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Utilitarian's Views On Abortion

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When hearing about abortion it normally has something to do with politics. It is a debate whether it should be against the law or if it should stay legal. A utilitarian’s view on abortion can go either way. They could view it has morally wrong by saying to does not cause an overall happiness. It could also be viewed morally right, because it could cause an overall happiness. There are also different types of utilitarian from act-utilitarian to rule-utilitarian.
Abortion is the termination of a fetus, removing it completely which will ultimately cause its death. A utilitarian would define it as what it is the overall happiness with everyone involved. A big debate is that the fetus is innocent human being. (Crome, K) Arguments are made that …show more content…

A woman might decide to get an abortion due to the women having physical health problems, or that she was raped and cannot live with the pain of carrying the fetus. The mother might want an abortion due to that the baby will not live that long after it’s born. She could not live with the pain knowing that the baby will die and decide to get an abortion, to end the suffering early. An act-utilitarian could also disagree with abortions. A mother could end up with a lot of pain if she had an abortion. Not only would it cause pain for the mother but also the family. (Doing Ethics pg.167) If it causes pain for the family than an abortion would not be considered morally permissible. Therefore they would be against …show more content…

The Supreme Court made it the state’s decision on certain parts of the abortion. All most all countries after 1967 had legalized abortion in some way. The only country was Ireland that had not allowed abortions. Argument against this has been that the fetus can survive after a certain amount of time in the womb, known as viability. There has been a fetus that has survived after only five months of gestation in the women’s womb. That the Supreme Court’s ruling is wrong by going by trimesters to decide the cut of date to get an abortion. The Supreme Court has it viability with in the second and third trimester. (Practical Ethics pg.140) People argue that with this law, that abortions are killing innocent fetus’s that could survive out of the

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Although some women feel as though abortion is wrong. Others feel that they should have the right to go things to their body without government interference. In 1973 the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Roe V. Wade. Jane Roe was a single mother trying to raise one child on a limited income.

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On January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court struck down all existing criminal abortion laws in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. The courts were found in favor that it’s a woman’s decision to seek an abortion in the first trimester and was protected by the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty. However, the Courts allowed the States to place and regulation they saw fit on the second and third trimester abortions except for if a pregnant woman’s life or health were endangered. In that case, a woman would not

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The court decided that the state’s regulation of termination of pregnancy is limited to the third trimester. First trimester abortion is up to the doctor 's discretion and second is at the discretion of a woman’s health. There have been

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In the minds of someone who believes in this ethical theory, their decision is based on what produces the greatest amount of “ happiness “. A person who stands in favor of abortion would stand alongside a Utilitarian ethics approach because going through with the pregnancy can cause significantly more stress than happiness depending on the situation. The phrase “ The end justifies the means” goes back to consequentialism, an example of normative ethics. The definition of consequentialism states that the moral quality of an action can be determined by its consequences. To apply Utilitarianism in the subject of abortion, I believe they would determine that considering that in the early terms of the pregnancy, the fetus is not considered a “living thing” in its early term, therefore the loss of the mother would go against their principle and therefore should side to be in support of abortion.

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The utilitarian concentrates on the consequences of abortion. The pro-choice utilitarian will seek justice for all the illegal and unsanitary abortions that will occur, while the pro-life will demand for rights of the unborn children. The deontological perspective deals mainly with the issue of rights. For example, the pro-life deontologist will defend the fetus’s life and rights while the pro-choice deontologist will claim that the woman’s right overcome the rights of the

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Abortion follows the moral framework of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism, otherwise known as consequentialism, is the moral theory that holds than an action can be considered good or bad in relation to its end result (Burkhardt, M.A. & Nathanial, A.K., 2014). The only factors that makes actions good or bad is the outcomes, or the end results, that are derived from them. For example, imagine the story of a woman who is mother of four, is recently divorced, and works at McDonalds, then finds out she pregnant with her fifth child. If she knows that having a fifth child would put even more financial stress on herself and would take away time from her other children who she already feels distanced from, then having an abortion is a decision she

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Abortion has many ethical concerns which is why it is one of the most controversial and prevalent issues today. One of the biggest concerns surrounding abortion is rights that a fetus may have after a certain period. It is often argued that abortion is unlawful and violates the fundamental right to life. People argue and say that having an abortion takes away the fetus’s right to live, and no one should have the power to end someone else’s life. This ethical concern coincides with the religious argument that having an abortion is murder because you are taking someone’s life away from them by terminating the fetus.

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Some think that abortion is right when the mother's life is at risk. Others think that there is a range of circumstances in which abortion is morally acceptable. Is a person’s autonomy more important than a physician’s obligation to save lives? At various times some of the following have been allowed in some societies: abortion for the sake of the mother's health including her mental health; abortion where a pregnancy is the result of a crime; such as crimes like rape, incest, or child abuse; abortion where the child of the pregnancy would have an ' unacceptable quality of life' such as cases where the child would have; serious physical handicaps; serious genetic problems; serious mental defects. Most opponents of abortion agree that abortion for the sake of the mother's health can be morally acceptable if there is a real risk of serious damage to the mother.

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Furthermore, utilitarianism is also consequentialism. Utilitarianism is a teleological approach to ethics as well. As mentioned on NTLWorld is it said that a women can have an abortion or not depending on the best outcome for the women and her environment. The morality here depends on the situation that is based on the maxim of the

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Within the framework of utilitarianism, proponents of abortion advocate for the provision of safe and legal abortions, asserting that such access contributes to the enhancement of overall well-being. Their argument revolves around the notions of preventing unwanted pregnancies, reducing the risks associated with unsafe procedures, and empowering women to make informed decisions regarding their bodies, fostering a more just and flourishing society (Watson 1197). Supporting this perspective, an insightful quote from Katie Watson's article "Abortion as a Moral Good" in The Lancet affirms: "Assigning rational, sentient, biologically independent women a higher moral status than biologically dependent embryos or fetuses leads to the conclusion that forced childbearing is immoral, and that a woman’s decision to end an unwanted pregnancy is a morally acceptable act" (1197). This quotation effectively bolsters the utilitarian argument that ensuring women's access to safe and legal abortions aligns with the objective of maximizing overall well-being while minimizing

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It seems difficult to count every individual that could possibly be affected by an abortion. It could be few or many depending on the size of the family. It seems like not having an abortion, the greatest happiness for the greatest number occurs. Putting utilitarian thought aside, killing seems inarguably wrong and that is what an abortion is. It could not be possible for killing an innocent child to be right.

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So what would be the Utilitarianism view of abortion? As I said before there are 2 forms of Utilitarianism, the Act & the Rule Utilitarianism. A. Act Utilitarianism view:

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When it comes down to abortion there is not one specific argument a Utilitarian would choose in every circumstance. The Utilitarian would choose wether or not an abortion is morally correct solely based on the consequences of the circumstances. In essence they just want what is best and will produce the greatest amount of pleasure for all. I think there is a lot to learn from the Utilitarian philosophy, while that being said I do not think that we should close off our minds from other philosophies rather have an open mind to all and pick and choose whatever feels right to

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