Abortion is immoral

Abortion is morally sound overall, as you still need to prove all abortion is immoral, not just one sect.1. Exclusions This may be his main argument, but this proves the pro life position faulty. Now, you concede abortions in many cases are in fact moral as they where forced to have the child etc. etc. But this nearly concedes the debate, as this means you think the right to life is negotiable, hence not absolute or paramount. They do this in attempt to be anti abortion, but let women have certain rights, this actually concedes that women's rights trump a fetuses rights. [1] "Anti-choicers say that a fetus has an inherent "right to life." But many of them support exceptions to a ban on abortion in cases of rape, incest, or a threat to the woman's life, or even health. This clearly indicates that they believe the right to life of a fetus is negotiable, certainly not absolute or paramount. By compromising their "right to life" definition in order to accommodate a woman's rights, they inadvertently acknowledge that women's rights are more important than the "right to life" of fetuses. " [1]My opponent then claims that a fetus is alive, but once again life is not enough to ensure any right to anything. A fetus is a human in biological sense, i.e. being a member of the human race, but it is not a member of society. The basic argument of (1) it is wrong to kill a human being, (2) a fetus is a human, (3) therefore abortion is immoral is a very faulty case. The word human comes with more then one definition. Biologically, a fetus is a human, but that is only one sense of the word. The other sense is being a member of society, which a fetus does not and cannot do. So as there are multiple senses to the word human, then the conclusion is flawed and does not follow. (1) is acceptable, but (2) is question begging as it only works in a genetic sense, not a societal sense, hence the argument you have been using fails philosophically. [2]2. Human characteristicsYou never refuted those concepts, as a fetus is incapable of doing any of those things, as you are not responding [fully] to by defense of the 5 you hence drop the argument which counts as a concision. My opponent is still straw manning, as all BORN humans that integrate with society have these characteristics. A fetus does not, you have never refuted this argument. My opponent, then shows there is no scientific evidence when a fetus is a human. Well a fetus is never a person until birth, as until then they are still residing in the woman's body and cannot fit all of the (5) principles. So he is relying solely on fetal development in his case. A fetus, is not a person in society therefore has no moral value,[2] so a fetus is only a potential human. This is the only viable argument you can make when it comes to the fetal development argument, which fails still. We must ask does having a potential human warrent a moral case to abortion? Now, before talking about the only viable defense of the fetal development (potential human hood, its almost there), let me respond to the 22 week old born child. Even in later abortions, it has many of the (5) precincts. It resembles a human, but does not have full consciousness nor self awareness. Marry Anne Warren writes:"Thus it is clear that even though a seven- or eight-month fetus has features which make it apt to arouse in us almost the same powerful protective instinct as is commonly aroused by a small infant, nevertheless it is not significantly more personlike than is a very small embryo. It is somewhat more personlike; it can apparently feel and respond to pain, and it may even have a rudimentary form of consciousness, insofar as its brain is quite active. Nevertheless, it seems safe to say that it is not fully conscious, in the way that an infant of a few months is, and that it cannot reason, or communicate messages of indefinitely many sorts, does not engage in self-motivated activity, and has no self-awareness. Thus, in the relevant respects, a fetus, even a fully developed one, is considerably less personlike than is the average mature mammal, indeed the average fish. " [2]So she claims once born you are fully developed enough like a grown mammal to warrant being called a person. You keep trying to say a 5 year old is orally safe to kill under this argument, this too is a straw man. As a born child is now fully aware, unlike a 8 month old fetus, and is also now part of the society and is not reliant on any one being (it is now reliant on many, and it part of the society, so comparing a fetus to a 5 year old fails). [1]So back to the science thing. Science only proves a fetus is alive and is a human, but simply being alive does not warrant a right to life. The argument fails, and the only defense of this is it is a human, and is potentially a member of society. This too fails. But the woman, already a persons rights trump any fetuses potential rights. Thus:"Consequently, a woman's right to protect her health, happiness, freedom, and even her life,' by terminating an unwanted pregnancy, will always override whatever right to life it may be appropriate to ascribe to a fetus, even a fully developed one." [2]My opponent then states a fetus is relatable to a fetus because of society. The argument fails as mental retardation does not mean you are not with society, they actually live with it. And these mentaly retarded people have the (5) attributes of:"Consciousness (of objects and events external and/or internal to the being), and in particular the capacity to feel pain;Reasoning (the developed capacity to solve new and relatively complex problems);Self-motivated activity (activity which is relatively independent of either genetic or direct external control);The capacity to communicate, by whatever means, messages of an indefinite variety of types, that is, not just with an indefinite number of possible contents, but on indefinitely many possible topics;The presence of self-concepts, and self-awareness, either individual or racial, or both" [2]Comparing mental retardation with a fetus is faulty. CONCLUSION:My opponent has failed to show all abortions are immoral, and his concession of abortion is ok in some situations means the right to life is not paramount and women's rights trump fetal life. A fetus philosophically is not a human, and an abortion is NOT murder. My opponent has not fulfilled his BOP. I am well aware conservatives will VB this, even though I am clearly the winner on most of the arguments, I still think I won this debate from a philosophical and moral standpoint. A fetus does not have the 5 attributes everyone of us have, nor is a fetus part of society. Merely being alive (my opponent only argues a fetus is alive) is not enough to be granted rights to life. So in closing:"Despite the potential that a fetus has for becoming a human being, and its similarities to a human being, we cannot say that a fetus is a human being. A fetus resides in a legal and social no-man's land, where rights and personhood can have no force or meaning, unless women are kept thoroughly oppressed. Plus, there are many significant differences between a born human being and a fetus, which creates reasonable doubt as to its status. Because there can be no consensus on the matter, the value accorded to a fetus is a subjective, personal matter. Individuals, not society as a whole, must choose what the status of a fetus should be, based on their personal beliefs, morality, and circumstances. And ultimately, this choice belongs only to pregnant women."[1]VOTE PRO********Argunments - I refuted all of his argunments, his fail in philosophy (of abortion), and morality. Sources - Tied, even though he had more mine where more accurate, for the most partConduct - I think tied, we where respectfulS/G - Your choiceThe choice is clear, vote PRO. Also: [1] http://www.abortionaccess.info... [2] http://instruct.westvalley.edu...