Write a 1–2 page paper evaluating ethical arguments concerning abortion by raising and answering two substantive questions of validity.
For this assessment, you will continue your survey of ethical principles in health care by exploring issues around abortion. For this assessment, you will explore ethical reasoning on both sides of the issue.
Abortion is frequently debated in various political and cultural settings. Some support the right to choose; others do not. Consider the positions by looking at one argument that women have the right to abortion and another asserting that abortion is morally wrong:
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Those who support the right to choose abortion might argue that women have a right to choose what to do with their own bodies.
The argument can be expressed as follows:
If women have an unlimited right to choose what to do with their own bodies, and if the practice of abortion is merely a matter of the pregnant woman’s body, a pregnant woman has the right to choose abortion.
Women have an unlimited right to choose what to do with their own bodies.
The practice of abortion is merely a matter of the pregnant woman’s body.
Therefore, women have an unlimited right to choose what to do with their own bodies, and the practice of abortion is merely a matter of the pregnant woman’s body. (2, 3 CONJ)
Therefore, a pregnant woman has the right to choose abortion. (1, 4 MP)
This is a logically valid argument by the deductive rules of logic called conjunction and modus ponens. If the premises are true, the conclusion follows logically. The premises are (1), (2), and (3). To refute this argument, one must show that at least one of the premises is false or that the argument contains a fallacy.
The opponent of abortion normally denies (2) and (3). Regarding (2), the opponent can argue that the right to do whatever one chooses with one’s body is not unlimited. One cannot use one’s body to harm another human being. Regarding (3), the opponent can argue that (3) presupposes that the human fetus is merely a body part of the pregnant woman. But this is plausibly false. The fetus is an independent life growing inside the pregnant woman, not a body part of the woman like an arm, heart, or lung. If the opponent’s objections to (2) and/or (3) are correct, then the argument for abortion fails.
The abortion opponent can provide the following argument against abortion:
If it is morally wrong to deliberately take the life of an innocent human being without that being’s consent, and if a human fetus growing in a human female is an innocent human being that does not consent, it is morally wrong to deliberately take the life of a human fetus.
It is morally wrong to deliberately take the life of an innocent human being without that being’s consent.
A human fetus growing in a human female is an innocent human being who does not consent.
Therefore, it is morally wrong to deliberately take the life of an innocent human being without that being’s consent, and a human fetus growing in a human female is an innocent human being who does not consent. (2, 3 CONJ)
Therefore, it is morally wrong to deliberately take the life of a human fetus. (1, 4 MP)
If abortion is the deliberate taking of a human fetus’s life, abortion is morally wrong.
Abortion is by definition the deliberate taking of a human fetus’s life.
Therefore, abortion is morally wrong. (6, 7 MP)
This is also a logically valid argument by conjunction and modus ponens. Thus, if the premises are true, the conclusion is true. The abortion rights opponent can provide reasons for thinking the premises are true. For example, given the intrinsic value of human life and the inviolable right to life that human beings possess, premise (2) is true. Given that a fetus growing in a human female is itself biologically human, and given that the fetus is innocent and cannot consent, premise (3) is true. And abortion is by definition the deliberate taking of a fetus’s life. Thus, premise (7) is true and the conclusion follows logically: abortion is morally wrong.
To refute this argument, the supporter of the right to choose abortion must show that at least one of the premises is false. Premise (7) is true by definition. This means that the supporter of abortion rights must argue (a) that it is not morally wrong to deliberately kill an innocent human being without that being’s consent; (b) that a fetus growing inside a human female is not biologically human; (c) that if the fetus is human, the fetus is not innocent; (d) that the fetus is not an independent entity but merely part of the pregnant woman’s body; or (e) that the fetus provides consent. If the supporter of the right to choose abortion can show that one or more of the premises is false, the argument against abortion rights fails.
nstructions
How valid are ethical arguments around abortion?
Write a paper that answers this question, defending your evaluation with cogent moral reasoning and supporting your view with ethical theories or moral principles you deem most relevant to the issue. You will evaluate the following:
Argument for Abortion
If women have an unlimited right to choose what to do with their own bodies, and if the practice of abortion is merely a matter of the pregnant woman’s body, a pregnant woman has the right to choose abortion.
Women have an unlimited right to choose what to do with their own bodies.
The practice of abortion is merely a matter of the pregnant woman’s body.
Therefore, women have an unlimited right to choose what to do with their own bodies and the practice of abortion is merely a matter of the pregnant woman’s body.
Therefore, a pregnant woman has the right to choose abortion.
Argument Against Abortion
If it is morally wrong to deliberately take the life of an innocent human being without that being’s consent, and if a human fetus growing in a human female is an innocent human being who does not consent, it is morally wrong to deliberately take the life of a human fetus.
It is morally wrong to deliberately take the life of an innocent human being without that being’s consent.
A human fetus growing in a human female is an innocent human being who does not consent.
Therefore, it is morally wrong to deliberately take the life of an innocent human being without that being’s consent, and a human fetus growing in a human female is an innocent human being who does not consent.
Therefore, it is morally wrong to deliberately take the life of a human fetus.
If abortion is the deliberate taking of a human fetus’s life, then abortion is morally wrong.
Abortion is by definition the deliberate taking of a human fetus’s life.
Therefore, abortion is morally wrong.
In your paper, address the following:
In one paragraph, evaluate the reasoning behind the argument for abortion by raising and answering two substantive objections to it.
In one paragraph, evaluate the reasoning behind the argument against abortion by raising and answering two substantive objections to it.
Write a one-page conclusion of the argument you think is better and explain why you think so.
Submission Requirements
Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting guidelines.
Length: 2 typed, double-spaced pages.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
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