In the article “Why Abortion is Immoral,” the author, Don Marquis sets forth a serious philosophical discussion on the immorality of abortion. The author examines the moral issue in a serious discussion that extends past many commonly heard discussions. Most individuals who argue against abortion do so from a religious aspect; they believe that killing is morally repugnant. They extend the idea of a life to that of a fetus, based usually on a Judeo-Christian belief system. This argument neglects to consider seriously the issue of why abortion is wrong.
One of the strengths of the article is that the author examines the stand-off between anti-abortionists and pro-choice individuals. He believes that one side makes too broad an argument regarding the immorality of killing. The other side makes too narrow an argument. Marquis’ recognition of this stand-off provides a solid basis for examining the issue in greater detail. He also realizes that if there is a stand-off, then the two groups will never come to a consensus concerning morality. He puts forth an interesting argument that is not commonly known: to abort a fetus deprives it of a future. The loss of any life deprives a being of the future joys, experiences, and knowledge that the creature has a moral right to know. He also suggests that this idea may lead to the conclusion that it is immoral to kill some non-human species.
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The weakness of this argument is that not everyone wants a future. One must seriously consider that not every creature achieves happiness. Unfortunately, there is much misery in the world. One only needs to look at horrific videos of children who were born into abject poverty and died of starvation at an early age. Would it not be morally just to save a person from this experience? This may then lead to discussions that we already know are morally repugnant: genocide of populations. No one wants to see a child killed because he is born into poverty. However, one could argue this if we only value a life for the future it has.
- Marquis, Don. “Why abortion is immoral.” The Journal of Philosophy 86.4 (1989): 183-202.
