Ethics of Abortion
Destiny Vazquez
SOC 120
Instructor Slack
Monday, April 16, 2012

Abortion, one of the most ethical issues debated today. It has been a widely controversial debate for many years dated back to even before it was made legal in the United States. Like most ethical issues, there are two sides as to what is the right thing to do. Some people think that abortion is completely and utterly wrong. Some people think that abortion is right when and only when the mother’s life is at risk. And others think that there is a range of different circumstances that make abortion morally acceptable. In this paper I will present the issue of abortion, explain the three classical theories of utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics on how to solve the issue and contrast this response with the perspective brought to the issue of abortion by ethical egoism. I will also present you with my personal opinion as to why I believe abortion should be in fact morally accepted by society. The issues that arise when debating about whether abortion is ethically wrong or right are many. There are two sides to this debate and they call themselves, “pro-life” or “pro-choice”. Pro-lifers say that it is morally wrong to end pregnancy because you are in fact killing an innocent human being, and the pro-choicer believes that the choice should be made by and for the impregnated woman and that under certain circumstances, abortion is in fact acceptable.
Many questions are being asked to form an ethical decision on whether abortion is wrong or not. Questions such as, what gives a being the right to life? Is a fetus even a human being? Is a fetus the kind of being that has a right to live? If the fetus has a right to life, does that right take priority over the mother’s right to control her own body? Or what about questions such as these, does the fetus have a right to be carried in the women’s womb until it is ready to be born? Under what circumstances, if ever, can we take the “innocent” human life? If the women’s or fetus’ life is in danger because of the pregnancy, how do we decide whose right should prevail? (Richard, 2012). Questions like these play a game of tug-a-war with your brain and what you thought prior to reading such questions. This argument reminds us that even in the abortion debate, we should regard the woman as a person and not just as a container for the fetus. We should therefore give great consideration to her rights and needs (Richards, 2012). Most ethical issues might never truly be answered because the study of ethics does not solve our problems rather it gives insight into these issues of right and wrong. (Mosser, 2010, 1.7) Using three classical theories, utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics, we can then decide for ourselves what is moral and if the issue on abortion is right or wrong.
A natural way to see if an act is the right thing to do (or the wrong thing to do), is to look at its results, or consequences. “Utilitarianism argues that, given a set of choices, the act we should choose is that which produces the best results for the greatest number affected by that choice.” (Mosser, 2010, 1.7) Utilitarian’s would ask whether having an abortion brings about the greatest good in the case of an abortion, the people who are affected are the pregnant female and the male who impregnated her, so when we talk about the “greatest good” we mean her, him and their families. What affects the decision for this couple may be that they are not financially stable and a child would bring hardship and struggle therefore leading abortion to be the greater good of the situation. Many women chose to abort if certain DNA tests show positive for some types of birth defects or medical problems. Consider a woman who gave birth to a child with trisomy 13, a genetic disease where the infant will die within the first days or weeks of life. The child dies within 20 days of birth and finally at peace. A couple years later she gets pregnant again, only this time doctors are able to do prenatal testing to determine if her fetus has the same defect. If the test come out positive, and the fetus indeed has trisomy 13, what does she do? She and her family will experience the same tragedy all over again. What is the greater good for the people affected? Does she abort so the fetus never feels the pain of her first child? The utilitarian will say that abortion would be in the greater good because the fetus will not suffer being hooked to wires and tubes for the remainder of its short life, that and the family will also is in a better place knowing that they won’t suffer the same situation twice. Another example to support the utilitarian would be the linkage between child abuse or neglect and abortion. “Unwanted" children may be more subject to child abuse and neglect by their parents or caretakers than are desired children, in part because such children may be born and raised in less favorable circumstances that foster maltreatment. In addition, parents may be more likely to maltreat unwanted children; sociological and medical studies suggest a link between unplanned births and subsequent child abuse. ( Zavodny, 2002). Also in this case, the greater good for the people affected would be to abort the “unwanted” child.
