9 Abortion %26 Euthinasia

7/31/2019 9 Abortion %26 Euthinasia

1/38

Moral Reasoning

Dr. Darina SALIBA ABI CHEDID

Abortion


2/38

End of theory part of the course.

Beginning of practical issues.


3/38

Abortion

Definition: The termination of a pregnancyso that it does not result in birth.


4/38

Abortion

History:

Earliest records of abortion:

16th

c BC in Egypt6th c BC in China


5/38

Abortion is one of the oldest medical practices,evidence of which dates back to ancient Egypt,

Greece, and Rome. Abortion techniques usedby Egyptian pharaohs were documented in theancient Ebers Papyrus (1550 B.C.).


6/38

A Chinese record documents the number of royalconcubines who had abortions in Chinabetween the years 515 and 500 BCE.

According to Chinese folklore, the legendaryEmperor Shennong prescribed the use ofmercury to induce abortions nearly 5000 years

ago.It is believed that during the Middle Ages,

abortion techniques were adopted and

accepted by Western Europe and later diffusedacross the globe.


7/38

CaseA young lady in a very conservative village was

raped by a stranger and got pregnant. Noone knew about the incident except hermother.

Once this young lady delivers her child, she willalmost certainly not get married anymore.This means she will have to work hard all her

life to bring up the child alone, and she will belowly regarded.

Should she have an abortion?


8/38

What if she was not in a conservativesociety, but in a big city like New York.

Would you recommend an abortion?


9/38

What if she got pregnant not out of rape butfrom an affair out of wedlock?

Would you recommend an abortion?


10/38

Abortion

Pro-Life versus Pro-Choice


11/38


12/38

Utilitarianism

Kant


13/38

Utilitarianism

Kant

Natural Law


14/38


15/38

Utilitarianism

Kant

Natural Law Situation Ethics

Religious Ethics


16/38

Utilitarianism

Kant


Religious Ethics

Emotivism


17/38

Utilitarianism

Kant


Religious Ethics

Emotivism Sartre


18/38

UTILITARIANISM

Utilitarians would ask whether having anabortion brings about the greatest good. Havingan abortion because of financial pressures,

other family members' needs, education, work, any of these reasons may be justified by thehedonic calculus.

Utilitarianism generally supports a pro-choice

position, and Mill strongly believed in individualsovereignty: Over himself, over his own bodyand mind, the individual issovereign.


19/38

KANTS ETHICAL THEORY

The best place to start with Kant is to takea maxim and universalize it. If it is a self-contradiction or a contradiction of the will,

you have a duty not to act according tothat maxim.

The maxim "You should have an abortion"

becomes a self-contradictory universalmaxim "Everyone should have abortions".It couldn't possibly work, as there would be

no people to have abortions.


20/38

KANTS ETHICAL THEORY Choose a different maxim:

"People who have been raped should haveabortions.

Here you no longer have a self-contradiction.

However, this must be a contradiction of thewill. Would you want to make a law of naturethat ended pregnancy naturally if it arose out

of rape? At first we might think this would be aperfectly desirable - people who have beenraped would maybe prefer not to be pregnant.


21/38

KANTS ETHICAL THEORY

However, if I willed such a law of nature, Imight be willing myself out of existence, asthere are undoubtedly rational persons

who have been born as a result of rape. Icouldn't will a universal law of nature thatwould have prevented my own existence.

Could Kant's theory ever support abortion?It seems that even in the case of a threatto the mother's life, it would be using

humanity merely as a means to an end to

have an abortion.


22/38

NATURAL LAW

Natural Law asks what our purpose is ashumans. One of the primary rules is toprotect and preserve the innocent. This

alone leads to a secondary rule: Do notabort. (Absolute deontological principles that have no exceptions)

For Natural Law, abortion is not an option.


23/38

NATURAL LAW

EXAMPLE: A transplant surgeon needs adozen organs to save the lives of 12people. He sees a healthy man who has

all of these organs. A utilitarian calculationsays the greater good would be served bysecretly killing this man and saving the

other 12 people with his organs. NaturalLaw says that killing an innocent person isnot an option, so you don't have to even

consider it.


24/38

SITUATION ETHICS

Fletcher said we should not get rid of rules- they are a useful guide in mostsituations. However, the only thing good in

itself is love, and we may be required to'push our principles aside and do the rightthing'. The Church of England's position,

that abortion is evil but may be the 'lesserof two evils' is consistent with a situationistapproach. If a woman has been raped,

abortion may be an act of love.


25/38

SITUATION ETHICS

For example, consider a case where afoetus has a serious disability and theparents are worried that they would be

unable to bring up the child financially, orthat doing so might take time away fromtheir other children, it may be a

compassionate response to abort thefoetus to take away such a great burden.


26/38

Limit in Abortion?


27/38

Limit in Abortion?

What if a pregnant woman is invited to aparty, and she does not feel cool aboutgoing out in public with a big belly.

Should she have an abortion?


28/38

Quotes on Abortion

Any country that accepts abortion, is not teachingits people to love, but to use any violence to getwhat it wants.


29/38

Quotes on Abortion


It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so

that you may live as you wish.


30/38

Quotes on Abortion


it is a poverty to decide that a child must die so

that you may live as you wish.

if we accept that the mother can kill her own child,how can we tell other people not to kill oneanother.


31/38

END OF SLIDES ONABORTION

FOR THE NEXT TIME:EUTHANASIA


32/38


33/38

Utilitarianism

Kant


34/38


35/38

Utilitarianism

Kant



36/38

Utilitarianism

Kant


Religious Ethics


37/38

Utilitarianism

Kant


Religious Ethics

Emotivism


38/38

Utilitarianism

Kant


Religious Ethics

Emotivism Sartre

Documents

9 Abortion %26 Euthinasia