Abortion and euthanasia

Abortion and euthanasia -1-

Learning objective • To know and understand the overview of the course • To know and understand some of the facts about abortion. KEY WORDS ABORTION PERSONHOOD TERMINATION KEY QUESTION WHAT IS A PERSON?

abortion • Abortion means the deliberate ending of life after the fertilisation of the human ovum and before birth. • Today abortion is common for a number of reasons; • Sex is seen as being more for pleasure than procreation • Women have a greater social and legal status • Low child mortality has reduced the need for so many children • Foetal abnormalities can be detected.

question • Why do you think some women may decide to have an abortion?

Abortion and the Law - UK • Abortion became legal under The Abortion Act 1967. • Abortions can only be carried out in a hospital, or in a specialised licensed clinic. Pregnancies could be terminated up until 28 weeks. • In 1990, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act introduced controls over new techniques which had been developed to help infertile couples and to monitor experiments on embryos. Despite attempts to use this law to restrict abortion rights, the 1990 Act lowered the legal time limit from 28 to 24 weeks. • In 2008 a motion failed to changed the law from 24 weeks to 22 or 20 weeks. • In Northern Ireland, abortion is still illegal.

Abortion and the law - malaysia • Abortion in Malaysia is legal if • the woman's life is in danger • the woman's physical health is in danger • the woman's mental health is in danger • The woman must consent to an abortion, and she must have a medical professional's authorisation. • The legal period within which an abortion can take place is 120 days (about 17 weeks).

Reasons for these laws • UK – 24 weeks • An foetus is viableat 24 weeks • This means it is possible for the foetus survive unaided outside the womb after 24 weeks.

Malaysia • The Qur’an doesn’t explicitly condemn abortion. • However, it does condemn murder. • This has led to disagreement amongst Muslims regarding abortion laws and whether or not it should be condemned. • Laws differ from one Islamic country to another. • In Malaysia the law is up to 120 days based on the belief that ‘ensoulment’ occurs at 120 days. Nb. not all Islamic schools of thought agree on this. • As it is taught in the Qur’an that to kill one soul is equal to killing the whole of humanity. • This means to kill is intrinsically and objectively wrong.

Types of Abortion • In the UK, providing that two doctors confirm that her need for an abortion fits the legal criteria, a woman does not need the consent of her own doctor, her partner or her family to have an abortion. • Women under 16 can have an abortion, without parental consent in some circumstances. • There are different types of abortion: • Pill (up to 9 weeks). The effect is similar to an early natural miscarriage. • Vacuum aspiration or suction termination (from 7 to 15 weeks of pregnancy). • Surgical dilation and evacuation (D&E) (from 15 weeks of pregnancy).

FACTS ABOUT abortion • Abortion is commonplace in many countries • With tens of millions of abortions taking place each year. • According to the department of health data in 2006 there were over 193,700 abortions in England and Wales and 198,499 in 2007 • The majority were conducted under 13 weeks gestation. • The proportion of women having abortions in England and Wales is increasing.

Two camps • There are two camps when it comes to abortion: • PRO-LIFE • Pro-life campaigners argue against abortion. They think that the life of the foetus should come before the choice of the mother. • http://prolife.org.uk • PRO-CHOICE • Pro-choice campaigners argue for abortion. They think that the choice of the mother should come before the life of the foetus. • http://www.prochoice.com

Abortion ISSUES? • A key issue that we have to consider is: • When does a foetus become a person? • This is important because our key question is • Does the definition of human life stop abortion being murder? • The criminal act of murder only applies to a PERSON. When a foetus becomes a PERSON its gets all the legal rights of a human in Britain.

personhood • A person is a being that deserves protection under the law. • One of the issues raised by abortion surrounds the definition of a person. • The point at which a life becomes a human is the point at which it is wrong to kill it because it will be protected by the law. • When we talk about LIFE or the START OF LIFE we will be referring to the start of HUMAN LIFE

Learning objective • To know and understand the definitions for the start of life. KEY WORD KEY WORDS CONCEPTION POTENTIAL VIABILITY KEY PHILOSOPHERS GLOVER THOMPSON

WHAT IS A PERSON?

