A Kantian would never allow abortion. Discuss.
Firstly, a Kantian would believe that we should only act according to a maxim when it can be universalised. Clearly, if you were to universalise abortion, the human race would become extinct and there would be no one left to have an abortion, thus abortion is a contradiction in the Law of Nature and would never be allowable. Whilst I agree that abortion cannot be universalised, perhaps in some circumstances, abortion may actually help the woman and foetus. According to Kant’s principle of universality, the maxim ‘should I refrain from helping others?’ would not become a categorical imperative because if no one helped each other, society would be in turmoil and therefore the maxim ‘should I help others?’ becomes a categorical imperative because it can be universalised and therefore we should always help others. It could be seen that by assisting a woman in having an abortion, the doctor is helping her and therefore acting in a Kantian way. In addition, if the foetus would have an unhappy or difficult life if born, then by having an abortion, the woman may feel she is helping the foetus by saving it from that life. I agree that sometimes such as the cases aforementioned, abortion would be allowed by a Kantian.