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Don Marquis Why Abortion Is Immoral Summary

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Joe Melvin Prof. Forte Contemporary Moral Issues May 26th, 2024 The article I chose to write my opinion about was “Why Abortion is Immoral” by Don Marquis. In his article, the argument is that abortion is, with rare exceptions, seriously immoral and comparable to the killing of an innocent adult human being. Premise 1: According to Don Marquis' "Why Abortion is Immoral," aborting a fetus deprives it of a "future like ours," making it morally equal to killing an innocent adult human being. The Marquis contends that the loss of the victim's potential experiences, pursuits, goals, and joys is what makes murder fundamentally evil. This idea, however, is flawed because it fails to consider that a fetus can have experiences, desires, or consciousness, and instead implies that it is of the same value and potential as an adult human. The argument ignores the stark distinctions in moral standing between entities that are not yet able to interact in this way and those that are already individuals with established relationships. …show more content…

The marquis does not give enough thought to a basic ethical principle: the right to regulate one's own body. Marquis fails to recognize the crucial distinction that pregnancy is the only situation in which one person's body is utilized to support another, by equating abortion with the killing of an adult. An incomplete and biased analysis results from this disregard for the autonomy and rights of the pregnant person. Without a persuasive argument supporting this position, the rights of the fetus are prioritized over those of the

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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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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.

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Throughout Don Marquis’s article on why abortion is immoral, it is clear that he stands at a third party view on this controversial idea. Marquis is neither anti-abortion nor pro-choice, and he states different reasons why he thinks this throughout his article. Some of the reasons are that anti-abortionists’ views are too broad and pro-choicers’ views are too narrow, not enough research or factual information of the topic of abortion, and then towards the end he talks about how it may or may not be different with animals. First, Marquis talks about anti-abortion and the problems he sees from the pro-choice side, and then he talks about pro-choice and counteracts that with the problems an anti-abortionist would see. He believes abortion is immoral;

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886 Words | 4 Pages

Furthermore, as mentioned in a lecture video, the argument that murder is only wrong due to wasted potential could be used to say mensuration, male masturbation, and contraception are all wrong as they lead to the death of sperm or an egg. Marquis' has attempted to say that these things aren't immoral as an egg or sperm cannot grow on their own, but neither can an embryo. It feeds on the mother and would die if removed from the

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Don Marquis, on the other side of the abortion debate begins his essay “Why abortion is immoral” through the frustration of little support being given to the thought. This essay was written to show the falsified belief that an anti-abortion stance is nothing other than irrational religious dogma or a conclusion generated by a seriously confused philosophical argument. The argument is set forth throughout that abortion is, except in rare cases, seriously immoral. This essay sets forth the belief that abortion is in the same category as killing an innocent adult human being. Don Marquis argues with rare exceptions such as a life-threatening pregnancy, all cases of abortion are seriously wrong and are not much different than killing an adult

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943 Words | 4 Pages

He also describes the morality of killing and concludes that the act of abortion is comparable to the act of killing a fully grown, adult human being that is a part of the moral community. This claim leads to the overarching view that because the act of killing an adult person is morally wrong, abortion is ultimately morally impermissible as well. Throughout his argument, Marquis builds to his overall conclusion that abortion is morally impermissible because the act of killing is morally wrong. He places the same moral standing of a fully developed, adult human being on fetuses, stating that aborting a fetus withdraws its potential to have valuable future experiences, projects, and enjoyments. However, Marquis’s argument does not provide any reasoning on behalf of the mother’s potential future after the fetus is developed and born, and does not allow any clarification on the true personhood held by the fetus compared to the mother’s already fully developed

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Even today, there are many moral and philosophical issues that divide the United States because they create very polarized opinions and beliefs. One such philosophical issue is the moral permissibility of infanticide. Mary Anne Warren, a philosopher, presents her liberal yet controversial views on the issue of infanticide in the postscript of her article, On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion. However, the anti-infanticide arguments pose problems for Warren’s position because they justify the immorality of infanticide through the physical similarity in resemblance of neonates to human beings. These arguments also claim that the destruction of a viable infant is needless because even if the infant’s biological parents reject the infant, there are many other parents who are willing to adopt and nurture that infant.

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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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Marquis is an ethics and medical ethics philosopher. Marquis is currently professor of philosophy at the University of Kansas. His field works and advanced degree is enough for him to gain more trust from his audience. To bolster the credibility of his claims, Marquis quotes fellow experts and scholars throughout his article. For example, he quotes George Robert who stated that, “In the case of ordinary sexual reproduction, the life of an individual human being begins with complete fertilization” (188).

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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.

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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.

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2131 Words | 9 Pages

Hursthouse states, “... the status of the fetus - that issue over which so much ink has been split - is according to virtue theory, simply not relevant to the rightness or wrongness of abortion” (Hursthouse 164). Don Marquis argues that abortion is seriously wrong. Marquis does admit that his argument can include some exemptions which include such cases as

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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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422 Words | 2 Pages

Schools that have been labeled as low preforming schools and do not wish to undergo staff reconstruction, have the option of becoming a charter school. As the dictionary puts is, charter schools are “a publicly funded independent school established by ‘teachers, parents, or community groups under the terms of a charter with the local or national authority.” In order to get into a charter school, applying students must pass a test. Because students must pass a test to get into the school the school will only be accepting the best of the students therefor it will not have to worry about low test scores as only the smartest children will be attending. The problem with charter school is, while yes there students are thriving, there test scores

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A second reason why abortion is wrong is because it deprives the fetus from his future. When we decide to kill a fetus then we are taking away from him a future like ours. The argument is as follows : (1) it is impermissible to kill humans, who if lived, would have a future like ours, (2) if abortion is not done, the fetus would have future as we do have, (3) so it is wrong to kill the fetus (4) therefore abortion is impermissible. A similar argument was given by Don Marquis in his article “Why Abortion is Immoral”. He stated that what makes killing wrong is neither the effect on the murder, nor the effect on the victim’s relatives or friends, but the effect is on the victim himself.

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