Peter Singer's Argument Against Abortion

Abortion can be defined as the deliberate termination of a pregnancy and is a topic that has been continually argued about for over thirty years. The subject of abortion has been continuously argued between two main viewpoints: Pro-choice and pro-life. People who support pro-choice believe that women have the choice to terminate a pregnancy. People who are pro-life oppose abortion and the legality of it. As a young women I find mind self with many questions regarding this controversial issue. As we discussed in class many different religious views from where life actually begins. Is it at the time of conception? Or is it the time of birth? With that being said it is difficult to determine whether a fetus is a person who has human rights. Does a fetus have self-consciousness or self-awareness? Is it morally wrong? At the end of the day there is no evidence that could answer any of the questions. To get a better understanding I decided to write this paper on the views of each side of the argument from a philosophers stand point. Through some research I was interested in looking into philosophers and their point of …show more content…
Though talked about in class, I was interested to learn about his views on abortion. “We saw in our discussion of abortion that the potential of a fetus to become a rational, self-conscious being cannot count against killing it at a stage when it lacks these characteristics - not, that is, unless we are also prepared to count the value of rational self-conscious life as a reason against contraception and celibacy. No infant has as strong a claim to life as beings capable of seeing themselves as distinct entities, existing over time” (Singer 1993). This statement provided goes completely against Immanuel Kant’s perspective on the topic. Singer does not believe that abortion is in anyway immoral or wrong if done with good reasoning or if in some way the procedure would cause pain to the