PERSONHOOD • When a foetus is given the legal status of a person is essential to understanding the debate over abortion. • This is because killing a person would be considered murder. • If the foetus is given the status of a person before birth it means that anybody terminating a baby after that time would be guilty of murder. • The claim: abortion is murder would be justified

Definitions for the start of life CONCEPTION PRIMITIVE STREAK • There are lots of different definitions for the start of life (personhood) here are the main ideas. POTENTIALITY PRE-EXISTENCE VIABILITY CONSCIOUSNESS

Your view • When do you think life begins? Why?

potentiality • Many people believe that a foetus should be given the status of a person because it is a POTENTIAL person. • This is called POTENTIALITY • Anything that has POTENTIAL to be a human is a human. • What do you think about this? • Does that mean we should include Sperm and eggs?

Pre-existence • Hindusand Buddhists believe in reincarnation. • Reincarnation contains the idea of pre-existence. • This is the belief that the soul or existence of the new life has lived before. • It is a returning life and is not a newly created existence. • Life therefore has INTRINSIC worth.

conception • Conception is the point at which the unique selection of genetic information is present • It is the moment the sperm and the egg have combined to create a fertilized ovum. • if allowed to continue and be successful in development it will go on to be a unique human being. • 1869 Pope Pius declared that a foetus is a human person from the moment of conception. • This has been the basis for Roman Catholic teaching on abortion that to kill a foetus is to murder a human person.

critics • The fertilized egg is too different from anything that we normally recognize as a person to be called the same thing. • THOMSON- accepts that there is continuous development in foetal growth but suggests that there is a point at which it is not a human being. • “There is continuous growth from acorn to oak true but an acorn is not an oat tree; just as a fertilized ovum – is not a person.” • GLOVER – to call a foetus a human at the point of conception stretches the term beyond normal boundaries.

Primitive streak • Others have identified the presence of the primitive streak on the fourteenth day after fertilization, as the point at which a unique human being can be said to exist, albeit in potential form. • The primitive streak provides the structure around which embryonic structures organise and align themselves. • Up until that point it is not clear whether one individual or more than one individual will form, and at this point it becomes clear which cells will go on to form the placenta and which go on to form the embryo.

PRIMITIVE STREAK • The ‘primitive streak’ is evidence of the start of the nervous system at 2 weeks. At this point it is thought that the young embryo can experience pain and has primitive sensations. • 14 days is the limit for embryo research. After this point it cannot be used. • This demonstrates that the law is recognising the change in the foetus at this point.

Criticisms • Thomson and Glover’s observations could still be made about the foetus at this time. • THOMSON- there is a point at which the foetus is not a human being. • “There is continuous growth from acorn to oak true but an acorn is not an oak tree; just as a fertilized ovum – is not a person.” • GLOVER – to call a foetus a human at the point of primitive streak stretches the term beyond normal boundaries. It is completely unrecognisable.

consciousness • Consciousness may be suggested as a definition of personhood. • Consciousness cannot be applied to all living tissue, as it implies sensory experiences, the ability to feel pleasure and pain. However, consciousness would include many animals, and most would argue that animals are not persons in the same sense as humans are. • The presence of rationality, and our ability to develop complex language and make complex tools, are distinctive features of personhood

viability • Viability is the point at which human personhood should be recognised. • Viability means when the foetus can survive a birth and exist independent of the mother. • This used to be referred to as quickening when the mother first felt the foetus move although now first-movement feeling and viability are not connected. 20-24 WEEKS

Criticisms to viability • The age which the foetus can survive outside the womb is reducing as medical technology progresses. • The moral judgement is made on the basis of technical ability rather than anything inherent to the foetus. • Second there are many people who are dependent on continual medical assistance such as dialysis in order to survive. We consider them to be persons despite their medical conditions. • Also even healthy born human babies would not survive without adult aid.

What do you think? • Review your view – have you changed your mind? • Write an explanation of what you think is the start of life on the slide below and next.

review • Abortion is the termination of a foetus before it goes full term. • There are 5 definitions for the start of personhood these all use different justifications for the potential of human life. • Pre-existence • Conception • Primitive streak • Consciousness • Viability • Birth WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT?

Exam question • d) ‘A foetus is not a person.’ Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that you have considered another point of view. In your answer, you should refer to at least one named religion. (5)

How to answer this question • Worth 5 marks • You need to show awareness of different points of view and argue your own opinion in light of these views. • Structure: • Some people may argue….. because…. • Others may argue…. because…. • However, I would disagree because…… (argue against the above points) • I think that….. because…..

