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Abortion – questions
1. Describe the secular and religious views on the sanctity of life.
2. Name the two types of abortion.
3. Look at the law on abortion in the UK. What does it tell us about the medico-legal opinion on when life begins?
4. Pro-choice and pro-life advocates use rights as a starting point for their arguments. How do they come to diametrically opposed
conclusions?
5. What is an abortifacient?
6. What view on abortion might a follower of Natural Law take?
7. Outline a utilitarian perspective on abortion.
8. Analyse the idea that a woman has a right to an abortion.
9. Name a non-abortifacient form of contraception.
10. A woman is four months pregnant when she discovers that she has aggressive cancer and needs treatment - but it will kill the foetus.
She has 2 young children and her husband wants her to receive treatment. Defend her choice to have/not have an abortion.
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Abortion - answers
1. The secular view of the sanctity of life is based on philosophical positions that life is of intrinsic value; the debate would be about when
life begins. The religious view states that life is a gift from God, and is therefore sacred – once God begins a life, then no one can end it.
Sanctity of Life
Refers to a quality of holiness that inheres in human life due to its being created in the image and likeness of God. The concept can
be interpreted in two ways. In one instance, the sanctity of life can be interpreted to imply inviolability, that is, one may never
intentionally interfere with continued human existence in any form for any reason. On the other hand, the sanctity of life may be
interpreted as implying that human life should be treated with great reverence and respect. [Source: Keenan, JF, "The Concept of
the Sanctity of Life and Its Use in Contemporary Bioethical Discussion," in Sanctity of Life and Human Dignity, ed., Kurt Bayertz
(Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic, 1996), 1-18.] The concept is often considered significant for debates surrounding end of life issues
in health care ethics because of the implications each interpretation holds regarding the value of purely physiological life. According
to the interpretation of the sanctity of life as implying inviolability, physical human life is a value of the highest order. According to
the interpretation of the sanctity of life as requiring great reverence and respect, physical human life is a penultimate value that
enables human beings to flourish and serve God, i.e., physical life is subordinate to spiritual ends.
http://www.ascensionhealth.org/ethics/public/issues/sanctity.asp
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President Bush yesterday issued a proclamation yesterday declaring January 21 to be “National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2007.”
National Sanctity of Human Life Day helps foster a culture of life and reinforces our commitment to building a compassionate
society that respects the value of every human being. …
One of our society’s challenges today is to harness the power of science to ease human suffering without sanctioning practices that
violate the dignity of human life. With the right policies, we can continue to achieve scientific progress while living up to our ethical
and moral responsibilities.
Comment from website:sdkhf
National Sanctity of Human Life Day helps foster a culture of life and reinforces our commitment to building a compassionate
society that respects the value of every human being. …
This is great news - must mean that Bush is now against the death penalty. –Bluesky
Source: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/20/stem-cell-sanctity-life/
Sanctity of life may be most associated with abortion, but it covers other issues such as stem-cell research, the death penalty and
euthanasia.
2. Spontaneous (not an issue) and procured.
3. The law on abortion in the UK states that abortion is freely available up to the 24th week of pregnancy. After that, abortion is only
allowed if the mother’s life is in danger or if the baby is seriously disabled. This dates from 1990 – abortion was first made legal in
1967 (after being outlawed in 1803) and was allowed up to 28 weeks. The change came about because of medical advances, and
babies born at 24 weeks were now viable. It does not extend to Northern Ireland. (For recent developments, see:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,,2156915,00.html
4. Pro-choice advocates focus on the rights of the mother, whilst pro-life advocates focus on the sanctity of life and the rights of the
foetus.
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THE RIGHT to choose is just one aspect of a much larger issue of reproductive rights--women’s right to control their own bodies
and reproductive lives. Although in recent decades the battle has centered around the right to abortion, this includes more than the
right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy--but also the right to have children in the face of racist sterilization programs that targeted
African Americans, Native Americans and disabled people in the U.S. throughout much of the 20th century.
Latinos were often obliged to sign consent forms in English instead of Spanish, and were frequently sterilized without their
knowledge. By 1968, one-third of all women in Puerto Rico--still a U.S. colony--were permanently sterilized. Today, racist
sterilization programs continue to target Black and Brown women and men in poor countries around the world in the name of
"population control."
Reproductive freedom is also about abortion rights for poor women. Even when abortion is illegal, wealthy women have--and have
always had--the money and private doctors to obtain abortions, while poor women face the choice of carrying an unwanted
pregnancy to term or risking their lives with unsafe, illegal abortions.
