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Comparing Two Articles On Abortion And Patrick Lee

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Abortion has always been one of the most controversial issues over the years and is still a topic of debate in the world today. Despite the constant debate and research done on the topic, there is no definitive answer on what is right and what is wrong about abortion. Two authors, Jane English, and Patrick Lee have put their contrasting beliefs and stance on the issue of abortion into their essays and I will be comparing both arguments. Jane English argues in her essay “Abortion and the Concept of a Person” that our concept of a person is not enough to settle the abortion issue. In addition, regardless of the personhood of the fetus, abortion is justifiable in the early stages of pregnancy to avoid modest harm and rarely justifiable in the …show more content…

There is no right way to say when an embryo becomes a person as she suggested. For one, several criteria for personhood can be sufficient or necessary, but no set is both. This means that there is no fine line to when a fetus becomes a human. Also, the self-defense argument is not talked about enough in Lee’s paper. There are several instances where the woman can defend herself from going through pregnancy. For example, an adult or perhaps a teenager is raped and therefore is pregnant with the rapist’s child. Is it fair to the victim to have her go through the grief and trauma from the assault all while also bearing the child of her rapist? Also, in this scenario, is the victim supposed to take responsibility for the child when it was not her intention at all to be raped? According to Lee, the father also has a responsibility to the child but in this case, the father is a criminal. And if the victim were to carry on with the pregnancy, what harm would that cause to the family's victim and the child itself, once and if they find out how the child was conceived? The harm being caused to the woman, in this case, is not regarded as important as the embryo in Lee’s point of view. In the early stages of pregnancy, abortion should be permissible as the fetus does not yet represent a human and does not have to meet several factors including psychological, rational, and social factors. When it comes to deciding what causes more harm between having an abortion (the killing of the fetus) and the harm gained by the woman during the course of pregnancy, Lee states that ultimately the killing of the baby causes the most harm. However, English does not completely agree and believes that are some instances where abortion can be justified. Further into the pregnancy, when the fetus has grown more and further resembles what is a human

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329 Words | 2 Pages

In the unit, Mary Anne Warren and Don Marquis present two different opinions about abortion. Mary Anne Warren believes that abortion should be morally permissible. Although she agrees that it is immoral to kill a person, she thinks that fetus is not a person because it does not meet the six traits of personhood (LaFollette, 2014). On the other hand, Don Marquis is against abortion because he thinks that killing a fetus deprives it of “a future like ours” (LaFollette, 2014). For my part, I think Don Marquis makes a stronger case for his opinion.

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1094 Words | 5 Pages

In the case of rape, an abortion would be morally tolerable, such that the fetus being formed does not one have the amount of rights as a fetus that was created from intended conception. (Thomson 5). When we are faced in the case such that a baby is to be born from rape, the baby is looked down upon in shame, as well as the mother. In the Christian religion, a baby conceived from rape, is a sin and is not God’s will. (Thistlethwaite 1).

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982 Words | 4 Pages

From this decision, the United States Supreme Court declared that having an abortion was far safer than a natural child birth. In that court room, it was also determined that the word “person” did not include an unborn fetus (Kaplan). The country was completely divided on the Roe v. Wade decisions. Many American’s were angered by the fact that the United States no longer legally considered an unborn fetus to be a person. However, it was a huge relief for many young women across the country.

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273 Words | 2 Pages

Patrick Lee and Robert George assert that abortion is objectively immoral. One of Lee and George’s main reason for coming to this conclusion is that human embryos are living human beings. This essentially validates that abortion is indeed the process of killing a human. Another main point said by the two is a rebuttal to a common argument used in favor of abortion, which states that a potential mother has full parental responsibilities only if she has voluntarily assumed them. The rebuttal to this was that the potential mother does indeed have special responsibilities to raise the child.

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1079 Words | 5 Pages

This same way of thinking means that a fetus has no choice or ability to make decision when it comes to whose womb they inhabit as a result of failed contraception. Again, I am not arguing that abortion would not be morally permissible in the case of failed contraception but I am saying that there are key differences in intent and rational capacities between a malicious burglar and an unknowing fetus that weaken this analogy. Thomson also says that a burglar who breaks in should not have a right to stay in your house. While this is true, there are very few cases where a burglar will stay in your house if there intent is to steal something and get away. Staying in the house would be irrational if they want to get away with the crime.

