Ethical Issues of Abortion and
Stem Cell Research
Dr Chan Ho Mun
Associate Professor
Dept of Public and Social Administration
City University of Hong Kong
Nov 25, 2009
Abortion
Outline
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Terminology
Moral Considerations
Policy Review
Terminology
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Zygote (受精卵 ): fertilized ovum (egg).
Blastocyst (囊胚): the ball of cells not yet
embedded in the uterus wall.
Embryo: the developing organism from 2nd to
8th week of gestation.
Fetus: the developing organism from then till
birth.
Terminology
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Embryo (broad sense): the developing
organism from day 1 of gestation till 8th week.
Fetus (broad sense) : the developing
organism throughout development, i.e., from
day 1of gestation till birth.
Viability: The point at which the fetus could
survive outside the womb, depending on the
size and lung development. Viability takes
place at around weeks 20-28 of the fetal
development.
Moral Considerations
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A slippery slope argument against abortion
Being human
Being like human
Right-based arguments for abortion
Middle ground
Virtue-based approach
A Slippery Slope Argument against
Abortion
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If aborting an embryo is morally permissible,
it will be morally acceptable to abort a fetus
at the early stage of gestation. This will
eventually lead to the moral acceptance of
late term abortion of viable fetus and
eventually infanticide.
Objection: The slope is not so slippery. Late
term abortion and infanticide could be
effectively prohibited by the law.
Being Human
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Fetuses are members of the human
species. All humans are of equal moral
worth and have the equal right to life. So
abortion is morally wrong.
Objections:
 Begging
the question: why should we count
fetuses as humans? The major premise of
many pro-choice arguments is that fetuses are
not humans. So they do not possess the right
to life.
Being Like Human
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It is not membership that grounds moral
worth. Rather it is because a fetus has
certain characteristics like human beings.
Killing someone is morally wrong because it
causes her premature death. It deprives her
of a “future like ours” (FLO) (Marquis)
Abortion deprives the fetus’ FLO. So it is
morally wrong.
Right-based Arguments for Abortion
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They are arguments from analogy.
Thomson’s violinist argument: You wake up
in the morning and find that the circulatory
system of a violinist is plugged into your body.
He has fatal kidney aliment but will recover in
nine months with your help. To unplug you
would be to kill him, but it sounds morally
permissible to do so.
Abortion is permissible even if fetuses are
human beings.
Right-based Arguments for Abortion
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Thomson’s People-seeds argument: Imagine that
people-seeds can drift in the air like pollen and take
root in your carpet or upholstery. You have taken
precaution to fix up screens at the window of your
house. Yet as happens on very rare occasion, a
seed manages to drift in your house because one of
the screens is defective. The person-plant does not
have a right to the use of your house even though
you voluntarily open windows, knowingly keep carpet
and upholstered furniture, and your window screens
sometimes have defects.
Right-based Arguments for Abortion
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Objections:
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The violinist argument seems only applicable to
the case of rape.
The fetus is innocent, so the argument from selfdefense seems not applicable.
The argument from necessity is not applicable
either.
People’s seeds argument seems to hinge upon
the assumption that fetus is not a human being.
Right-based Arguments for Abortion
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You don’t have the duty to save another person’s
life by allowing him/her to use your body, your
savings, and so on, but you are not relieved of
your duty of not to take a life even if its fulfillment
means the loss of everything your have. (Duty to
save a life vs. duty not to take a life).
Thomson’s arguments may not work if a fetus is a
human life.
Middle Ground
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The right to life is not all or nothing, and has
degree.
All sentient creatures have rights to life to a
certain extent. Cruelty to animals is a
criminal offence.
We can sacrifice the life of an animal for the
sake of saving a human being but not the
other way around because humans are of
higher moral status or have more intrinsic
value.
Middle Ground
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Yet we could only kill a person except for
self-defense or in a just war (pacifists would
disagree).
A fetus does not have the same moral status
as a human being, but it doesn’t follow that it
has no moral status. So abortion is
something that we should avoid.
Fetus has evolving value as it grows. Much
stronger justification is needed for abortion of
a later term fetus.
Virtue-Based Approach
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We shouldn’t just focus on the moral status
of a fetus or whether or not women have the
right to abortion. Abortion is not just killing
something or a choice.