Source: http://www.socialistworker.org/2004-1/496/496_06_Abortion.shtml
We must conclude that human lives are sacred from the moment of conception, and that destroying those new lives is never licit, no
matter what the purported good outcome would be. But, ah, there’s the rub: what is the definition of conception? The "conception"
of something is the "beginning" of something.
Ask anyone on the street to define "conception" and they will call it synonymous with fertilization, when human ovum meets human
spermatozoon, and a new 46-chromosomed human being is formed. ..Perhaps even more dangerous is the concept that it is not a
precise moment, but a gradation of human worth. With this model, a pre-born baby at 3 months is somewhat of a human being, but
a newborn is more of a human being.
So -- is a 10-year-old boy or girl more a human being than a 1-year-old? Is a politician or athlete more a human being than a
wheelchair-bound paraplegic? Can we really stratify intrinsic human dignity and worth? Ultimately, it denies them their humanity. –
Fritz Baumgartner, http://www.prolife.com/life_begins.html
5. An abortifacient is a substance that induces an abortion, usually by preventing implantation.
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6. Natural law gives clearly defined rules that can be applied absolutely: something is right or wrong, regardless of the
consequences, and we need to examine the situation and break it down into the actions that might be taken – and establish the
right and wrong of each one. It’s how God’s law is known to man – God’s law is natural. Procreation is natural, God is a partner in it
and endows a soul on the new creation, and so abortion is wrong.
7. Remember: utilitarianism says that the right action is that which serves the greatest good for the greatest number. Abortion is
considered in light of the rights of the mother, partner, unborn child and others affected by her decision. Consider actual life and
potential life in your answer. In most cases, abortion is acceptable to utilitarianism.
8. Focus on *rights* here – explore her right to make choices about her fertility, her lifestyle, the people in her life who are affected
by her pregnancy. Using Judith Jarvis Thompson’s analogy about the violinist (look it up!!) is a good place to start. Also consider
arguments about whether or not the baby is part of the woman’s body or not. Look at it from several perspectives, and come to a
conclusion.
9. A condom, and IUD – anything that is a barrier method that prevents fertilisation rather than implantation.
10. Make a decision – and then defend it using a well thought-out argument from rights, sanctity of life, natural law, utilitarianism,
double effect – any philosophical/ethical perspective that you’ve chosen. It may be an emotional issue, but you must be able to form
a cogent argument!
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In July of 2003, at 32 years old, I was diagnosed with breast cancer (invasive ductal carcinoma stage 2A) during my fourth month of
pregnancy. I was shocked and particularly outraged that it had to happen now during this very happy time in my life. I was
frightened beyond belief. God gave me the strength and courage to face this disease, and my husband Pete was at my side
endlessly assuring me that I would be okay.
After meeting with many oncologists, surgeons and ob-gyns, we decided on a plan of action. I would immediately have a
mastectomy followed by three months of chemo (A/C), a short break to deliver the baby (about a month), and then the final three
months of chemo (taxol).
I decided to work full time during my treatment. I knew that if I were home I would feel sick and sad. Working kept me “normal” and
busy. When my hair started to fall out, my husband shaved it all off. This gave me a feeling of taking control. I also felt that with
my hair all gone – this was the worst it would get. Once you’re bald you can’t get any balder.
Shortly after I was diagnosed, my husband surfed the web continuously for information on treatment. In his searches he was lucky
to find the Pregnant with Cancer Network. The stories gave us the hope we needed to forge through the next few months. My
support person at the organization provided an endless supply of inspiration and answered so many questions. It was wonderful to
hear her story and know that my baby would be okay.
It was a long journey. I have to admit that I didn’t think the chemo was as bad as I thought it would be. I never got sick, and my
appetite was the same. At chemo each week, I met amazing strong women who were my role models. In December of 2003, I had
an especially rough month. Picture this – I am 9 month pregnant with one breast and no hair. My husband told me I was beautiful –
the remarkable thing is that he made me believe it.
In December of 2003, I went into labor naturally, about a week early. I delivered by c-section an angelic baby girl named Scarlett
Jean. Scarlett was 5lbs 14ozs and 18.5 inches long. Scarlett was perfectly healthy and still is.
Jacqueline Agresta, http://www.pregnantwithcancer.org/my_stories/story_1.html
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Further reading:
Just google abortion – there’s plenty on both the history of abortion and the current debate. Here are a couple of starting points.
http://www.abortionrights.org.uk/
http://www.lifeuk.org/
http://www.religioustolerance.org/abortion.htm
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