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https://phare.univ-paris1.fr/fileadmin/PHARE/Seminairephiloeco/V._Bianchini_-_JM___JSM_on_the_Felicific_Calculus__1_.pdf paper text: 1 Is it Moral to Have an Abortion? Warren Salvodon PHI208 Professor: Ginger Lee July 19, 2021 2 Is it moral to have an abortion? Part 1: Ethical Question Our society remains divided between right or wrong and moral or evil regarding abortions. The question surrounding abortion has led to the evolution of two strictness spectrums of either abortion condemning or abortion supporting groups. This variation instance poses the question, under what conditions, if any, should abortion be morally permissible? I will discuss how utilitarian moral theories have analyzed the moral significance of abortion. Part 2: Introduction A sharply differing statement between pro-life conservatives and pro-choice liberals has long been a public 14issue in the United States. The legalization of abortion and nationwide abortion rights in late 1960 led to the emergence of pro-life movements to end abortion. Notably, the two 13abortion cases Doe v. Bolton and Roe v. Wade in 1973 energized a small, weak 11pro-life movement, The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), that had formed in previous years (Karrer, 2011). The court's decisions inspired people who had been at the sidelines or apathetic about the issue to join the fight. Following the Roe case, the court issued two basic principles: the right to privacy that protects women to choose whether or not to have an abortion and the abolition of restrictive state regulation on abortion. Since these rulings, the pro-life movement has focused on reversing the Roe v. Wade decision and pass counter legislation to limit abortion. Abortion has become the most complex and controversial issue in American society. Although the Constitution grants the right to privacy to all American pregnant women, some ethical concerns arise when exercising that right. The central ethical problem surrounding abortion is over the moral status of the embryo and fetus. At the same time, some argue that a fetus is a human being with moral rights and status from conception. Others believe that fetus has no 3 moral rights despite being biological sense. It is legal for a pregnant woman to carry out an abortion, but it is illegal if the act causes harm. When considering protecting women's right to privacy and preventing injury, the utilitarian theory maintains that we should calculate the overall positive and negative consequences of an action and choose only activities that yield the greatest overall good or more utility to individuals or society (Riley, 2010). Part 3: Explanation of the Ethical Theory 3Utilitarianism is a moral theory that advocates actions that promote happiness and pleasure while opposing actions that cause sadness or harm. Jeremy Bentham is the core philosopher that 10developed the first systematic account of utilitarianism. However, the insights motivating the theory occurred earlier before Bentham. The classical utilitarians discuss many different views, but utilitarianism holds the general view that morally correct actions are the actions that produce the best. 7Utilitarianism is distinguished from egoism in the scope of the relevant consequences. On the utilitarian view, the overall suitable means that one's good and good of others. The classical utilitarian’s, Bentham and Mill, were motivated by corrupt laws and social practices and desired to bring legal and social reform. This desire, coupled with strong views of what was wrong and right in their society, influences them to develop an ethical theory that will serve as an evaluation tool for conviction. Utilitarian’s answer moral questions on the claim that actions, including abortion and lying to a friend, are morally acceptable when the consequences minimize harm and maximize benefits. A lie is not always immoral, and when it is necessary to maximize overall sound, then lying becomes morally right. Since the consequences of abortion affect a mother's life, it would be up to a mother to choose whether or not to abort. However, judging abortion requires weighing the long-term positive and negative consequences of the action, including long-term damage to the 4 mother and future child, to determine its morality. For instance, circumstances such as financial instability or fetal abnormality can be considered under utilitarian thought to establish the full consequences of keeping the fetus or performing an abortion and decide on the best course of action that will maximize the greater good. Utilitarianism offers an account of moral value that emphasizes achieving a particular outcome, often understood as greatest pleasure (happiness) and absence of pain (sadness). Although utilitarianism does not offer absolute value to human life or offers a clear answer to moral questions about abortion, it links the morality of abortion to different circumstances. Notably, utilitarian’s understand moral goodness in optimal outcomes and perceive the right action as bringing that outcome. For instance, they argue that abortion is allowed to any woman who profoundly resents her pregnancy. Utilitarians maintain that unwanted unborn babies have significant negative consequences on society. Consequently, if bringing an unborn child to life 12make life worse by increasing the number of bad things such as unhappiness and pain, then it is not non-moral. Utilitarianism also supports abortion where they suspect that a mother or the child will undoubtedly suffer from severe malformation that