Learning objective • To consider whose life is more important the mother or the foetus. • To consider the self defence argument as a justification for abortion. KEY WORDS SELF DEFENCE ECTOPIC PREGNANCY DOUBLE EFFECT KEY QUESTION WHOSE LIFE IS MORE IMPORTANT?

overview • This lesson introduces one of the key issues in debate over abortion. • It discusses whose life is more important • The mother or the child • This presents one of the arguments for the justification of abortion. • Main philosophers: Thomson

Times when a person would want an abortion • What about when a woman’s life is in danger?

Getting pregnant • A pregnancy and a growing foetus have an enormous impact on the mother. • Not only does it cause physiological and emotional changes it places the mother’s body under enormous pressure and has significant health risks attached. • In the past before developed health care childbirth was a principal cause of women’s death and it remains so in less economically developed countries. LDEC’s

The issue • There is a complex question about the conflicting interests between mother and child. • At one end of the spectrum are the severe danger of death examples: • An ectopic pregnancy will kill both the mother and the child if left uninterrupted. • There are also increased chances of pregnancy aggravating existing health problems. • Mothers with heart complaints or high blood pressure are under increased risk of serious problems. ECTOPIC PREGNANCY A pregnancy in which the foetus develops outside the uterus.

The life of the mother • In some situations it is hard to determine whose life is more important: Mother child Vs.

A defence of abortion - Thomson Judith Jarvis Thomson • Thomson sees abortion as an issue of self-defence and uses this to justify it in some cases. • If the foetus threatens the health of the mother abortion is a defensive measure against unacceptable dangers. • Thomson uses the example of a cardiac condition which should the pregnancy be allowed to continue would place the mother in real danger.

Questions • How should a decision be made about the two rights to life; that of the mother or the baby? • Who should decide which life should be preserved over and above the other? • While we might kill in self-defence, it is unclear whether we should kill an innocent in self defence. • Perhaps the foetus has the right of self defence against the mother?

Double effect DOUBLE EFFECT: this is a doctrine devised to deal with moral conflicts in natural law theory. It says that it is always wrong to do a bad act intentionally in order to bring about good consequences. It is sometimes permissible to do a good act while at the same time knowing that it will bring about bad consequences. In rough terms, this is sometimes translated as ‘provided your intention is to follow the rule, you can “benefit” from any unintended consequences. • One position which takes account of the threat to the mothers life is that which argues for a double effect way of thinking. • It may be that a medical procedure is necessary to protect the life of the mother which inadvertently and indirectly leads to the termination of the pregnancy. • In this way of thinking the action is not deliberately to kill but deliberately to save life. • The death of an innocent is an unfortunate side-effect.

review • People who disagree/agree with abortion have their view complicated by the problem raised when a child has a negative effect on the life of the mother. • Is it self defence? • Can you use double effect? • Whose life is more important, the mother or the child? WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT?

Learning objective • To understand the question of rights. • To understand the feminist view of abortion. KEY WORDS OPPRESSION PATRIARCHY RIGHTS KEY PHILOSOPHERS WARREN AND FEMINISM

The law on abortion • Induced abortion in the UK became a statutory offense in 1803. • However in the 1960’s there was a period of extensive and rapid social and cultural change leading to the passing of the abortion act in 1967. • The passing of the act reflected the ‘sexual revolution’ of the 1960’s. • The law gave women more rights as humans. The right to control their own lives. This had previously not existed.

The feminist position • Some have argued that there are other compelling reasons to permit abortion in all, or almost all, cases, not just when there is certain risk to the mother. • The feminist position begins from the historical experience of female suppression and a patriarchal society, and the role of religion in that history. • PATRIARCHAL: male dominated

Feminist position • Women were subordinated within the family and had their freedom limited by the constraints of motherhood and the unreliability of contraception. • Women's roles have primarily been defined in terms of motherhood and it was only towards the latter end of the 20th century that women in large numbers began to have equal legal rights and equal opportunities in employment.

The feminist position • MARY ANNE WARREN believes women should have the RIGHT to abort unwanted pregnancies at any time. • It should become part of their RIGHT TO LIFE given to them by the HUMAN RIGHTS ACT • If not undesirable consequences would follow, such as dangerous illegal ‘backstreet’ abortions and even women self harming.

Abortion and euthanasia