Abortion

Just to clarify: CON is arguing that abortion is IMMORAL. Observation One: Because we are talking about abortion "on balance," I am not required to say that abortion is wrong in 100% of cases. Therefore, I will qualify my stance by noting that I believe abortions taken in order to save the mother from death or serious injury are permissible. I will defend the PROLIFE position using two distinct arguments, one philosophical and one medical. There will be one contention per argument, and because these argumentss operate independently, only one is needed to sufficiently negate. Contention One: Philosophical Arguments/FLO Theory FLO Theory is outlined by Don Marquis in his essay "An Argument that Abortion is Wrong." He writes, "Who is primarily wronged by killing? The wrong of killing is not primarily explained in terms of the loss to the family and friends of the victim. Perhaps the victim is a hermit. Perhaps one's friends find it easy to make new friends. The wrong of killing is not primarily explained in terms of the brutalization of the killer. The great wrong to the victim explains the brutalization, not the other way around. The wrongness of killing us is understood in terms of what killing does to us. Killing imposes upon us the misfortune of premature death." Marquis furthers, explaining why precisely loss of potential is wrong. "Premature death is a misfortune because when one is dead one has been deprived of life...Premature death cannot deprive me of my past life...Rather than my past, my death deprives me of my future, of the life that I would have lived if I live out my natural life span....the misfortune of premature death consists of the loss to use of the future goods of consciousness. What are these goods?...The goods of life are whatever we get out of life....Thus, it is wrong to say that the value of my future to me is just what I value now. What makes my future valuable to me are those aspects of my future that I will value when I will experience them, whether I value them now or not." Essentially, what makes killing wrong is that it deprives of us of a future, or "FLO." Finally, Marquis relates this theory to abortion. "The FLO account of the wrongness of abortion is a potentiality argument. To claim that a fetus has a FLO is to claim that a fetus now has the potential to be in a state of a certain kind in the future. It is not a claim that ordinary fetuses will have FLOs. Fetuses who are aborted, of course, will not. To say that a standard fetus has a FLO is to say that a standard fetus either will have or would have a life it will or would value. To say that a standard fetus would have a life it would value is to say that it will have a life it will value if it does not die prematurely." Therefore, the potentiality of the fetus makes it immoral to abort the fetus. Contention Two: Medical Arguments 1. "The medical arguments against abortion are compelling. For example, at conception the embryo is genetically distinct from the mother. To say that the developing baby is no different from the mother's appendix is scientifically inaccurate. A developing embryo is genetically different from the mother. A developing embryo is also genetically different from the sperm and egg that created it. A human being has 46 chromosomes (sometimes 47 chromosomes). Sperm and egg have 23 chromosomes. A trained geneticist can distinguish between the DNA of an embryo and that of a sperm and egg. But that same geneticist could not distinguish between the DNA of a developing embryo and a full-grown human being." 2. "Another set of medical arguments against abortion surround the definition of life and death. If one set of criteria have been used to define death, could they also be used to define life? Death used to be defined by the cessation of heartbeat. A stopped heart was a clear sign of death. If the cessation of heartbeat could define death, could the onset of a heartbeat define life? The heart is formed by the 18th day in the womb. If heartbeat was used to define life, then nearly all abortions would be outlawed." 3. "Physicians now use a more rigorous criterion for death: brain wave activity. A flat EEG (electroencephalograph) is one of the most important criteria used to determine death. If the cessation of brain wave activity can define death, could the onset of brain wave activity define life? Individual brain waves are detected in the fetus in about 40-43 days. Using brain wave activity to define life would outlaw at least a majority of abortions." 4. "Opponents to abortion also raise the controversial issue of fetal pain. Does the fetus feel pain during abortion? The evidence seems fairly clear and consistent. Consider this statement made in a British medical journal: 'Try sticking an infant with a pin and you know what happens. She opens her mouth to cry and also pulls away. Try sticking an 8-week-old human fetus in the palm of his hand. He opens his mouth and pulls his hand away. A more technical description would add that changes in heart rate and fetal movement also suggest that intrauterine manipulations are painful to the fetus.'" 5. "Obviously, other medical criteria could be used. For example, the developing fetus has a unique set of fingerprints as well as genetic patterns that make it unique. The development of sonography has provided us with a 'window to the womb' showing us that a person is growing and developing in the mother's womb. We can discern eyes, ears, fingers, a nose, and a mouth. Our visual senses tell us this is a baby growing and maturing. This is not a piece of protoplasm; this is a baby inside the womb." "The point is simple. Medical science leads to a pro-life perspective rather than a pro-choice perspective. If medical science can be used at all to draw a line, the clearest line is at the moment of conception. Medical arguments provide a strong case against abortion and for life." Basically, if most fetuses are alive prior to abortion, that the act of abortion would be infanticide. Therefore, abortion is, on balance, immoral, under this logic. Thus, I negate. I eagerly await Pro's points!