Philosophy - Abortion Rectitude

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what is morally
acceptable. It is because of this decision that our American culture
intensely debates issues of morality such as abortion. The debate over
abortion pits the rights to life of an unborn fetus against the rights of
rational women who want to control what happens to their own body. Does
the termination of a pregnancy deprive a human of their right to life?
Should our government be allowed the power to regulate what a woman can and
cannot do with her own body? These are two of the questions which will be
deliberated over throughout the course of this paper.
In his article "Abortion and Infanticide", Michael Tooley tackles
two important questions about abortion. The first is "what properties must
someone have in order to be considered a person, i.e., to have a serious
right to life?" Tooley answers that anything which completely lacks
consciousness, like ordinary machines, cannot have rights. If a being does
not desire something such as ...

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possessing a right to life can be applied to newborn
babies that do not yet have a concept of a self as a continuous being.
Therefore, it is morally acceptable to deprive them of their right to life,
for they don't show desire for life. According to Tooley, the fetus does
not have a right to life at any time therefore, the mother of that fetus
should have the right to terminate her pregnancy as she so chooses. Tooley
implies that until the fetus reaches the age of about three weeks outside
the uterus, it does not show signs of wanting life. Only when the child
shows signs of desiring life should the child be given a right to life.
These arguments are controversial to say the least. ...

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