Are they able to reason and act upon this accurately? Abortion would go against the primary precept of reproduction and if the foetus is considered a person, then the primary principle to preserve innocent life would also be broken. This means abortion will generally not
IT is however important to note that Natural Law thinkers are not concerned with the consequences of actions, whether they bring good or bad doesn’t matter but what matters to them is whether the action itself is good or bad. Kantian Ethics would also further disagree with Fertility Treatment as the Categorical Imperative says that people must be treated as ends in themselves. If an embryo is a life then the destruction of spare embryos during IVF would be seen as using them as a means to an end. Further if the embryo was experimented upon instead, and the embryo
For example, if it is known that the foetus will be born into a miserable life in which it is unloved or cannot be cared for, an Act Utilitarian would see this as sufficient grounds for an abortion but the opposite would mean that the abortion would be less justified. The mother's right to the quality of life is also taken
It focuses on the intrinsic value of the action itself and whether or not it is inherently good or bad, meaning that when applied to abortion there is not much lenience as it directly breaks three of the primary precepts: those of preserving life and the innocent, proliferation of the species, and to a lesser extent, the education of children (by removing the potential for one). This, coupled with the deontological nature of moral law, means that when following it to the letter abortion is wrong. However, this can be challenged by the doctrine of double effect, the concept that an action that is morally bad may be allowed if its effect will outweigh the action in terms of goodness or moral gain. Aquinas observed “Nothing hinders one act from having two effects, only one of which is intended, while the other is beside the intention. Accordingly, the act of self-defence may have two effects: one, the saving of one's life; the other, the slaying of the aggressor.
Regarding the issue of abortion, The Roman Catholic Church opposes all forms of abortion procedures whose direct purpose is to destroy a foetus, since it holds that “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person — among which are the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.”(Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2270) It admits certain acts which indirectly result in the death of the foetus, as when the direct purpose is removal of a cancerous womb. In addition to saying that abortion is immoral, the Catholic Church also makes statements and takes actions in opposition to it being legal. [2][3] In lots of catholic churches the opinion varies from practicing Catholics who are usually pro-life and the non-practicing Catholics who choose pro-choice. Catholics teachings say that willingly, knowingly and deliberately committing evil is never justifiable - Even if the intent is good, with this moral being absolute and cannot be changed.
Prolife vs. Prochoice Is abortion right or wrong? In a society that often rejects alternate ways of thinking we sometimes avoid facing controversial issues such as abortion. Many people would argue that abortions make one out to be an abomination. Many others would also argue “my body, my choice”. No one is to say who’s right and who’s wrong.
If fetuses are considered to persons with the same moral status as typical adult humans, opponents of abortion would tend to make the argument that “Every person has a right to life. A fetus is a person, therefore it has a right to life.” With this taken into account, opponents of abortion also believe that since the fetus is a person with the right to life, its right to life outweighs the mother’s right to decide what happens in her body. Therefore the fetus should the be killed and an abortion should not be preformed as it is often considered morally impermissible to kill another person with the same moral status as typical adult humans. However, we should consider a case in which the mother will die if an abortion is not preformed. Despite the fact that both she and the fetus has the equal right to life, opponents of abortion would still consider it wrong to preform an abortion with reasons ranging from killing an innocent person is always wrong and is murder to one must always prefer letting a person die to killing a person.
The third is the formula of the kingdom of ends. When applying Kantian ethics to the use of embryos in research all consequences should not be considered as deontological ethics only focus of intentions and actions and therefore all potential gains to medical development cannot be considered, only the action of testing on and destroying embryos. Emotion should also be excluded and therefore especially with IVF where couples can’t have children, the emotions linked with that situation cannot be considered. The formula of an end in itself can also be applied to embryo research as it can be argued that the embryo is being used as a means to an end. However this would only apply if the embryo is regarded as a rational moral agent but the status of the embryo is unclear.
This is understandable through her issues on abortion. I believe abortion is a ‘taboo’ in many religions, Catholic being one of them, and therefore making this issue even more complicated. She goes on to discuss her stance on abortion and why she is prochoice. She explains that, “abortion is not a positive good, it has positive outcomes.” Her perspective implies that there are legitimate concerns abortion carries but the outcome is why she believes it should be done. The interviewer made a remark I believe illustrates the true controversy of this issue in that, “abortion remains more abstract because it is a moment of sadness, grief, and confusion.” This statement underlines the situation and its complexity.
Persons that are pro legal abortion claim that a fetus is not a human being and that personhood begins at birth. In addition they claim fetuses are incapable of feeling pain when an abortion is performed. The anti-abortion is usually a religious belief and threatens the vital separation of church and state. Furthermore, abortion gives the couples the option to choose not to birth babies with severe and life-threatening medical conditions; it is not right to sentence a child to life with an acute handicap such as Cystic Fibrosis or Down Syndrome. Moreover children should not come into the world unwanted as this only increases the already high number of orphans.