Abortion for shallow reasons could be selfcentered, light-minded or callous.
A right decision is one that would lead to a
good life.
Virtue-based Approach
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The maturity of a fetus, the health condition
of a woman, the value of parenthood and
family relationships have to be taken into
considerations.
Policy Review
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Relevance Ordinance in HK
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The term “termination of pregnancy” rather than “abortion” is
used.
Legal termination of pregnancy requires the certification of
two medical practitioners that:
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continuing the pregnancy would involve risks or
physical/mental damages to the pregnant woman or the child if
it were born; or
the woman is pregnant before the age of 16; or
the woman is the victim of a sex crime.
Late term abortion is prohibited. Abortion must not be
performed after the 24th week of pregnancy, except for the
sake of saving the pregnant woman’s life.
Policy Review
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Termination of pregnancy: Has the fallacy of
colorization been committed?
Slippery slope: It is hard to clearly define what are
“risks or physical/mental damages to the pregnant
woman or the child if it were born”. Getting the
required certification of two medical practitioners is
not so difficult. It eventually leads to abortion on
demand.
Counselling and other supports are not readily
available.
Around 40% of young people abort their first
pregnancies.
Stem Cell Research
What is a Stem Cell?
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Stem cells: undifferentiated, multi-potent,
precursor cells, capable of developing into
virtually any body tissue.
Three types of stem cells:
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Embryonic stem cells (ESC)
Fetal stem cells
Adult stem cells
Main Sources
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Non-embryonic stem cells: adult bone marrow
(Ethically uncontroversial)
Embryonic stem cells:
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Miscarried or aborted embryos/fetus;
Extra embryos left over from in vitro fertilization
(IVF).
Embryos created for research by IVF
Embryos from therapeutic cloning
Potential Treatments
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They may be used to replace damaged organ
tissues (e.g., cardiac tissues), repair
irreversible injuries (e.g., spinal cord injuries),
or cure diseases (e.g., Parkinson’s and
Alzheimer’s diseases).
ESC is most promising for treatment, and
therapeutic cloning can avoid the problem of
immunological incompatibility.
Ethical Issues
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To harvest stems cells from an embryo is to
destroy it.
For: Left-over from IVF or miscarried/ aborted
embryos/fetuses are already there.
Against: The IVF and abortion should not
have been done in the first place. Letting the
embryos die is different from actively killing
them.
Ethical Issues
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For: Embryos are not humans.
Against: Destroying an embryo to harvest
ESC is equivalent to killing a child to obtain
his organs.
For: Therapeutic cloning can avoid the
problem of immunological incompatibility
Against: The embryo is not created for
reproduction, and is treated as a means.
Ethical Issues
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For: We can’t ignore he wellbeing of many
patients who may be cured by ESC research,
and the freedom of scientific inquiry and
research.
Against: We can’t do evil though it may lead
to good result.
References
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Abortion:
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Judith Javis Thomson, “A Defense of Abortion”, in Hugh
LaFollette (ed.) Ethics in Practice: An Anthology, 2nd
edition, Oxford: Blackwell, 2002, pp. 63-71.
Don Marquis, “An Argument that Abortion is Wrong”, in
Hugh LaFollette (ed.) Ethics in Practice: An Anthology, 2nd
edition, Oxford: Blackwell, 2002, pp. 83-93.
Rosalind Hursthouse, “Virtue Theory and Abortion”, in Hugh
LaFollette (ed.) Ethics in Practice: An Anthology, 2nd
edition, Oxford: Blackwell, 2002, pp. 94-103.
Baruch Brody (1972), “Thomson on Abortion”, Philosophy
and Public Affairs, no. 3 (Spring 1972), pp. 335-40.
References
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Stem Cell Research
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Knoepffler, N. (2004), "Stem cell research: an ethical
evaluation of policy options", Kennedy Institute of Ethical
Journal 14.1, pp. 55-74. (required)
Edmund D. Pellegrino & Myron Genel, “Should Federal
Funds Be Used in Research on Discarded Embryos?” in
Physician’s Weekly XVI (No.37), October 4, 1999. (optional)
Ronald M. Green, “The Ethical Considerations,” in Scientific
American, November 24, 2001