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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.
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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

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