ipl-logo

Mary Anne Warren Abortion Essay

1322 Words6 Pages

I, who is a nursing major and wants to have a career in the medical field, know that there will be a lot of ethical debates regarding medical treatment. One very big conflict in the medical world today is the argument about abortion. The right to an abortion has been a constant issue in today’s society, debating whether its morally right or morally wrong. When philosophy is applied to this topic, the scenario is analyzed in many different ways. I chose the topic of abortion to write this paper on because I found the articles in the book to show strong arguments on the different positions. The one article I am choosing to focus in on is Mary Anne Warren’s section called “One the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion”. 1.
When you first start …show more content…

A right is that of an entitlement to be free to engage in some activity, to exercise a certain power, or to be provided with some benefit. As people, we all have specific rights that allow us to do as we please, to a certain extent. In this argument on abortion, people have the right to make their own decisions. Warren’s ethical thesis shows that because a fetus is not human, it is not morally wrong to terminate the pregnancy. After this is shown, the “rights holder” makes the decision based on this conclusion. A rights holder is someone or a party who has or holds the rights to the situation. In this instance, the rights holder is the mother of the fetus. This is where autonomy comes into play. Autonomy can be described as qualities such as self-rule, self-determination, freedom of will, dignity, integrity, individuality, independence, and self-knowledge. Autonomy relates to rights-based theory because the mother has the freedom to make her own decisions about her body. After that it is shown, in Warren’s article, that a fetus does not resemble a human, it is then up to the mother to make her own decision about her body and what she wants to do with it. The mother has the right to make these calls, which shows that rights-based theory relates to this issue on

Show More
Related

Mary Anne Warren And Don Marquis: Analysis

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.

Read More

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Next By Barbara Hewson

911 Words | 4 Pages

Though Barbara Hewson thoroughly demonstrates skill and knowledge in the subject of abortion, she takes the subject of many conflicts and turns it into a mess of unpersuasive words. The development of her stance on this subject shows no growth, and although she demonstrated the use of ethos, her article seems to endlessly cover the same information she had already delivered. Her use of logos and pathos is lacking, and what little use of ethos she has gives the reader only basic knowledge, and does not seem to help deliver her point. Hewson’s intended audience, based on her writing, is people of higher educational levels, or rather, those working on higher education in medical fields. Her lack of usage in basic Aristotelian rhetoric resulted

Read More

Mary Anne Warren's On The Moral Permissibility Of Infanticide

625 Words | 3 Pages

However, she continues on to state that neither the abortion of a fetus nor the killing of a neonate could count as murder of a person because both, a fetus and an infant, lack all of the plausible components of personhood. Warren explicates that in an impoverished society that is unable to care for its infants without jeopardizing the health and safety of its members, infanticide cannot be deemed morally wrong. She also claims that infanticide is morally justified in the form of euthanasia where the child is born with severe abnormalities and the parents are unable to afford the financial and emotional burdens of its treatment. Warren’s response to infanticide is completely justified because in case of life or death, the life of an actual person far outweighs the life of a potential

Read More

Summary Of Abortion Is Morally Permissible By Mary Anne Warren

769 Words | 4 Pages

She argues for abortion because the fetus is not a person in which I would agree with Warren on her views on abortion. The first argument Warren presents is her conception of personhood, there are five traits that must be present to be considered a person. The traits are consciousness, reasoning, self-motivated activities, the capacity to communicate, and the presence of self-awareness. According to Warren, consciousness and reason may be sufficient for

Read More

Mary Anne Warren's Argument For The Moral Permissibility Of Adulthood

1111 Words | 5 Pages

She then goes on to infer that a fetus is only a genetic human, not morally human, based on the rejection of five traits that, in her opinion, are “most central to the concept of personhood…and [moral] humanity,” which are the following: consciousness, reasoning, self-motivated activity, the capacity to communicate, and the presence of self-concepts. Regarding these characteristics, Warren believes it is “so obvious” that a fetus is not a person because it does not satisfy “none of” the traits and thus does not have “full moral rights.” Lastly, regarding genetic and moral humanity, Warren states that there are “people who are not human beings,” and, in the case of fetuses, “human beings [who] are not people…” Thus, Warren argues that abortion is morally permissible because fetuses are not people and do not have a right to life.

