Utilitarianism And Abortion Paper

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Utilitarianism and Abortion Danielle Hammel SOC 120: Intro to Ethics and Social Responsibility Professor David Strand July 30, 2012 Abortion is a touchy subject. Typically this subject involves one’s personal morals and the government. In this paper I will be discussing how utilitarianism would go about resolving this problem, and how ethical egoism would complicate that resolution. This paper will also discuss my views and opinions about this particular subject. To start off, first you need to know the definition of abortion and an understanding of what utilitarianism is. Abortion is defined as the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion of a fetus or embryo from the uterus resulting in its death. “Utilitarianism…show more content…
This decision could create a lot of tension between the two families, or even between members of one of the families involved, by causing extreme sadness or depression. On the area of over population, there could be the opposite reaction if the area is under populated. If an area is under populated, then the baby may help the area to flourish, and having the abortion could prevent that from…show more content…
Say an under aged girl, or even a girl who isn’t under aged was molested or raped, and that resulted in a pregnancy. Someone with Utilitarian views could say it is better to have the abortion because it could cause more harm on the baby or the mother if she continues the pregnancy, and suffers depression by the constant reminder growing inside of her, or after the child is born she could resent the child and cause it harm. These situations would have a negative outcome for more people than a good one, so in Utilitarinaism eyes, aborting the baby would be the right thing to do. Consider someone who is looking to adopt a baby, because they cannot have a baby of their own. If a woman aborts her baby she could be denying that couple who can’t have a baby the opportunity to adopt. This view would be negative for a larger number of people, so in the Utilitarianism view, it would not be ok to abort the baby. There are many different way’s this could go, it just depends on the situation, and whether the results will have a more positive outcome or more negative outcome for the larger number due to the

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