Abortion and the right to a child

Abortion and the right to a child

1. The deliberate termination of a pregnancy by artificial means

   • In 1967, it became legal in the UK up to 28 weeks
     • In 1991, this was reduced to 24 weeks
       • This before the foetus can survive independendtly
         • The foetus may be aborted past this time to save the mother, or in case of severe abnormality
         • If it can survive outside the womb, it needs legal protection
         • The 'viability phase' is 20-24 weeks
   • 30% of pregnancies are aborted

2. The issues

   • What is a person?
   • When does life begin?
   • Is it murder to abort a foetus?
   • Is there always a duty to preserve innocent life?
   • Is the mother or the foetus more important?
   • Is human life intrinsically valuable?

3. When does life begin? (Personhood)

   • Once you've decided a foetus is a person, it needs protection
   • The Catholic Church teaches that life begins at conception
     • This comes from Pope Pius XI's 'Casti Connubi'
       • The 1982 Warnock Committee found that conception is a process, not a moment
     • This is an attractively clear-cut definition
       • Biblical support: Jeremiah 1:5 - 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.'
   • A foetus is a potential person
     • You could say the same for sperm and eggs but they don't get legal protection
     • The law says personhood occurs after conception, from 24 weeks
       • Other options:
         • Implantation in the womb (6-7 weeks)
         • Heartbeat starts (4 weeks)
         • The primitive streak - when you can tell if there are twins (14th day)
         • Birth
           • Supported by Mary Anne Warren - no longer total reliance on mother
           • Criticised by Joseph Glover - there's no difference between a born baby and a late foetus
         • Aquinas said ensoulment was at 40 days for boys and 90 for girls

4. The sanctity of life

   • The idea that all life is sacred because it comes from God and so we have a duty to protect it
     • Catholics say we are made 'imago dei' - in God's image (Genesis 1:26)
     • If all life comes from God, only he can decide when to end it
       • The double effect is tolerated (when a foetus is killed to protect the mother's life)
     • 'Weak' sanctity of life is the belief that exceptions can be made
       • The Church of England's report of 1965 said that there must be compassion for the mother's physical and mental health
         • At times a foetus may be seen as an 'aggressor'
   • For and against
     • For
       • Values all human life equally
       • Respects the individual's future
       • There can be no group pressure to abort a disabled foetus
     • Against
       • The mother's wishes may not be considered
       • Sperm and eggs not seen as people?
       • Peter Singer - why do we not have that consideration for animal foetuses?
       • Natural selection disproves 'imago dei'

5. Quality of life

   • Factors in pain, rational choice, and the right to enjoy life
     • Considers mother, foetus and society, but often the mother comes first
       • Judith Jarvis Thomas: the dying violinist analogy - you have no duty to him, and you have no duty to a foetus.
         • He has a right to life, but you have no obligation to give it
     • Is this playing God? Is there disrespect for the human life?

6. What is a person?

   • Genetically human?
   • Conceived by humans?
   • Has a soul?
   • Has a future?
   • Able to survive birth?
   • Mary Anne Warren's criteria
     • Sentience
     • Emotionality
     • Reason
     • Communication
     • Self-awareness
     • Moral agency
     • Not all are vital, but a foetus has none

7. Applying ethical theories to abortion

   • Utilitarianism
     • Human life does not have an absolute value
     • Address each situation individually
       • Address all results and how they affect those concerned - not easy
         • Preference utilitarianism completely disregards the foetus as it has no preference
   • Natural law
     • Doesn't look at consequences or people, but the action
       • Abortion goes against reproduction
         • Innocent life

8. Kant

   • Abortion is hard to universalise because there are so many conflicting circumstances and POVs
     • Emotion must be disregarded - makes this a bad theory to use?
       • Consequences ignored
         • Stage of pregnancy probably not considered
           • Foetus could be a means to a contented life

9. The right to a child

   • IVF is used to help infertile couples have children
     • Louise Brown - first IVF baby, 1978
     • What are the issues?
       • Is a child a gift or a right?
       • Are sperm samples acceptable? (Some catholics say that sperm should not be wasted)
         • Discarded sperm/eggs/foetuses?
           • Foetuses used in experimentation
       • Third parties - donors and surrogates
       • Not what God wants - 'Hannah had no children, because the Lord had closed her womb.'
       • Saviour siblings and designer babies?
       • Will it provide less motivation to prevent causes of infertility and miscarriages?
     • Solution to a medical problem or playing God?
   • Who might not have a right?
     • 1948 declaration of human rights says we all have a 'right to found a family'
       • This is not a specific right to reproduce
     • Elderly mothers? Maria del Carmen Bousada - twin sons age 67 by IVF, then died of stomach cancer two years later
     • Protestants: banning IVF 'refuses a right to create God's image in our own'
     • Do men have as much right to reproduce as women?
     • There are some restrictions on reproduction anyway - incest
   • Applying ethical theories
     • Situation ethics - absolutely allowed if love is the motive and outcome
     • Natural law - supports reproduction, but misuse of the body if donor or donating sperm
       • Destruction of embryos
     • Utilitarianism
       • Measures pain of unused embryos against the pleasure of the baby and parents
         • The embryos are less important, and not sacred
           • Considers overpopulation, and cost to the NHS
     • Kant
       • No means to an end
         • So saviour siblings and surrogacy are not allowed
           • Universalising is tricky because of so many different issues - eg the elderly
             • Hard to know if Kant would consider the embryo to be a person since IVG and abortion were not an issue when he was alive!