Understanding Abortion: From Mixed Feelings to Rational Thought

229 Pages·2012·0.92 MB·English

by  Stephen D. Schwarz

Understanding
Abortion
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Understanding
Abortion
From Mixed Feelings
to Rational Thought
Stephen D. Schwarz
With Kiki Latimer
LEXINGTON BOOKS
Lanham (cid:129) Boulder (cid:129) New York (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK
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Published by Lexington Books
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
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Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2012 by Lexington Books
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who
may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schwarz, Stephen D.
Understanding abortion : from mixed feelings to rational thought / Stephen D.
Schwarz with Kiki Latimer.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7391-6770-0 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-7391-6771-7 (pbk. :
alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-7391-6772-4 (electronic)
1. Abortion—Moral and ethical aspects. 2. Pro-life movement. 3. Women’s
rights. I. Latimer, Kiki. II. Title.
HQ767.15 .S383
179.7'6—dc23
2011042006
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
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Contents
List of Tables and Figures xi
1 Introduction 1
“Oh My God, I’m Pregnant” 1
Understanding the Abortion Issue 4
The Moral Question and the Legal Question 5
Is Abortion a Religious Issue? 6
Neutral Terminology 7
Is the Being in the Womb a Person? 7
Points of Agreement between the Two Sides 7
Facts about the Being in the Womb (BIW) 8
PART I: THE PRO-CHOICE MORAL POSITION 13
2 The Feminist Quality of Life Argument 15
There are Many Reasons for Having an Abortion 15
Women Themselves Must Be the Ones Who Make the
Abortion Decision 16
Pregnancy Has Profound Effects on Women’s Lives 17
Abortion Rights Are Basic Human Rights and Necessary for
Gender Equality 17
3 The General Quality of Life Argument 19
Every Child a Wanted Child 19
Every Child a Healthy Child 20
The Quality of Life of the Woman 20
The Quality of Life of the Whole World: Overpopulation 20
v
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vi Contents
4 The Not-A-Person Argument 21
Human Beings and Persons 21
A Fetus Has No Absolute Value 21
Fetuses Are Not Persons 22
Mary Anne Warren’s Not-a-Person Argument 22
Michael Tooley’s Not-a-Person Argument 23
Michael Tooley’s Defense of Infanticide 24
David Boonin’s Not-a-Person Argument 25
The Maguire-Morgan Not-a-Person Argument 28
The Fetus Is a Potential Person, Not an Actual Person 29
The Achievement View 30
When Is Personhood Achieved? 31
Summary Statement: The Fetus Is Not a Real Person, Only
a Biological Organism 33
Chapter Summary Statement: Basis and Implications of the
Not-a-Person Thesis 33
5 The No-Duty-to-Sustain Argument 35
A Woman’s Right over Her Body 35
Bolton’s No-Duty-to-Sustain Argument 36
Thomson’s Violinist Argument 36
Thomson’s Violinist Argument and the Case of Rape 37
Thomson’s Intruder Argument 37
Thomson on the Meaning of a Right to Life and the Right to
an Abortion 38
Thomson’s Account Does Not Support an Absolute Right
to Abortion 38
Abortion Yes—Securing the Death of the Child No 39
Standard Methods of Abortion 39
Another Method: Dilation and Extraction 41
A Controversy within the Pro-Choice Community 42
The Question of Fetal Pain 43
PART II: THE PRO-LIFE MORAL POSITION 45
6 The Reality of the Child in the Womb 47
First: The Continuum Argument 47
Second: The SLED Argument 51
Third: Being a Person and Functioning as a Person 55
The Person-Human Being Distinction: Engineered to Try
to Justify Abortion? 57
Summary Statement: Being and Functioning 58
Chapter Summary Statement: The Reality of the Child
in the Womb 59
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Contents vii
7 Abortion Means Killing This Child 61
Standard Methods of Abortion 61
Another Method: Dilation and Extraction or Partial-
Birth Abortion 63
“Partial-Birth Abortion” is not Really Abortion 64
What Are the Results of Abortion? 64
Abortion as Infanticide: The Kamchadal Practice 65
Abortion Kills the Child: The First Refutation of the Violinist
Argument 66
The Child’s Right over His Body 69
Abortion Is Intentional Killing: A Second Refutation 70
A Mother’s Duty to Sustain Her Child: A Third Refutation 70
The Violinist Argument and the Case of Rape 71
The Special Relation between a Woman and Her Child 72
