ipl-logo

Don Marquis On Abortion

1685 Words7 Pages

Abortion has been around for centuries; women all around the world have had them regardless of the society and time-era. It has been and still is one of the most controversial matters in the United States. There were no laws against abortion up until the 1820s; the laws were instated to protect women from ill-prepared abortionists. It had become illegal and forbidden for a woman to have an abortion after the 4th month of pregnancy. In the late 1800s abortion was a crime, at that point in time most of the states had banned abortion unless the woman’s life was in danger. This brought about “back-alley abortions” which was just another way of saying illegal abortions. At one point in time there were up to 1.2 million of these abortions happening …show more content…

Marquis’ thesis is as follows “That abortion is, with rare exceptions, seriously immoral.” Prima facie is defined as “based on the first impression; accepted as correct until proved otherwise.” Marquis is saying that abortion, at first glance, is seriously wrong but in some cases, it can be proven morally permissible. These exceptions include rape, when the woman’s life is in danger due to the pregnancy or if the fetus is anencephalic (a congenital condition in where the fetus has some or all of the developing skull leaving brain matter exposed). I like the fact that Marquis takes into account congenital anomalies, because the fetus would most likely suffer and to be taken to term would cause the fetus pain and a very short life span. Marquis first states that killing an adult is wrong. What makes the act of murder immoral is, not losing the physical aspect of being alive, or the pain caused to our family and friends, but because we are completely eradicating their future, robbing them of their future of value, that they would’ve experienced had they not died, and that is what makes it unjust. “The loss of ones life deprives one of all the experiences, activities, project’s, and enjoyments that would have constituted ones future.” He then applies the same thought process to abortion saying that the reason abortion is wrong is because the fetus will never have a future of value. I believe Marquis’ view on abortion is very different to other philosopher’s views on abortion. Not only because he is pro-life and many philosophers are pro-choice but because he focuses on the potential future of value. He is comparing a human who actually has a future of value, to a fetus, which has not yet begun life. I think that Marquis argument is a very strong pro-life argument, however to say that abortion is wrong solely because the fetus has not fulfilled his potential future

Show More
Related
311 Words | 2 Pages

1002215550 5. Sinnot Armstrong criticizes Marquis’s article and tries to refute the argument made by Marquis in his tendentious paper “You Can’t Lose What you Ain’t Never Had”. Firstly, he points out the Fallacy of Equivocation committed by Marquis on the word ‘Loss’. The word loss has two meanings which he shows with his race example while showing the ethics of abortion. In the race example he says that if there are two people running in a race and one is faster than the other and beats him; it is a neutral loss as the person who lost was not entitled to win.

Read More
128 Words | 1 Pages

Don Marquis’s purpose to his essay is to set out to prove that abortion is seriously wrong. He is addressing that abortion is morally wrong and should not be permitted except in certain cases. The authors thesis is “Abortion, except perhaps in rare instances, is seriously wrong”(Marquis, 754). Marquis’s purpose for exceptions or rare instances is to eliminate those instances that could be considered ethically controversial such as cases like abortion after rape or abortion during the first fourteen days after conception. Marquis provides another exception in the form of a pregnancy that could endanger a woman’s life and abortion when the fetus is anencephalic.

Read More
1739 Words | 7 Pages

Marquis takes his contention at an alternate edge. While most will contend whether a fetus is a person or not, Marquis argues the wrongness of killing. Marquis main principle is that what makes abortion wrong is its immediate results on the casualty, or that the executing denies the casualty of an important future, this Is acknowledged except for uncommon cases. The creators proposition is "abortion, aside from uncommon occurrences, is truly wrong". Marquis' motivation for exemptions or uncommon cases is to wipe out those cases that could be considered morally questionable, for example, cases like fetus removal after assault or abortion amid the initial fourteen days after conception.

Read More
1529 Words | 7 Pages

Rosalind Hursthouse in her paper Virtue Theory and Abortion, handles with the moral standpoint of abortion from a virtue ethics perspective. Her research is directed towards investigating whether or not an abortion is something a virtuous person would do. Hursthouse examines the morally relevant considerations and in so doing, she rejects the standard questions used to determine the morality of an abortion such as the status of the fetus, and the rights of a women. The morally relevant considerations she sees fit to assess the moral legitimacy of an abortion are concerns with family relationship, personal circumstance, and basic biological facts. Through her considerations, Hurthouses account of virtue ethics gives us adequate moral advice in regards to the question of abortion.

Read More
283 Words | 2 Pages

He then moves into detail on the effect of the slow-aging population from legalizing abortion. Abortion was legalized through the Roe V. Wade case. By 1980, over a million women in America had an abortion. There were actually certain types of women who took advantage of the type of the new law; these women were referred to be young, poor, unmarried, etc. Unlike the case in Romania, these babies were fifty percent more inclined to live in destitution and become criminals.