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1267 Words | 6 Pages

The Roe v Wade case () created the U.S. law today that was the turn around to women’s reproductive rights. This case “Court also concluded that a fetus is not a person for purposes of the Constitution and therefore does not have a constitutional right to life”. This is one of the biggest debates still happening today. This case led to the pro-choice and pro-life groups. Both of these sides argue whether or whether not the fetus is a person on not when it comes to aborting a child.

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1037 Words | 5 Pages

Within the recent events of the overturning of Roe V Wade the opinions on abortion have been at the forefront of political conversations. Especially among the people who are pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life believes that an unborn fetus is a life and killing it is killing a person, meanwhile pro-choice is the belief that someone who is carrying the fetus has the right to choose whether they keep it or not. The article “3 Compelling Reasons I am Pro-life” by Tim Counts on the website erlc is about the reasoning behind this man’s point of view. The article uses three points religion, science, and “human flourishing and love”.

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1070 Words | 5 Pages

The “awareness” is why I think the child should have permission to use the woman’s body for its right to life. If a person feels so strongly about not wanting to have any chance of becoming pregnant, then that person should not participate in consensual sex. It is unjust to kill a fetus just because it was the unwanted result of your risky actions. To further explore the violinist example, if there was a tiny chance of getting

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1602 Words | 7 Pages

Thomson continues her argument by saying that we cannot deny that the fetus eventually becomes a human. Around 10 weeks, she says, is when the fetus starts to develop arms, legs, face, toes, etc. But when talking about a newly fertilized egg, which is a big clump of cells, she says is comparable to an acorn on a tree. With that being

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542 Words | 3 Pages

The Keynote Address: Untying the Moral Knot of Abortion, was given by Caitlin E. Borgmann at the Washington and Lee School of law on November 8, 2014. Borgmann’s main goal of her address was to bring back to attention that abortion should be seen as a woman’s own right in making decisions regarding her own body. She talks about how people have become so focused on the morality of the fetus that they have lost sight of the real reason that abortion should be legal. Borgmann feels that it is the woman’s right to have a choice and freedom over their body and the freedom to choose whether or not to have an abortion. The speaker asks why people question the age and status of the fetus, but do not concern themselves to question the rights of the woman that carries the fetus.

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794 Words | 4 Pages

Mary Anne Warren establishes a belief that a fetus’s right to live is overruled by an expecting mother’s right to an abortion because it is not a technically a true person until it is born. Warren supports her argument by saying that a nearly full-developed fetus is no more significant than a small embryo because “…it is not fully conscious… it cannot reason or communicate message… and has no self-awareness” (Warren, page 499). In contrast, our text states that “…some fetuses develop the capacity to survive outside the womb…” after nearly being two-thirds fully developed; this means that a fetus is ultimately capable of communication and awareness through it’s movements (Munson and Lague, page 469).

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1038 Words | 5 Pages

Women who are victims of rape will always be in remembrance of their terrifying experience, which sometimes result in neglect and unfair treatment of the child due to the woman’s rape trauma syndrome. Women who are not financially stable that are pregnant and oppose abortion live in poverty. If abortions were banned it would increase illegal abortions which have critical effect to the woman’s health. Statistics estimate that the risk of death from an abortion is 0.6 in 100,000. The risk of death childbirth is 14 times higher, 8.8 in 100,000.

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1261 Words | 6 Pages

Abortion is not only a fluctuating concept in our society, but an ethical and emotional debate, as well. The image I have chosen presents concepts from a cultural and historical background, as well as presents an ethical, emotional, and logical appeal to the audience. The debate about abortion has simply been overblown and exhausted. The truth of the matter is, abortion is murder. Ending a life, whether innocent or guilty, is murder.

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1277 Words | 6 Pages

In this speech I hope to present a persuasive moral argument that abortion is akin to murder and should be avoided, even if the child is unplanned or unwanted or the women would be in danger by the consequences of abortion. (Transition: Let’s look more closely at the health risks posed by cell phones.) Body I. Abortion is a murder. It is the intentionally killing of a human being and it is also can be considered as a war on the unborn which are obviously defenseless and voiceless. A. Abortion denies the right of the eternal being to have a mortal experience and also learning experience in this world.

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1085 Words | 5 Pages

Sadly, this right is violated when performing abortion. People who support abortion say that the fetus in the womb is not considered a human being yet, so it does not kill or harm anyone. “In fact, unborn babies probably feel pain more intensely than adults. This is a uniquely vulnerable time since the pain system is fully established, yet the higher level pain-modifying system has barely begun to develop.” (Ranalli) The babies inside the womb feel pain, they are no different than an already born baby or an adult.

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