A Philosophical Analysis of the issues raised by the act of Abortion

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A Philosophical Analysis of the issues raised by the act of Abortion

        The word abortion comes from the Latin word aboriri, meaning ‘to fail to be born’. Abortion is currently defined as ‘an untimely delivery voluntarily occurred with intent to destroy the foetuses.’

For the purposes of this essay abortion is the artificial expulsion of a foetus from the uterus performed at any stage, medically if not legally. The legal limit for abortion is when it is artificially removed around the stage of viability and also at the latest time it can medically be done. (Normally around the 20th week of gestation)

Abortion is a moral and philosophical headache; Abortion is a human problem as it gives the mother psychological problems and trauma. It also gives the mother legal problems as a lot of people disagree with the act of abortion. This difficulty is raised as people can not always agree on the status of the foetus. I.e. is it a person, human tissue or a potential human. The main issues surrounding abortion are that of Personhood, when does the foetus become a human being, Human Rights, what rights does the foetus have and Sanctity of life, who has the right the take the life or potential life of the foetus? In this essay these will be the points raised as I believe they are the main aspects to do with the act of abortion.

        Personhood is one of the main problems surrounding abortion, i.e. at what point after conception does the foetus become a human? At the end of around four weeks after conception, we are able to see the eyes, arms and legs have begun to bud, and the four-chambered heart beats for the first time. The subsequent stage is quickening. Quickening is the stage when the embryo begins to move by itself, kicking in the womb. Viability comes next. This is a shifting criterion, about twenty one weeks. At birth the foetus is no longer connected to its mother via the placenta, it is still dependant on her. At birth one cannot speak a power which is likely to be said as to be part of personhood. The stage being able to talk is also that of an acceptance into our society. Ensoulment is traditionally believed by Christians that the possession of a soul was what made man different from the rest of the animal creation. Until ensoulment, the embryo is less than human. Aristotelian anthropology points out that the soul is added to the matter in womb causing the matter to become a living individual, with the form and rational power of a man. Augustine believed abortion destroys conception meaning that the whole idea of sex would be destroyed. Augustine did not believe that human life begins at conception early miscarriages or abortions do not have a place in his scheme of salvation.

        ‘Unformed foetuses perish like seeds that have never fructified.’

In the 1960’s extensive and rapid cultural change occurred, leading to the passing of the Abortion Act in 1967. The Abortion Act of 1967 stated:  “A person shall not be guilty of an offence under the law relating to abortion when a pregnancy is terminated by a registered medical practitioner if two registered medical practitioners are of the opinion, formed in good faith: 1) that continuation of the pregnancy would endanger the life of the pregnant women or 2) that continuation of the pregnancy would involve risk to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman greater then if the pregnancy was terminated or 3) that continuation of the pregnancy would involve injury to the physical or mental health of any coexisting children of the pregnant women’s family greater than if the pregnancy was terminated or 4) that there exists a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped”

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        The law does not permit abortion on demand, but since half of abortions are not carried out by the NHS and it is rare for anyone to able to be pay to be refused an abortion, it could be said to exist on demand. If you can pay and want an abortion there is no problem of access to abortion. Martha Nussbaum believed that it is men who like to invent elaborate abstract formal ‘systems’ which they then try to impose on the messier world of human beings and their moral problems. This in turn suggests that men are ...

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