Read More
1070 Words | 5 Pages

In “A Defense of Abortion,” Judith Thomson argues with a unique approach regarding the topic of abortion. For the purpose of the argument, Thomas agrees to go against her belief and constructs an argument based on the idea that the fetus is a person at conception. She then formulates her arguments concerning that the right to life is not an absolute right. There are certain situations where abortion is morally permissible. She believes that the fetus’s right to life does not outweigh the right for the woman to control what happens to her own body.

Read More
1268 Words | 6 Pages

Court Case Roe v. Wade is not an Ovary-Action What is abortion? Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy (Dictionary.com). When considering the choice of abortion many people forget the basis fundamentals of what the denotation of the word is. This definition of the word and what it means to a woman is what the court and jury during the court case Roe v. Wade had to decide on. On January 22, 1973 the US Supreme Court declares that a woman has a full legal right to have an abortion under the Fourteenth amendment of the Constitution (“Roe v. Wade Fast Facts.”).

Read More
1384 Words | 6 Pages

Essay On Why Abortion Is Immoral This article called “Why Abortion Is Immoral” written by Don Marquis argues and why abortion is prima facie impermissible. Marquis accesses both anti-abortion arguments and also pro-choicer’s claim to protect the legalization of abortion. My paper is going to understand and examine the the both sides arguments, and to attempt to recognize abortion is immoral.

Read More
1249 Words | 5 Pages

By 1900, most abortions, except those ”necessary to save the life of a women,” had been outlawed through the efforts of physicians, legislators, and the American Medical Association. Although abortions were illegal and frowned upon, even with early feminists such as Susan B. Anthony, women were still able to

Read More
500 Words | 2 Pages

There is a long untold history on abortion before it was officially legalized and accepted in a society. Between the 1800’s and 1973 abortion was criminalized and was believed to be the devils practice to anyone who tried to perform abortions and those who chose to try and do abortions were thrown into jail for helping a women. During this time, women of both black and white races were shunned from their homes and sent to an asylum or arrested along with their lover if the women got pregnant before marriage. In fear of being shunned or arrested, women performed illegal abortions that were very deadly, women tried inflicting pain to themselves by throwing themselves down stairs, or tried stabbing themselves in the stomach with scissors or knifes. They also injected poisons and toxins such as bleach into their bodies which caused most women organ failure and/or death, and if they survived they were disfigured or were in pain from permanent injuries.

Read More
893 Words | 4 Pages

When being revised, OBOS sends the article to 15-20 health experts to be read and edited. Obos is considered the most thorough and well-researched women 's health informative. This article provides information about what happened before and after abortion was legalized in the U.S. Women during the late 1900’s found ways around an illegal abortion such as underground clinics or self harm. In 1973, Roe V. Wade’s principles were adopted by the Supreme Court and made abortion legal in the U.S. The state was granted access to control abortion only to protect the health of women.

Read More
825 Words | 4 Pages

The motivations for anti-abortion laws varied from state to state. But in 1973 the supreme court “recognized that the constitutional right to privacy extends to a woman’s right to make her own personal medical decisions — including the decision to have an abortion without interference from politicians. ”(Planned Parenthood Roe) This was called Roe v. Wade.

Read More
632 Words | 3 Pages

The debate whether abortion is morally permissible or not permissible is commonly discussed between the considerations of the status of a fetus and ones virtue theory. A widely recognized theory of pro-choice advocates can be thought to be that their ethical view is that fetus’s merely are not humans because they lack the right to life since they believe a fetus does not obtain any sort of mental functions or capability of feelings. Although this may be true in some cases it is not in all so explaining the wrongness of killing, between the common debates whether a fetus does or does not obtain human hood, should be illustrated in a way of a virtuous theory. The wrongness of killing is explained by what the person or fetus is deprived of, such as their right to life; not by means of a heart beat or function of one’s body, but by the fact that it takes their ability of potentially growing into a person to have the same human characteristics as we do.

Read More
394 Words | 2 Pages

Thesis Statement: Abortion has been a major topic throughout the years, there has been much debate between pro-choice and pro-life but if people can come together to reach comprises it could help society make positive progress. There are many different views and opinions on abortion in today’s world. Some would say that abortion is wrong and others would say it is right; and some would say it is wrong or right depending on the circumstances. This is when complications surface and people began to look at all aspects of the situation. Abortion has always been a controversial social issue but not as potent as the year 2016 and 2017.

Read More
506 Words | 3 Pages

The conflict over abortion in America has been a major social problem in our nation for decades. During the 1960 's and 70 's with the coinciding civil rights movement and women’s rights movement, abortion became the new national issue that we still see today between two opposing ideologies, grouped into sides coined as pro-life and pro-choice. It is one of the biggest debates over whose morals and beliefs are adequate for our society that make the abortion issue such a controversial and divisive one. Each side believes that their views and beliefs are what we are a society should follow and belief.

Read More

More about Don Marquis On Abortion

Related Topics

Open Document