Transcript The Moral Issue of Abortion - Loyola Marymount University

The Moral Issue of
Abortion
The heart of the problem
Prenatal life raises questions about two
important human goods:
1. The woman’s personal choices and
responsibility for her life;
2. The important reality of a distinctively new
human life.
- The dual nature of prenatal life creates the
major moral dilemma
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Fetal Development
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Conception or fertilization usually takes place in the
Fallopian tube. A single sperm penetrates an ovum or egg,
and the resulting cell is called a zygote.
The zygote contains all of the genetic information (DNA), 46
chromosomes, necessary to become a child. Half of the
genetic information comes from the mother’s egg, and half
from the father’s sperm. (genetic uniqueness since completion
of fertilization)
The zygote spends the next few days (2-3) traveling down the
Fallopian tube and divides to form a ball of cells. Further cell
division creates an inner group of cells with an outer shell.
This stage is called a "blastocyst". The inner group of cells
will become the embryo, while the outer group of cells will
become the membranes that nourish and protect it.
The cells of the zygote are in their totipotential state
(twinning is possible)
This picture is a
fertilized egg only thirty hours
after conception. Magnified
here, it is no larger than the head
of a pin. Still rapidly dividing,
the developing embryo, called a
zygote at this stage, floats down
from the fallopian tube and
towards the uterus.
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Implantation starts at day 7 and is completed
around day 14.
The cells of the embryo now multiply and
begin to take on specific functions. This
process is called differentiation, which
produces the varied cell types that make up a
human being (such as blood cells, kidney
cells, and nerve cells).
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Fertilization is a 24-36 hour process, not a
“moment”
Implantation marks a shift in developmental
focus: with implantation the individual
identity becomes stable even though it has
been characterized by genetic uniquness
First Trimester (fertilization to week 12)
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By the fifth week of the
pregnancy, the brain, spinal
cord, heart, and other organs
begin to form.
In the last few weeks of the first
trimester, the embryo really
starts to take shape.
The facial structures begin to
form and become recognizable.
The neural tube, which will
form the brain and spinal cord,
develops. Little buds emerge and
grow into arms and legs.
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Around week 8, the
embryo becomes a fetus.
The kidneys, liver, brain,
and lungs are all beginning
to function. The fingers
and toes are separate and
the external genitalia are
formed.
At 12 weeks, the fetus is
about three inches long
and weighs about one
ounce.
The Second Trimester (week 13-week
26)
By week 15, the fetus is
around five inches long
and weighs about two
ounces. Although its
eyelids are
fused shut,
its eyes are now
sensitive to light.
Fetal survival rate:
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Most babies at 22 weeks are not resuscitated
because survival without major disability is so
rare. A baby's chances for survival increases
3-4% per day between 23 and 24 weeks of
gestation and about 2-3% per day between 24
and 26 weeks of gestation. After 26 weeks
survival is high.
Third Trimester (week 27 to birth)
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Interlinking of the brain's neurons begins. The higher
functions of the fetal brain turn on for the first time.
Some rudimentary brain waves can be detected. The fetus
will be able to feel pain for the first time. It has become
conscious of its surroundings.
Later (7 months) regular brain waves are detectable which are
similar to those in adults.
Methods of Abortion
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Surgical techniques:
vacuum aspiration
D&C (dilation and curettage)
saline injection
D&E (dilation and evacuation)
D&X (dilation and extraction, “partial birth
abortion” )
Hysterotomy
2. Pharmaceutical means:
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Morning after pill (form of contraception
because it prevents implantation)
Prostaglandin
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Mifepriston (RU-486)
Roe v. Wade (1973)
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In the 1st trimester, states cannot make any
laws regulating abortions;
In the 2nd trimester, states cannot make any
laws regulating abortions unless they are
related to the health of the woman;
In the 3rd trimester, states may make laws
regulating abortions, and even forbid them,
unless abortion is necessary to preserve the
life or health of the mother.
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The decision was made based on a right, the
woman’s right to personal privacy, something
that is not explicitly mentioned in the
Constitution but nonetheless guaranteed by it.
It acknowledged and protects a woman’s
choice about her pregnancy, BUT it fails to
acknowledge that prenatal human life in the
first 2 trimesters as also something important
and valuable
Uncompromising positions
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Pro-life
Right to life
The ideological
right-to-life position
tramples on a woman’s
prerogative to make
choices about her own
body
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Pro-choice
Right to choose
The ideological
right-to-choose
position fails to
appreciate the human
life of the fetus
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The debate reveals a fundamental weakness in
arguments that use rights as trump cards:
when more than one right is in play, no
resolution is possible
An alternative approach is needed. Ethics is
not about rights but about what is good. Life,
even prenatal life, is a very basic good.
Prenatal human life has a value, and this value
is lost if we destroy it.
The morality of abortion argued
from uncompromising positions
suggests we look elsewhere for
moral insight. A moral reasoning the
first acknowledges the complexity of
the issue and then seeks a solution
according to right reason.
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Abortion is always a moral decisions, and a
serious one because it is the taking of human
life. Thus we need serious reasons to justify
an abortion.
The important things is not to begin the
discussion with a claim on rights but with a
recognition that destroying prenatal life is a
serious action, and it should never be done
without compelling reaons.
Widespread agreement about some
elective abortions
One can argue that abortion would be morally
reasonable includes:
 Ectopic pregnancy
 Selective abortion: pregnancies with too many
fetuses
 Seriously defective fetuses (anencephaly,
genetic defects, such as trisomy 13 or trisomy
18)
The Central Argument
Here is the main argument that is usually
advanced against abortion:
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P1: The fetus is an innocent person.
P2: It is morally wrong to end the life of an
innocent person.
C: Therefore, it is morally wrong to end the life
of a fetus.
The Moral Status of the Fetus
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Much of the debate in regard to abortion has centered
around the first premise, namely, whether the fetus is
a person or not.
If the fetus is a person, then it has the rights that
belong to persons, including the right to life.
The concept of personhood, in other words, is the
bridge that connects the fetus with the right to life.
Personhood
Fetus
Rights
Criteria of Personhood
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Possible criteria
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Conceived by humans (member of the
human species)
Genetic structure (genetic uniqueness)
Individuality
Presence of a soul (animation)
Viability
A future like ours
Potentiality
Cahill’s “ethos of solidarity”
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We must place reproductive matters into the
context of social practices, institutions, and
policies and address the roles that religion and
theology may have in making these more
equitable and just
The challenge is to affirm and advance gender
equality in practice and in theory, while
providing positive alternatives to women and
couples for whom pregnancy is a threat of
well-being
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Issues related to abortion and sexual morality
cannot be addressed apart from gender roles
ad relationships
An adequate solution to the problem of
abortion must recognize:
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The importance of sexual responsibility
Gender equality
Responsibility of both parents
Responsibility of every community