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Kant's Philosophy To Affirm The Morality Of Abortion

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Abortion is defined as the termination of a pregnancy by removing an embryo or fetus from the womb before it is viable. There are a number of reasons why a woman may feel the need to have an abortion. There is quite the political debate about the morality of this procedure, moving to question the legality of it. First, one must define the point in which a fetus becomes a human being. Is it at conception? When is has a developed nervous system? Or is it a matter of weeks? For this essay, I will be using Immanuel Kant’s philosophy to affirm the morality of abortion. Most stances against abortion claim that Kant’s second formulation of the categorical imperative also includes fetuses. However, according to Kant’s writings in metaphysics and ethics, most importantly his definitions of ‘person’ and ‘personality,’ it is apparent that abortion is in fact moral. …show more content…

Since embryos and fetuses lack rational thought, the application of the imperatives to them is a flawed argument. From a Kantian perspective, it is challenging to maintain the position that life beings at conception. If granted, the status of an embryo or fetus as a ‘person’ would not rid abortion of its morality on its own. This is because making a woman carry an unwanted child to term violates the application of second formulation of the categorical imperative to them. In The Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant gives us the three formulations of the categorical imperative. For the case of abortion and the rights associated with the procedure, the second formulation will be most important. It says:
So act as to treat humanity, whether in thine own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end withal, never as means

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Abortion is a topic that has been debated for decades, with arguments coming from sides of “pro-life” or “pro-choice”. However, it has also been discussed and debated of the morality of abortion and the moral obligations mothers do, or do not, hold as carriers of these fetuses. Philosopher Don Marquis develops a clear argument in relation to the morality of abortion, to which he expresses the idea that abortion is almost always seriously immoral with rare exceptions allowed for specific scenarios. While his argument eludes the question of at what point a fetus becomes a fully developed member of the wider moral community, he bases this idea on,”...the view that an aborted fetus loses the future goods of consciousness, such as the pursuit of

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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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Aborting a fetus before the 24-week period does not deprive it of intrinsic values if the fetus is not even conscious. Intrinsic value should be linked to viability when the fetus becomes sentient and aware. A person cannot strip away intrinsic values from a potential consciousness. Lastly, Marquis explores the wrongfulness of killing as a universal concept “It is always prima facie wrong to take a human life” (185). He does not take into account other killings that happen in war and self-defense that are deemed permissible under the proper circumstances.

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In this paper, I will review Mary Anne Warren’s stance on the morality of abortion and provide my objection to her view that a fetus is not a human on the basis that a fetus does not contain the characteristics, generated by Warren, to be considered a Homo sapien; therefore, warranting abortion morally acceptable. The basis of my argument against abortion is on the premise that a fetus, by the Law of Nature, is to be protected and preserved since it is considered innocent and a human being, based on the idea that a human being is something bodily and physical, an individual and a being in time (Iglesias). Mary Anne Warren defines abortion as the deliberate action to remove a fetus from a human female’s womb per her request resulting in the death of the fetus (Warren 307). By identifying what is meant by abortion before furthering her argument, Warren clearly identifies the topic of her argument so that there be no confusion.

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However this fuels the social attitude in which women must seek permission, when many consider abortion to be a right which all women should have access too. This poses the question of if limiting the rights of women is ever justifiable in the best interests of the baby, the roman catholic church argue that a foetus is a person from the moment of conception this means that they to are entitled to the same rights of the mother and to have an abortion is to murder a living being. From this perspective it is apparent that they argue it is justifiable to put the rights of the foetuses; despite this point when a foetus is though to gain rights is a key point to this argument. As personhood would determine when a foetus is able to gain rights, although critics would argue that even still this does not warrant them to have the same full rights that the mother would

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Abstract Abortion is a sensitive subject to discuss. There are so many conflicting emotions and beliefs that fall under a grey area. Some believe it is ethically and morally incorrect to kill an unborn child. The fetus has it's own rights. It is an innocent human life waiting to take its first breath and millions more after that one.

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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.

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In the deontological theory Human rights argument can be used in 2 ways: A. In Favor: Many pro-choice philosophers acknowledge that the fetus is indeed a being worthy of respect and some degree of moral consideration, and that abortion, although a procedure women have a right to obtain. However, most of them argue that the fetus is not rational and do not possess the cognitive traits of personhood hence have no rights, but a woman has full rights on her own body. B. Against: Many pro-life philosophers have invoked the formula of humanity in order to argue that embryos and fetuses are worthy of the same level of dignity and respect Kant would ascribe to any other person.

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(a) Dictionary meanings The most renowned Oxford Dictionary defines abortion as the expulsion or removal from the womb of a developing embryo or fetus, in the period before it is capable of independent survival, occurring as a result either of natural causes or of a deliberate act . The World Encyclopedia defines abortion as the expulsion of a fetus from the womb before it is capable of independent survival . The interpretation to the word ‘abortion’ given in the ‘Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English’ is ‘a medical operation in which a baby’s development inside a woman is stopped so that it is not born alive’ .

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