would cause a severe disability, both physically and mentally. If pregnancy is associated with circumstances such as rape, severe fetal abnormality, and financial instability that could damage the mother's welfare, then abortion would maximize her welfare. A child born under these situations will make the parents become devastated by causing the abnormality. The consequentialist dimension starts with the assumption that normal parents want normal children. Consequently, abortion would be less dramatic and easier to bear in existential situations that result in severe health problems, either to a mother or child. On a societal level, such parents will encounter discrimination and other 5 dramatic consequences linked to abnormality associated with that child born under the circumstance. For instance, a child may lack a range of fundamental skills, including reading, writing, eating, or walking, leading to burdens that society cannot carry. In addition, such a child has limited chances of living in a world of ordinary people because he cannot understand them. They may commit further serious consequences such as drug or alcohol abuse, rape, murder, suicide, or violence in some cases. Part 4: Application of the Ethical Theory Act utilitarianism helps discuss abortion because it judges individual cases on their own merits. This means the abortion decision is up to the mother and the negative consequences on her life. According to Nathan (n.d), the primary purpose of morality 4is to enhance life by increasing the number of good things (happiness and pleasure and reducing or avoiding bad things. Instead of focusing on moral codes, rules, principles, or systems that consist of commands and orders given by leaders, utilitarian’s justify morality based on the positive contribution of actions to human and non-human beings. From a consequentialist perspective, abortion is permissible in problematic situations that could damage a mother's life. One such challenging situation is rape. When a mother becomes pregnant without her will, there is a high probability that is dealing with the situation will be devastating. For instance, a child born from rape would land an extremely hostile environment because their father is a criminal offender, and their mother is traumatized. These two parents cannot show their children parental affection because they are experiencing abnormal emotional feelings. The preferable and less severe consequence is an abortion of the child than unwanted pregnancy resulting in trauma that the mother must carry through. Utilitarianism theories also justify abortion as morally right when the fetus of the mother suffers adverse health problems. McCartney & Parent (2015) suggest that the utilitarian moral principle 6 believes that everyone prefers pleasure over pain. Consequently, they weigh the amount of pain and pleasure 6in situations where abortion is permitted compared to the amount of pleasure and pain where abortion is forbidden. This implies that we must consider whether the future life of the fetus and that of the mother will be happy. For instance, pregnancy-associated with severe health conditions like fetal abnormality can produce a child walking, eating, or taking defects. It might also be the case that carrying the fetus is the suffering itself because of the abnormalities. Because the core moral principle of utilitarianism is the effects of actions, someone using this theory would conclude that the direct suffering of the mother and fetus and the resulting difficult future life make abortion morally right. Conclusion Overall, utilitarian’s state that justice involves maximizing utility and bringing the greatest happiness to many people as possible. Bentham believes that the highest moral tenet is maximizing satisfaction in such a way that, all things considered, pleasure is more significant than pain. Consequently, the 15morality of an action depends only on its consequences and actions that it is intended to produce the best state of things, all factors considered. This implies that individuals are free to do what they want as long as they don't harm others. Similarly, women have an individual right to abortion, which enables them to choose what is best for them regarding their pregnancy depending on their situations and the consequences it would bring to their lives. For instance, circumstances such as fetal abnormality grant women the freedom to abortion to avoid adverse effects such as the death of the mother or giving abnormal birth child. In such a situation, preventing abortion would result in suffering and violates individual rights and dignity. Therefore, abortion is approved in a situation in which it would cause happiness and 7 less pain to the women and majority of people in society to detrimental effects on health and wellbeing and loss of lives. 8 References 1Baker, C.N. (2020). The History of Abortion Law in the United States. https://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book-excerpts/health-article/u-s-abortion-history/ McCartney, S., & Parent, R. (82015). Ethics in law enforcement. https://opentextbc.ca/ethicsinlawenforcement/chapter/2-2-utilitarian-ethics/ Nathanson, H. (5n.d). Act and Rule Utilitarianism. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, IEP. https://iep.utm.edu/util-a-r/ 2Riley, J. (2010). Mill's extraordinary utilitarian moral theory. Politics, Philosophy & Economics, 9(1), 67-116. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470594X09351952 Karrer, R. N. (2011). The 9Pro-Life Movement and Its First Years under" Roe." American Catholic Studies, 47-72.