Philosophy behind abortion

1. Q) What is Abortion?
the expulsion of a fetus from the uterus before it has reached the
stage of viability (in human beings, usually about the 20th week of
gestation).
Types
1. Spontaneous or miscarriage – reasons are disease, trauma,
genetic defect, or biochemical incompatibility of mother and
fetus.
2. Missed - a fetus dies in the uterus but fails to be expelled
3. Induced – four reasons

2. 1. to preserve the life or physical or mental well-being of the
mother (therapeutic, or justifiable)
2. to prevent the completion of a pregnancy that has resulted
from rape or incest (therapeutic, or justifiable)
3. to prevent the birth of a child with serious deformity, mental
deficiency , or genetic abnormality
4. to prevent a birth for social or economic reasons (such as
the extreme youth of the pregnant female or the sorely
strained resources of the family unit).

3. Does legalization of abortion makes abortion right/good?
The abortion problem
1. when does human life begins?
2. value of life principle & individual freedom (unborn life and
mother)
3. who has absolute right to life ?
Morality of abortion
when does human life begins?/ Is fetus a human being?

4. 1. Science cannot answer this
2. Brain starts functioning
3. Quickening
4. Viability
5. Birth
6. Conception
Arguments against abortion – fetus a human being from conception
& hence abortion is murder.
1. fetus becomes viable around 7th month.

5. P1- It is wrong to kill an innocent human being.
P2- A human fetus is an innocent human being.
C - Therefore, It is wrong to kill human fetus.
2. Fetus a human being (theological view)
3. Fetus has a Right to life
4. Abortion leads to increased promiscuity
Arguments for abortion based on
1. Fetus not a human being
2. Mother’s/ women’s right over her body are important than the life of
fetus

6. A- Feminist Argument
1. Argument from self defense
2. Women’s right to choose
B- the consequence of restrictive law
C- the problem of unwanted or deformed children
D- lack of human institution

7.  Euthanasia is also known as mercy killing
derived from greek word ‘Eu’ meaning Good and ‘thanasia’ meaning
death
an act or practice of painlessly putting to death persons suffering from
painful and incurable disease or
allowing them to die by withholding treatment or withdrawing artificial
life-support measures.
Socrates, Plato, and the Stoics (euthanasia is morally permissible)
Traditional Christian rejected because it contradicted the prohibition of
murder in the Ten Commandments.

8. Legalization
1. In 1997 Oregon became the first state in the United States to
decriminalize physician-assisted suicide.
2. first countries to legalize euthanasia were the Netherlands in 2001-2002
and Belgium in 2002(active).
3. In 2009 the Supreme Court of South Korea recognized a “right to die
with dignity”
4. In India Passive euthanasia legal since March 2018
5. other countries Canada, Columbia, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland,
Germany, Mexico (passive)

9. However, euthanasia is only legal:
1. if that person has made an active and voluntary request to end their
life, and
2. it is thought they have sufficient mental capacity to make an informed
decision regarding their care, and
3. it is agreed that the person is suffering unbearably and there is no
prospect for an improvement in their condition

10. Types of Euthanasia
•active euthanasia - where a person deliberately intervenes to end
someone's life
•passive euthanasia - where a person causes death by withholding
or withdrawing treatment that is necessary to maintain life
Euthanasia can also be classified as:
•voluntary euthanasia - where a person makes a conscious
decision to die and asks for help to do this
•non-voluntary euthanasia - where a person is unable to
give their consent and another person takes the decision
on their behalf
•involuntary euthanasia - where a person is killed against
their expressed wishes

11. Active and passive euthanasia
Active euthanasia
Active euthanasia occurs when the medical professionals, or
another person, deliberately do something that causes the patient
to die.
Passive euthanasia
Passive euthanasia occurs when the patient dies because the
medical professionals either don't do something necessary to keep
the patient alive, or when they stop doing something that is keeping
the patient alive.
1.switch off life-support machines
2.disconnect a feeding tube

12. 3.don't carry out a life-extending operation
4.don't give life-extending drugs
Is passive euthanasia morally better than active?
There is no real difference
Switching off a respirator requires someone to carry out the action
of throwing the switch. If the patient dies as a result of the doctor
switching off the respirator then although it's certainly true that the
patient dies from lung cancer (or whatever), it's also true that the
immediate cause of their death is the switching off of the breathing
machine.

13. 1. in active euthanasia the doctor takes an action with the intention
that it will cause the patient's death
2. in passive euthanasia the doctor lets the patient die,
an action is intended to cause the patient's death
3. thus the act of removing life-support is just as much an act of
killing as giving a lethal injection
4. so there is no real difference between passive and active
euthanasia

14. Is active euthanasia morally better?
The killings in the bath
The philosopher James Rachels has an argument that shows that the
distinction between acts and omissions is not as helpful as it looks.
Consider these two cases:
case1
Smith will inherit a fortune if his 6 year old cousin dies.
One evening Smith sneaks into the bathroom where the child is having his
bath and drowns the boy.
Smith then arranges the evidence so that it looks like an accident.

15. case2
Jones will inherit a fortune if his 6 year old cousin dies.
One evening Jones sneaks into the bathroom where the child is
having his bath.
As he enters the bathroom he sees the boy fall over, hit his head on
the side of the bath, and slide face-down under the water.
Jones is delighted; he doesn't rescue the child but stands by the
bath, and watches as the child drowns.

16. Advantages of Euthanasia
1. Development in Medical technology.
2. Right to dignified death
3. Right to die
4. Non- voluntary Euthanasia
5. The Principle of beneficence
Difficulties
1. The slippery slope Argument
2. Non- voluntary Euthanasia