Philosophy
According to Mary Warren, a fetus is a genetic human being but is not a moral agent. It follows then that a fetus is not a part of the moral community. The fetus according to Warren lacks the required characteristics that qualify it to be a part of the moral community (LaFollette, 2014). It should, therefore, not receive moral protection. It follows then that it is right to terminate a fetus before it qualifies to be a moral being. For an individual to qualify to be a moral person rather than a genetic human, such a person must have the following qualities: consciousness, reasoning self-motivated capacity to communicate and self-concepts.
Don Marquis, on the other hand, begins his argument with the normal adult human being. In his argument, a “normal” human being qualifies as a moral agent and thus should receive moral protection. It is morally wrong to kill an adult “normal” human being. Marquis asserts that killing an adult normal human being is wrong since it deprives that individual a future like everyone else's. Killing a normal person can only happen under very exceptional circumstances. In this light, therefore, it is wrong to kill a fetus since by killing it; one also deprives it of its future.
Does either argument contain a problematic premise? If so, what is it?
Marquis provides a stronger argument in this case. He begins with a strong premise that it is wrong to kill a human being as it deprives that person his or her future. Similarly, a fetus also has a future and thus it is also wrong to deny it its future unless it is absolutely necessary in both cases (LaFollette, 2014). However, his argument is problematic in the sense that a fetus is not a fully developed human to determine its own future since its survival depends on the decision of another being.
Warren's argument is weak. The qualities she provides of a moral person can also define a fetus. The attempt to differentiate between a person and a genetic human being is weak since the two both have a genetic code. It follows then that the fetus has the same right as the individual to belong to the moral community discrediting abortion.
Warren and Marquis have both ignored the role of the mother and her personal right. The mother plays a critical role in this debate since she has the fully responsibility and authority to determine the survival of the fetus or of the genetic human for that matter.
References
LaFollette, H. (2014). Ethics in practice: An anthology. New York: John Wiley & Sons,
2014.
