Term
| what is abortion According to Merriam-Webster.com: |
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Definition
| the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus. |
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Term
| what is abortion According to the Pro-Choice Public Education Project: |
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Definition
| the end of a pregnancy before birth; can be "spontaneous", also known as a miscarriage, or induced, the intentional termination of a pregnancy. |
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Term
| what is abortion According to Alaska’s Dept. of Health and Social Services: |
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Definition
| The termination of a pregnancy at any time after implantation in the uterus and before viability (ability to survive outside the uterus) of the fetus. |
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Term
| what is abortion According to National Right to Life: |
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Definition
| The term "abortion" actually refers to any premature expulsion of a human fetus, whether naturally spontaneous, as in a miscarriage, or artificially induced, as in a surgical or chemical abortion. Today, the most common usage of the term "abortion" applies to artificially induced abortion, which is the subject of [our concern]. |
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Term
| what is abortion According to the Pro-Life Action League: |
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Definition
| Abortion is an act of direct killing that takes the life of a tiny human being - a life that begins at conception/fertilization. |
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Term
| We need a definition of abortion that adequately captures |
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Definition
| the ethical issue of whether abortion is permissible: |
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Term
| problems with definitions |
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Definition
natural vs artifical
pre-implantation (fertilization) vs postIntentional vs. non-intentional |
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Term
| post implantation excludes |
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Definition
| many chemical abortions, the permissibility of which is also in dispute. |
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Term
| abortion, as it relates to ethics, |
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Definition
| is the intentional termination of a pregnancy any time after conception that results in the death of a fetus. |
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Term
| Reasons that Someone Might Have an Abortion |
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Definition
To save the life of the mother.
To prevent serious medical problems to the mother that might result from carrying the fetus to term.
To prevent the birth of a child with seriously debilitating medical conditions.
To terminate a pregnancy resulting from rape.
To terminate a pregnancy resulting from incest.
To terminate a pregnancy resulting from contraceptive failure.
To serve as ex post-facto birth control
As a “return” policy |
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Term
Where Does Life Begin?
Birth? |
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Definition
Birth?
Nope. The fetus is certainly alive prior to passing through the birth canal. |
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Term
Where Does Life Begin?
implantation? |
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Definition
| Nope. The fetus is certainly alive prior to implantation. |
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Term
Where Does Life Begin?
conception? |
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Definition
| Nope. The sperm and egg are both alive prior to fertilization. |
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Term
Where Does Life Begin?
before conception? |
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Definition
| Yes, unless biology is seriously mistaken. |
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Term
| It is not a question of where does life begin, but- |
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Definition
| when does the right to life begin? Or when does the fetus become morally considerable? |
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Term
When Does the Fetus Become Morally Considerable?
The extreme anti-abortion position is that a fetus is (or ought to be considered) |
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Definition
| morally considerable from the moment of conception. |
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Term
| When Does the Fetus Become Morally Considerable? The extreme pro-abortion position is that |
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Definition
| a fetus is not morally considerable until it is born. |
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Term
| An Argument for Moral Considerability Beginning at Conception |
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Definition
An infant (post-natal) is certainly morally considerable, and the gametes (sperm and egg) are not.
If an infant is morally considerable at birth, then its morally considerability had to begin at some point in its development such that before that moment it had no moral status, but after which it does.
A fetus’s moral status begins at some point in its development such that before that moment it had no moral status, but after which it does (1,2 modus ponens).
If moral considerability begins at birth, then that means that less than one second before birth the fetus had no moral status. (Follows from 3 by definition)
But surely a fetus is morally considerable one second prior to birth, because there is no morally relevant distinction between the two moments in time.
Thus, moral considerability must begin before birth (4,5 modus tollens).
If moral considerability begins before birth, then the only non-arbitrary point at which it begins is at the moment of conception.
Therefore, moral considerability begins at conception |
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Term
| An Argument for Moral Considerability Beginning after Birth |
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Definition
An infant (post-natal) is certainly morally considerable, and the gametes (sperm and egg) are not.
If an infant is morally considerable at birth, then its morally considerability had to begin at some point in its development such that before that moment it had no moral status, but after which it does.
A fetus’s moral status begins at some point in its development such that before that moment it had no moral status, but after which it does (1,2 modus ponens).
If moral considerability begins at conception, then that means that less than one second after conception the fetus has moral status. (Follows from 3 by definition)
But surely a fetus is not morally considerable one second after conception, because there is no morally relevant distinction between the two moments in time.
Thus, moral considerability must begin after conception (4,5 modus tollens).
If moral considerability begins after conception, then the only non-arbitrary point at which it begins is at the moment of birth.
Therefore, moral considerability does not begin until after birth. |
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