Don Marquis Abortion Philosophy Essay

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Ty’onna Key
Philosophy Paper

Don Marquis claims that abortion is immoral and therefore impermissible in most cases. I will argue that abortion is not immoral and should be permissible in all cases. Marquis says abortion is immoral because you take away the fetus’ right to a future like ours. He believes this is the same as killing an adult human, which is considered immoral. He argues that killing an adult human is wrong and the adult has the same value as a fetus then abortion is also wrong. In his paper he wants readers to agree that an adult and fetus have the same value. I am not willing to agree to that point. An adult human has had more experiences and values more than a fetus the value assigned to the fetus come from other people.
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In the first place, this theory explains why we regard killing as one of the worst of crimes. (190)”. He uses this point to argue that what makes killing wrong is the loss of the value of the victim 's future. Again, I mention that he does not take into account the mother’s future that this fetus will intrude on. Disregarding the mother’s perspective can be compared to getting an arm amputated and declaring the action is immoral from the arms point of view. Abortion differs in each case and no situation is the same, to equate a case to another is immoral and unfair to the parties involved. Marquis writes “Since we do believe that it is wrong to kill defenseless little babies, it is important that a theory of the wrongness of killing easily account for this” although he is using emotional blackmail, it does not stray me from pointing out that embryos are not babies and due to the account of miscarriages and health issues it is not determined they will have a future. Pregnancy is a dangerous time for the mother and fetus and most miscarriages happen between 7 and 12 weeks. Killing is the worst of crimes except in the cases of self-defense. Self-defense is the defense of one 's person or interests, especially through the use of physical force. Marquis finds abortion permissible when the mother’s life is directly in danger. I would argue that being forced to have a child when you are not ready/don’t want to, is a danger to life. Self-defense in that having the abortion would protect the mother and child. Raising a child is a lengthy, costly and emotional journey, parenthood is not for everybody. Many pro-lifers suggests adoption instead of abortion. Currently, there are close to 400,000 children in state custody; only half have permanent plans for placement. Meanwhile, employees in protective services are underpaid and

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