PHLB09H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Begging The Question, Therapeutic Abortion, Umbilical Cord
Document Summary
Is abortion an (cid:498)unresolvable(cid:499) )ssue: there is a (cid:498)stand-off (cid:499) between the typical anti-abortion and pro-choice positions and a symmetry, 1. The fetus looks like a human being : (cid:885). Therefore, abortion is morally wrong: we need a general moral principle to tie the relevant characteristic of the fetus to having (or not having) the right to life, 2. It is always prima facie seriously wrong to take a human life: 1. The fetus is a human life. (the relevant characteristic: 2. It is always prima facie seriously wrong to take a human life. (cid:885). Therefore, it is not seriously wrong to end the life of a fetus: we need a general moral principle to tie the relevant characteristic of the fetus to having (or not having) the right to life, 1. The fetus is not a person. (the relevant characteristic: 2. It is prima facie seriously wrong to kill only persons.
