Abortion

Is abortion moral? This very issue has been debated among human rights and religious groups for many years. The guidelines for morality on this issue seem to focus on the fetus; at what stage is it considered to be a person in the full moral sense? In my view determining the moral status of the fetus is important but there are many other significant factors that need to be taken into account before taking a stand on this issue, exploring these issues will be the focus of this paper.

Determining the moral status of a fetus very difficult. I believe that its moral status changes through out the pregnancy. I also think that a fetus is not a person in the full moral sense until after birth, but it does start developing into what I would consider a moral person while still in the womb. After the first trimester, an embryonic fetus starts to develop its brain stem. This is just the first step, because as the fetus grows inside the mother it is expanding it’s cognitive ability every second. Many parts of the brain are developing and by a certain period during the pregnancy, a fetus is capable of cognitive activity. When this happens, it can experience things like hearing and dreaming within the womb. Because of this a fetus may now be considered a person but not in the full moral sense. In contrast, Biale’s view is rooted with in traditional Jewish law. She argues that a fetus is part of its mother and is not a person in the full moral sense until after it passes out of the mother’s womb at birth.

When it comes to abortion, I am on the pro-choice side of the fence. How ever, I believe that there are a few situations where abortion may be necessary and other situations where abortion should never be allowed. Each case is very different and should be closely examined before deciding whether an abortion is fitting for that particular situation. There are many things that should be looked at when an abortion is being considered. The first thing that should be studied is whether or not the fetus is far enough along to be considered a person in a moral sense. This is important to do, but it cannot be the only determining factor that decides if an abortion is morally justifiable. Other questions that should be asked are, will the fetus be defective? Is the mother’s mental or physical health at risk? Is the mother’s life in jeopardy? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, then I believe that an abortion is morally justifiable. Rachel Biale agrees that all of these situations would warrant an abortion.