Mary Anne Warren: "On the
Moral and Legal Status of Abortion"
I. Challenge to Traditional Anti-Abortion Argument
Traditional Anti-Abortion Argument (302):
(1) It is wrong to kill innocent human
beings.
(2) Fetuses are innocent human beings.
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(3) It is wrong to kill fetuses.
Challenge:
Suppose
the term “human beings” is used in the same sense in both
premises. The term refers either to genetically human beings or to
persons (humans in the
moral sense). If "human
beings" refers to genetically human beings, then (1) is
questionable. If it refers to persons (i.e., full fledged members of
the moral community),
then (2) is questionable.
But suppose the term "human beings" changes meaning in the course of the
argument. The argument then contains an equivocation and is deductively invalid.
II. Persons vs. Non-persons
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Traits most central to personhood
(303-304):
-
consciousness and in particular the
ability to feel pain
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reasoning; the capacity to solve new and complex problems
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self-motivated activity: activity that is relatively
independent of either genetic or direct external control
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the capacity to communicate (on indefinitely many
topics)
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the presence of self-concepts and self-awareness
-
It is not the case that an entity
need fulfill all of these criteria to be a person, nor is it the case
that any of them (with the possible exception of 1 and 2) are necessary
for an entity to be a person. (304)
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If a being fulfills none of 1-5, then the being is not a
person (304).
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" . . . genetic humanity is neither necessary nor
sufficient for establishing that an entity is a person." (304)
-
A fetus is not a person.
III. Warren's Argument for a Pregnant Woman's Moral Right to an Abortion
A fetus is not a person. All and
only persons have full moral rights (304). A fetus, therefore, does not
have full moral rights. Moreover, ". . . a woman's right to protect her
health, happiness, freedom, and even her life, by terminating an
unwanted pregnancy, will always override whatever right to life it may
be appropriate to ascribe to a fetus, even a fully developed one"
(306). So a pregnant woman has a moral right to an abortion.
IV. Fetal Development and the Right to Life
V. Potential Personhood and the Right to Life
VI. Infanticide Objection
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