Marquis states that the classic pro-life and pro-choice arguments have symmetrical moral-relevance problems, and they are both invalid (403). Therefore, the author offers another argument against abortions. Marquis focuses on the essence of what makes killing anyone a crime – depriving an individual of life, causing premature death (403). Premature death is considered a misfortune because it deprives a person of the potential positive life experience.
Any person potentially has a future of value. Since every human being shares this feature, the author offers the concept of the “future like ours” (FLO) as an anti-abortion argument (Marquis 404).
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"An Argument That Abortion is Wrong".
One’s loss of the FLO due to death is considered a misfortune. When a person kills another person, this action deprives the victim of his or her FLO, imposing a misfortune. It is the reason why killing is considered the worst of crimes. Further, if a person is temporarily unconscious, they still have a potential FLO, and it is wrong to take it away from them by killing.
Depriving people of their FLO is a crime regardless of their gender, age, race, and any other characteristics. Therefore, it is wrong to claim that fetuses have no right to have the future of value. The opponents may claim that fetuses cannot have any interests due to the lack of conscious awareness (Steinbock 5). Marquis defends his position by claiming that some things may be in the interest of a person regardless of their capability of realising it (407). Therefore, fetuses have interest in keeping their FLO. A murder of any person regardless of age or gender is considered an equal crime because it is almost impossible to decide whose FLO is more valuable. Therefore, killing an unborn person is considered a crime equal to killing anyone else. Murder is wrong because it deprives a person their FLO; therefore, abortion is wrong.
- Marquis, Don. “An Argument that Abortion is Wrong.” Ethical Theory: An Anthology, edited by Russ Shafer-Landau, John Wiley & Sons, 2007, pp. 439-452.
- Steinbock, Bonnie. Life Before Birth: The Moral and Legal Status of
Embryos and Fetuses, Oxford University Press, 1992.
