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Abortion - Coggle Diagram
Abortion
personhood
moral status : state of being worthy of moral consideration (subset of personhood) - animals have moral status but not a person
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social criterion : eg. someone cares about you, seen as a person so you become one
BUT : what about outcasts, moral status not personhood?
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Gradient theory of personhood : personhood comes by degrees, can be lost and gained
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the law
1990 : can get abortion up to 24 weeks, if later mother must be in harm or severe disabilities
criminalising abortion would mean women use unsafe alternatives or forced to raise children (infringes on rights)
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Judith Jarvis Thomson
burglar - open windows and burglar enters (partially responsible but still have right to kick them out), if add bars to window (protection) less responsible
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violinist - you awake connected to unconscious famous violinist with kidney disease who can only survive if you stay connected - you must remain tied to them for 9 months
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BUT : persuasive for rape cases, not consensual sex (agreed to help violinist so would be obligated)
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Situation Ethics
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relative so can be adapted to scenario, focus on consequences, emphasis on mothers life
agape is subjective, if foetus granted personhood where should love be directed
consequentialism
hinders women social rights (employability, education)
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Mary Anne Warren
cognitive criteria for personhood : consciosnes, reasoning, self-motivated activity, capacity to communicate, self awareness
BUT : this is very narrow - there are adults who do not fit this - bad criteria - foetus may not have personhood still have moral status
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Kant
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could not universalise maxim allowing abortions - contradiction in law of nature - not able to over specify maxim
Natural Law
primary precepts : reproduction, preservation of life (derived from SoL) - emphasis on rights of foetus - unless mothers life at risk
DoDE
ectopic pregnancies - hysterectomy okay but methotrexate not as bad means used to achieve good effects - inconsistent logic as more painful method of abortion better
Utilitarianism
Mill
focus on rights, autonomy of individual
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Bentham
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hedonic calculus (extent, duration, intensity) takes into account different criteria
BUT : hard to predict consequences, many factors clash, too much emotion to reduce abortion to hedonic calculus
personhood : sentience
BUT : does not address foetus potentiality, sentience ambiguous
"question is not if they can reason, but if they can suffer"
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