ETHICS OF ABORTION

CRITICAL STAGES OF FETAL DEVELOPMENT:

Day 1: Fertilization

Days 7-10: Blastocyst is in uterus and is a “ball of cells

Weeks 2-8: Organs and limb buds begin to develop

Weeks 12-16: “Quickening” begins, mother can feel fetus’s movements, fetus is approx. 5 ½ inches long

Weeks 20-24: Cortex begins to develop, earliest form of electrical activity in cortex become detectable

Weeks 20-28: Fetus becomes viable depending on size (greater than 2 lbs.) and lung development.

Week 40: Birth

METHODS OF ABORTION:

Morning-After Pill – prevents blastocyst from embedding in uterine wall

RU486 – Mifepristone must be used within 7 weeks of a missed menstrual period

Uterine or vacuum aspiration

Dilation and curettage (D&C)

Saline Solution

Prostaglandin Drugs – induce early labor

Hysterectomy – uncommon, used for late-term abortions

Dilation and extraction (D&X) or Partial Birth Abortion – also uncommon, 2nd and 3rd trimester procedure

HOW MANY U.S. ABORTIONS ARE PERFORMED ANNUALLY?

Number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44, by year

WHO HAS ABORTIONS?

Eighteen percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are teenagers; those aged 15-17 obtain 6% of all abortions, teens aged 18-19 obtain 11%, and teens under age 15 obtain 0.4%.

Women in their twenties account for more than half of all abortions; women aged 20–24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and women aged 25-29 obtain 24%.

Thirty percent of abortions occur to non-Hispanic black women, 36% to non-Hispanic white women, 25% to Hispanic women and 9% to women of other races.

Thirty-seven percent of women obtaining abortions identify as Protestant and 28% as Catholic.

Women who have never married and are not cohabiting account for 45% of all abortions.

About 61% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children.

Forty-two percent of women obtaining abortions have incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level ($10,830 for a single woman with no children).

Twenty-seven percent of women obtaining abortions have incomes between 100-199% of the federal poverty level.

WHEN ARE WOMEN HAVING ABORTIONS?

Eighty-eight percent of abortions occur in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, 2006.

WHY DO WOMEN HAVE ABORTIONS?

2004 Study – More than 1 reason may be cited:

It would dramatically change their lives, their ability to continue with work oar school, or their ability to care for others (74%)

They could not afford children (73%)

They were finished having children (38%)

They did not want to become single mothers (48%)

THE LAW & POLICY

In the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court ruled that women, in consultation with their physician, have a constitutionally protected right to have an abortion in the early stages of pregnancy—that is, before viability—free from government interference.

In 1992, the Court reaffirmed the right to abortion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. However, the ruling significantly weakened the legal protections previously afforded women and physicians by giving states the right to enact restrictions that do not create an “undue burden” for women seeking abortion. Thirty-five states currently enforce parental consent or notification laws for minors seeking an abortion. The Supreme Court ruled that minors must have an alternative to parental involvement, such as the ability to seek a court order authorizing the procedure.

Even without specific parental involvement laws, six in 10 minors who have an abortion report that at least one parent knew about it.

Congress has barred the use of federal Medicaid funds to pay for abortions, except when the woman’s life would be endangered by a full-term pregnancy or in cases of rape or incest.

Seventeen states use public funds to pay for abortions for some poor women, but only four do so voluntarily; the rest do so under a court order. About 20% of abortion patients report using Medicaid to pay for abortions (virtually all in states where abortion services are paid for with state dollars).

MORAL ARGUMENTS:

Two basic categories of arguments:

Moral arguments that do not depend on the moral status of the fetus

Utilitarian reasoning

Rights arguments

Moral arguments that depend on the moral status to the fetus

Method I – Fetal development

Method II – Ontological status of fetus as a human

UTILITARIAN REASONING:

Considerations of harmful consequences to the mother & family of continuing pregnancy

May include suffering of future child & burden of caring for child under particular circumstances

May also include considerations of loss of future happiness & future contributions of the being aborted

NOAM CHOMSKY & PETER SINGER ON ABORTION

Lake of Fire (2006), writer, director Tony Kaye

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzY0L2g1f64&feature=related

SOME RIGHTS ARGUMENTS:

Argument rejecting woman’s presumed obligation to sustain/nurture the life of the fetus

Relevant considerations include:

Distinctions between what is morally praiseworthy vs. what is morally obligatory

Issues of consent – particularly in cases of rape

A woman’s right to bodily integrity

MORAL ARGUMENTS

Arguments that do depend on the moral status of the fetus

Ultrasound of female fetus at 20 weeks.

METHOD I:FETAL DEVELOPMENT

Conception or Fertilization

Proponents argue that zygote is same entity as the human child that would be born => zygote has the same moral status as the human child

Critics argue that cells at this stage lack structure or differentiation =.> no individual is present

METHOD I:FETAL DEVELOPMENT

Detectable Brain Waves

Argues that beginning of human status as a living being occurs at beginning of brain wave activity – usually between 6-8 weeks

Cites support from cessation of brain wave activity as criterion for death

Opponents argue that it is critical to distinguish early brain function from later cortex development – between 20-24 weeks

METHOD I:FETAL DEVELOPMENT

Quickening – movement begins (between 16 – 25 weeks)

Movement is self-initiated & stems from new level of brain activity

Argument founded on idea that this is the beginning of the being’s new life because it is moving about on its own

Critics argue that criteria should be based on sentience and at this stage there is no significant moral distinction between the being and animals or even plants that can move about on their own.

METHOD I:FETAL DEVELOPMENT

Viability – around 26 weeks – fetus is capable of separate existence from the mother

Focuses on idea that fetus is more clearly distinct from mother

Argues that though incapable of sustaining its own existence outside of the womb, it is sufficiently complete to warrant its existence as a separate being

Opponents argue no fetus would be capable of independent existence at this stage and that this is an arbitrary point along a continuum of development

METHOD II: ONTOLOGICAL STATUS OF FETUS

Five Arguments:

Being Human

Being Like Human Beings

Potentiality

Actuality

Evolving Value

METHOD II: BEING HUMAN

Structure of argument:

All humans are equal

Human fetuses are

human from the moment

of creation.

Therefore human fetuses have equal moral status with all other humans

METHOD II: BEING LIKE HUMAN

Structure of Argument:

Humans have the capacity to communicate, reason and plan

Humans have high moral status because of these capacities

If any human has this moral status

then all of them do

Implies any other being with these

capacities would have equal

status with humans

3 Versions of this Argument:

1.Potentiality 2. Actuality 3. Evolving Value

METHOD II: POTENTIALITY

The Argument:

is based on the claim that the fetus has the potential/power to develop key characteristics that are the hallmarks of beings with full moral worth.

would not apply to fetus that does not have this status

Some Concerns:

Judith Jarvis Thompson: “An acorn is not an oak tree” (p.187)

Would we treat potential surgeons as surgeons, potential criminals as criminals or potential presidents as presidents?

METHOD II: ACTUALITY

This version of the argument requires that the being in question actually exhibits the requisite characteristics to qualify for moral status

There is a moral significance placed on the distinction between high and low manifestation of these characteristics

Argument implies that not only fetuses but also infants and young children, lacking a high level of reasoning, would not be considered full members of the moral universe

METHOD II: EVOLVING VALUE

The Argument:

Occupies a middle ground between potentiality and actuality

Argues that as the potential characteristics evolve so grows the moral status of the being

Allows for resolution of competing moral claims between beings whose status or value is unequal

A Concern:

“It would be difficult to use in legal contexts in which claims and interests would need to be publicly weighed and compared.” (Text, p.184)