Our General Duty to Help One Another: A Fourth Refutation 72
Summary of Refutations of the Violinist Argument 73
Objection and Reply: He Will Never Know the Difference 73
8 Abortion Causes Pain to the Child 75
Abortion Is Wrong because It Causes Horrible Pain to
the Child 75
The Special Horror of Partial-Birth Abortions 76
Controversy regarding Pain for the Child 77
The Risk Factor concerning Pain to the Child 78
Weighing Harms and Benefits 78
The Pain Argument Applies Even If the BIW Is Not a Person 79
9 The Dignity of the Human Person 81
A Reply to “Every Child a Wanted Child” 81
A Reply to “Every Child a Healthy Child” 82
A Reply to “The Quality of Life of the Woman” 82
A Reply to “The Quality of Life of the Whole World:
Overpopulation” 83
A Reply to “The Relative to Social Acceptance” View of Being
a Person 83
A Reply to Two Feminist Pro-Choice Arguments 84
The Question of Infanticide 84
Making Killing Seem Honorable 85
PART III: FURTHER MORAL CONSIDERATIONS 87
10 Some Pro-Choice Replies to Pro-Life Claims 89
Pro-Choice Replies to Pro-Life Claims regarding the
Continuum Argument 89
Pro-Choice Replies to Pro-Life Claims
regarding the SLED Argument 95
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viii Contents
Pro-Choice Replies to Pro-Life Claims regarding the
Being-Functioning Distinction 95
Pro-Choice Replies to Pro-Life Claims regarding the Violinist
Argument: Active Killing 96
Pro-Choice Replies to Pro-Life Claims regarding the Violinist
Argument: Intentional Killing 98
Pro-Choice Replies to Pro-Life Claims regarding the Violinist
Argument: A Duty to the Child 100
Pro-Choice Replies to Pro-Life Claims regarding the Violinist
Argument: A General Duty 101
Pro-Choice Replies to Pro-Life Claims regarding the Child’s
Right over His Body 102
Pro-Choice Replies to Pro-Life Claims regarding Pain to
the Child 103
Pro-Choice Replies to Pro-Life Claims regarding the Dignity
of the Human Person 103
11 When Does a Person Begin to Exist? 105
Formulating the Question 105
Some Main Lines Proposed as Marking the Beginning of
a Person 105
The Question of Infanticide 115
An Objection to Almost All of These Lines 116
The Achievement View, Being-Functioning, and the Lines 116
12 Other Approaches 117
The Agnostic Position 117
The Gradualist Position 118
Early versus Late Abortion 119
Pro-Life: The Don Marquis Future-Like-Ours Argument 120
Pro-Choice: Some Replies to the Future-Like-Ours Argument 121
13 What Should We Do If We Are in Doubt? 123
How Doubt May Arise 123
The Pro-Life If-in-Doubt Argument 124
The Pro-Choice If-in-Doubt Argument 125
The Psychology of Pro-Choice and Pro-Life 126
The Scope of Doubt: Early versus Late Abortions 127
Which Way of Going Wrong Is Worse? 128
PART IV: THE LEGAL QUESTION 131
14 The Legal Status: Pro-Choice and Pro-Life 133
Can We Legislate Morality? 133
The Pro-Choice Legal Position 133
The Pro-Life Legal Position 135
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Contents ix
15 The Role of Government 137
The Government Cannot Be Neutral: It Must Take a Stand 137
The Government Cannot Be Neutral: It Must Draw the
Line Somewhere 138
“I’m Personally Opposed to Abortion, but I Think It Should
Be Legal” 139
16 Other Significant Legal Aspects 143
The Question of Discrimination 143
The Question of Imposing 143
The Question of Privacy 144
The Question of Power-Freedom-Control for Women: A
Pro-Choice View 145
The Question of Power-Freedom-Control for Women: A
Pro-Life View 146
Which Way of Going Wrong Is Worse? 147
17 The Hard Cases: Rape, Life of the Woman, Severe Deformities 149
Two Positions on the Hard Cases 149
The Case of Rape: Protecting the Woman’s Choice 150
The Case of Rape: Protecting the Innocent Child 153
The Case of Rape: The Testimony of a Person Conceived
in Rape 156
The Case of Rape: Some Final Thoughts 157
The Life of the Woman 157
The Child with Severe Deformities 159
A General Analysis of the Pro-Life-With-Exceptions View 161
PART V: CONCLUDING TOPICS 163
18 Safety Issues 165
Pro-Choice: Keep Abortion Safe and Legal 165
Pro-Life: Legal Abortion Is Not Safe 167
Pro-Choice: Back-Alley Abortions 169
Pro-Life: Back-Alley Abortions 171
Is Abortion Safer Than Childbirth? 173
19 Going Beyond Abortion: The Unity Way 177
The Unity Way: Woman and Child Go Together 177
The Unity Way: Abortion Is Harmful to Women 178
Unwanted Pregnancy versus Unwanted Child 179
Abortion Is about Family Relationships 179
An Alternative to Abortion: Adoption 180
A Final Note 181
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