The next ethical theory on our list is deontology. Rather than focusing on consequences, deontological methods emphasize duty as the basis of moral value. In this way, deontological theories emphasize a principle of right action, or the right, over the good (Mosser, 2010), the right, being abortion. Without a doubt, although a fetus is technically not a person until it is outside the womb (Richards, 2011), the fetus will in fact be born human if not interrupted by abortion. However, many women who have had an abortion, have admitted to “the lingering horror, guilt and regret that haunts their later, more mature attempts to be happy and fulfilled in love, children and family.”( DiFonzo, 2011) This proves that every human has a natural understanding of what is morally right and what is morally wrong. The sense of horror and guilt that these women are feeling is due to the knowledge of what they did, an action that has not only affected their life negatively but has also ended the life of an innocent other. When you abort a child you decide to put yourself first. The decision to abort is almost always a utilitarian one. This is because a person who is aborting their child looks at what is best for them and not what is the morally correct decision according to deontology!
Virtue ethics, rather than determining whether an act is right or wrong, or good or bad, it focuses on what makes a person virtuous. The only problem with virtue ethics is that many different people and places have different things that they consider virtuous.(Mosser, 2010) When considering abortion as a virtuous act one must look at the reason the act is being done. For example, if a woman is choosing abortion in order to keep family size down so that she can focus on the children she already has (over population being an issue), than it is accepted. However, if such a killing is considered as murder, which is a separate issue, abortion would be considered not virtuous. So basically, virtue ethics on abortion is regarded on the reasoning on why a woman is seeking abortion. Is her reason virtuous or vicious? What are the common reasons for woman choosing abortion? Simply not being ready, cannot afford a baby, a baby will interfere with education or career, the woman’s physical health is at risk, victim of rape, or possible negative health of baby are all reasons women have given for choosing abortion. (Richard, 2011) So in aspect of virtue ethics, we have to look at the reason an abortion is being done and base a female’s virtue on that.
It seems like the majority of the classical theories believe that abortion is ethically and morally wrong. Ethical Egoism argues that our moral evaluation should be made in terms of our desires and goals. This does seem a bit selfish but when looked at in the bigger painted picture you will see all the options that are review before taking the final decision to abort. As stated earlier, women have a verity of reasons she chooses to abort and by the ethical egoist, which means whatever decision is made will be a moral one based on the individual’s goals and desires.
Another contradicting theory would be relativism. Just because something is wrong or is deemed wrong in one country or the majority of its citizen’s beliefs does not always mean that it is the same in another’s country. Although relativism can be an excuse for almost anything, including abortion, some societies actually see it as a good thing, or the right thing to do. Some societies such as foraging or horticultural societies, where they do not live in one solid place and are constantly on the move consider abortion or infanticide the right thing to do because it is best in the groups are small for travel. And the last theory that usually contradicts the main classical theories is Emotivism.
Emotivism see our moral evaluations as simply the expression of whether we respond to a given act by liking it or not liking it. So it is basically one’s opinion on a given issue or act of an issue, in this case abortion. (Mosser, 2010) For example, my husband and I have very different opinions on the issue of abortion and we are very much so entitled to that opinion. We do not even have to had experience such an issue to have our opinions either. (Mosser, 2010)
My personal opinion of the ethical issues of abortion is that of the utilitarian. I personally feel that a woman should have the right to choose when it comes to abortion, but I will contradict myself as I also disagree under certain circumstances. Although I do feel that a woman has the right to choose, I also feel that this choice gets taken for granted. In certain scenarios, the choice of abortion can be justified in my eyes, but what about those who are just pure careless? What about those who act carelessly because they know in the back of their minds that they have another alternative if something should go unplanned? For example; there are many teens that become pregnant because of carelessness in practicing safe sex. If these young girls knew that if they became pregnant, they had no option but to keep the child, would they be more careful? Or would the number of teens who become pregnant remain the same? I believe it would decrease.
References
DiFonzo, N. (2011, November). Changing Minds. Saving Lives. First Things, Iss. 217, Pg 19, 2 Pgs. Retrieved from http://www.firstthings.com
Mosser, K. (2010) Introduction to Ethics and Social Responsibility. San Diego, Bridgepoint Education Inc. Retrieved from http://content.ashford.edu
Richards, C (2011, October 02) Planned Parenthood. Retrieved from, http://plannedparenthood.org
Richards, J. (2012) BBC Ethics Guide. Retrieved from, http://bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion
Zavodny, M (2002) Child Abuse and Abortion. American Economic Association. 92(2) 5 pgs. Retrieved from, http://aeaweb.org