abortion

I N T R O D U C T I O N

introduction

introduction

introduction

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introduction

introduction

definitions  The fetus is the unborn entity at any stage of development.

 An abortion is the intentional destruction of a fetus.

 Something is a human in the genetic sense if and only if (iff) it is a homo sapien.

 Something is a human in the moral sense iff it is the sort of thing that has rights, like the right to life.

 X has a prima facie right to Y iff it would be wrong for someone to take Y from X, all else being equal (i.e., there is some moral reason not to take X from Y).

the central argument 1.

2.

3.

4.

The fetus is a human in the moral sense.

If (1), the fetus has a prima facie right to life.

If the fetus has a prima facie right to life, abortion is prima facie wrong.

[So] Abortion is prima facie wrong.

definitions  To analyze a concept is to provide a list of necessary and sufficient conditions for that concept to apply.

  Something is a if and only if Something is a square iff .

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 Something is God iff  Something is a person iff . .

the species criterion  The Species Criterion: Something is a person iff it is a homo sapien.