Comparing Two Articles On Abortion And Patrick Lee

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

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