January 1999 From the EditorAbortion and Choice
Abortion has been a controversial issue throughout human history.
Broadly speaking, there are three identifiable positions: the conservatives who think that
abortion is never ethically acceptable; the moderates who think that abortion is morally
justifiable up to a certain pointy of fetal development or under certain exceptional cases;
and the liberals who think that abortion is always morally acceptable, regardless of the stage
of fetal development.
My instinct tells me that abortion is morally wrong, except in certain
cases. Conception is the staring point of personhood. An egg and a sperm about to merge are not
a person whereas a newborn baby through a normal gestation period undoubtedly is, so a person is
gradually forming between these two points. In the process of fetal development, its degree of
personhood between the two poles is increasing.
Although that person does not have full moral status, an intentional
killing of this partial person destroys certain degrees of personhood, hence, to a certain
extent it is murder. The mothers bears the responsibility for killing what may be a person,
that is, a potential person.
Nevertheless, I feel that abortion is justified under certain extreme
cases - rape, incest, life endangerment of the mother, grossly-deformed fetus or birth control
failure.
When the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, the victim has no
moral obligation to complete the pregnancy. Her psychological and emotional states are not
suitable to give to a babv, therefore, under this particular situation, abortion is morally
permissible. When the fetus is grossly-deformed, or when it severely endangers the health of
its mother, the fetus can be aborted.
While my position is that abortion should be avoided by all means,
the mother, who faces the moral struggle alone, has the final right to choose whether to carry
the fetus or not.
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