Read More

Summary Of A Defense Of Abortion Judith Thomson

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

Mary Anne Warren's Argument Against Abortion

1967 Words | 8 Pages

Thomson hints to the idea that every human being has a right to life; therefore, the woman would have no moral obligation to continue with the pregnancy (Warren 309). Warren places much emphasis on Thomson’s argument for the probability of it being a strong stance for the permissibility of abortion or a strong argument that abortion is murder, which is unique in and of itself because it has the possibility of arguing for or against abortion. Thomson construes two steps in which the moral status of abortion should be determined by. The first step is determining the true moral status of a fetus and the second is creating a distinguishable difference between the rights of the fetus vs. the rights of the woman (Warren 309). Warren structures her argument like that of Thomson’s by creating two steps which will support her stance that abortion is morally

Read More

Summary Of A Defense Of Abortion Thomson

1258 Words | 6 Pages

By challenging the widely held premise that a fetus, considered a human being from conception, possesses an absolute and unassailable right to life, Thomson invites readers to reconsider their perspectives on this divisive issue. This analysis will delve into the intricacies of her argument, examining key premises, the ultimate conclusion, and evaluating the validity and soundness of Thomson's rationale. Premises: The Fetus as a Person: Thomson begins by acknowledging the prevalent belief that every person possesses an inherent right to life. However, she adopts, for the sake of argument, the assumption that a fetus is a person, setting the foundation for a nuanced examination of the implications of this right. The pervasive belief in the absolute right to life for a fetus becomes a focal point of Thomson's scrutiny.

Read More

Judith Jarvis Thomson's Defense Of Abortion

623 Words | 3 Pages

In the article The Rights of a Woman Do Not Outweigh the Rights of a Child, it informs many women with true information about abortion. It quotes, “What is at stake in abortion is the mother’s lifestyle, as opposed to the baby’s life.” By becoming a pregnant woman they have to choice for themselves and the baby. The information this article gives woman is explaining how abortion affects babies not just them. However, abortion is a lifetime decision, “ In nearly all abortions, the woman’s right to live is not an issue, because her life is not in danger.”

Read More

Mary Anne Warren's Rights Of Abortion

794 Words | 4 Pages

Warren’s claim is meant to support the idea that is acceptable to abort a fetus, which is considered a “potential person,” no matter what stage of development it is in because that would then be taking away the rights of the woman, which is considered an actual person. Unlike Warren, Patrick Lee and Robert P George claim “…

Read More

Mary Anne Warren Abortion Analysis

1103 Words | 5 Pages

The issue of abortion creates questions such as whether or not abortion is morally justifiable, rights of a fetus, and explores the criteria necessary to be proven as a person. To summarize, Mary Ann Warren believes the choice of abortion is always the mothers choice. Warren continuously supports this statement through the argument that a fetus is not a person unless they exhibit a sense of moral being, demonstration of the five traits of personhood, and secures the rights that true human beings rights prevails the rights of fetus, regardless of potentiality or value of any

Read More

Warren's Objection To The Abortion Debate

699 Words | 3 Pages

This brings up the distinction between a “person” and “biological human ”. This means before a woman gives birth to a baby, she has a biological embryo inside her womb. Which makes the point that the embryo has right to have a conscious. This conscious that baby have can be able to feel pain and emotion. Warren does not claim that the embryo has a right to live because it’s not a person, therefore a person has a right to live, which it has a right to

Read More

John Warren Abortion Analysis

995 Words | 4 Pages

The group made up of pro-choicers decide to look back throughout history and the years of struggle women had to seek an abortion. They believe that the right to have an abortion should be equivalent to a constitutional right, almost like the right to vote. Pro-choice believers also consider what it takes to make a fetus as a person. Philosopher Mary Ann Warren claims that a being must have a consciousness and ability to feel pain, a developed capacity for reasoning, self- motivated activity, the capacity to communicate messages of an indefinite variety of types, and self-awareness in order to be considered as a person. With this reasoning, Warren believes that even the most developed fetus does not qualify as a person.

Read More

Abortion And Infanticide By Michael Tooley

722 Words | 3 Pages

Abortion has always been one of the most controversial topics throughout the world. Michael Tooley wrote an article called “Abortion and Infanticide” which consisted of his arguments on the topic. Premise one states that “rights secure for individuals things that we desire.” In this premise, Tooley is arguing that if you desire to have something, then others cannot step in and remove that something from you. For example, if I wanted to have an abortion, Tooley argues that nobody should be able to step in and deprive me from wanting to have that abortion.

Read More

Is Abortion Morally Permissible

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

More about Mary Anne Warren Abortion Essay

Related Topics

Open Document