhood in the abortion debate
Ability to feel pleasure and pain
But animals feel this too and are not the same as human beings
So the presence of rationality and our ability to develop complex language are distinctive features of personhood
But chimpanzees and dolphins do this to an extent
Self-consciousness or self-awareness defines a human person as we have a sense of our own past and future, but young babies are not aware in this sense
Foetus has potential personhood but this doesn’t mean they should have full legal status
Life of the mother vs life of the child
Ectopic pregnancy- kills both mother and baby, foetus implanted in fallopian tubes rather than the womb
Pre-eclampsia, severe high blood pressure
Judith Jarvis thomson opinions, child growing in house
Whose life is more important? Child or the mother?
Define double effect
A doctrine devised to deal with moral conflicts in natural law theory. It says that it is always wrong to do a bad act intentionally in order to bring about good consequences, but is sometimes permissible to do a good act while at the same time knowing that it will bring about bad consequences. Provided your intention is to follow the rule, you can benefit from any unintended consequences.
Double effect in relation to abortion debate
In order to protect the life of the mother, this indirectly leads to the need to terminate the life of the foetus. The death of the innocent is an unfortunate side effect
Roman Catholic Church- abortion is sometimes preferable in these situations, but the action must be good even if there are bad consequences to these actions. There must be a proportionate need to have an evil act. E.g. Removing the fallopian tube means the woman’s life is saved but the foetus dies
Ectopic pregnancy examples
Amy Oates lost baby at 8 weeks, needed emergency surgery
Paula Cawte lucky had Eva at 10weeks premature no defects and no death from ectopic pregnancy
Ethical arguments against abortion
Lack of diversity in society, no disability
Gender imbalance
Giving one life priority over another
Risk of infertility
Mental suffering of the mother
Child doesn’t have a choice
Better options to choose e,g. Adoption or foster care
