Who are we to decide what exactly killing is, or even which type of killing is morally permissible or not? Don Marquis Argues “Killing a fetus deprives it of a valuable future/ “future like ours”. Therefore, abortion is not morally permissible.” Although, his argument does have some sense to it, it still raises questions to many specific cases where abortion would be an option. For this reason, I will argue as to why I believe Marquis’ argument has many arguments against it rather than for it because no one knows the future of any fetus. Furthermore, I will also touch the subject of a few of the many cases that makes his argument questionable.
To begin with, I stand beside my point that it is impossible to know what kind of a future a fetus will have once it is born. “A necessary condition of one’s future being valuable is that one values it.” (Marquis, 198) Here Marquis does clearly show an understanding that a fetus has no value to its life. But he argues against this, “This does not entail that my life is of no value unless it is valued by me.” (Marquis, 198) As I do somewhat see his point in this statement, I would still have to agree to disagree. Marquis argues this, but in the end his life is not being carried in the body of someone else by the time he is actually able to value his life consciously.
The “future like ours” argument …show more content…
If a mother is hit by a car in her early months of pregnancy and loses her child, does that make it morally wrong of her because she wasn’t taking care of herself? Even when it wasn’t her fault or decision whether her child was to live or not. The fetus was not killed unmorally because it wasn’t the mother’s fault. Just as the mother’s life being at risk during the birth period. If a mother needs to have an abortion because her own life is at risk, then she should be able to make that decision. Unlike the fetus, the mother is conscious of her life, and her
To begin with, I stand beside my point that it is impossible to know what kind of a future a fetus will have once it is born. “A necessary condition of one’s future being valuable is that one values it.” (Marquis, 198) Here Marquis does clearly show an understanding that a fetus has no value to its life. But he argues against this, “This does not entail that my life is of no value unless it is valued by me.” (Marquis, 198) As I do somewhat see his point in this statement, I would still have to agree to disagree. Marquis argues this, but in the end his life is not being carried in the body of someone else by the time he is actually able to value his life consciously.
The “future like ours” argument …show more content…
If a mother is hit by a car in her early months of pregnancy and loses her child, does that make it morally wrong of her because she wasn’t taking care of herself? Even when it wasn’t her fault or decision whether her child was to live or not. The fetus was not killed unmorally because it wasn’t the mother’s fault. Just as the mother’s life being at risk during the birth period. If a mother needs to have an abortion because her own life is at risk, then she should be able to make that decision. Unlike the fetus, the mother is conscious of her life, and her