Argument Paper Two: Ethical Theories
In contemporary society people are faced with many different issues. Among the many issues abortion and world hunger are affecting millions of innocents. In recent statistics there are about 1.21 million abortions performed each year in the US alone. That is, about 4 of 10 unplanned pregnancies end up in abortion. That’s 40 percent of all unplanned pregnancies. In terms of world hunger, it is estimated that 1 out of 8 individuals suffer from malnourishment each year. The majority of all of these individuals live in third-world countries; sadly their starvation rate accounts for 15 percent of the population, which equals to 852 million people. That said, doing population control using various methods such as providing birth control, condoms, and rising awareness by educating the general population would not only reduce the population, but also prevent abortions.
When it comes to abortion, most want to argue that abortion it’s ok and it should be legal and that it is a woman’s right to do as she pleases with her body. For instance, Judith Jarvis Thomson an American moral philosophers, defends abortion and her argument goes as follows; “ The fetus has a right to life, but it does not have the right to use another person’s body to preserve it’s own life.” She argues that if the woman decides to carry the baby to full term pregnancy, she’s doing a good deed and that makes her a Good Samaritan. In addition, she claims that the pregnant woman has the right to do as she wishes with her body and that the fetus right to life it’s not relevant. Therefore, induced abortion is morally acceptable. Another pro-choice philosopher Mary Anne Warren suggests that fetuses are not part of a moral community and that they lack personhood. According to Warren what gives a human being it’s personhood? Having the capacity to communicate, reason, sentience, self awareness and moral agency. The fetus does not possess any of these six characteristics; therefore it is not necessary to grant it personal status. Moreover, the right of the fetus as a potential person does not outweigh the moral rights of the actual person who wishes to have an abortion. Lastly, the one I was most convinced with was from Don Marquis, Why is Abortion Immoral? Simply because killing adult human beings deprives them from a valuable future; fetuses are not an exception; they also have a valuable future. Therefore killing a fetus is wrong. It prohibits a living being a loss of his or her future. I can understand all three point of views; Judith Jarvis Thomson and Mary Ann Warren are both fighting for women rights and choices, at the end of the day I disagree with both .It is ultimately wrong to kill another human being and fetuses. There are no exceptions to take another living beings life due to poor decisions and lack of responsibility.
In terms of world hunger we do have a responsibility as fellow citizens of the world to help others in need. The question is how much and how can we really eliminate world hunger? Peter Singer points out our duties with our fellow citizens “ If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable importance, we ought morally to do it” (Cahn, 177). This is a utilitarian based principle, which makes greater survival for more people. Furthermore, in his second argument he states; “ We ought to act to prevent bad things from happening if doing so will not result in our sacrificing anything morally significant” (Cahn, 177). Singer has very strong arguments however, most people including myself would not fully