PHIL 3720 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Abortion Debate, Autonomous Agent, Fetus
Document Summary
Reading the moral permissibility of abortion by margaret olivia little. Moral status of a fetus (lee and george/l&g) L&g focus on moral intuitions the value of life. But that environment they"re talking about that"s a woman, an autonomous agent. They"re respect-worthy as the process of reproduction creates life. However, they don"t maintain the same value throughout life; their value deepens as it develops. abortion ending gestational support. Contrarily, l&g see it as violation the fetus" rights. (little says they"re wrong. ) independent trajectory the fetus doesn"t have a trajectory independent of the mother since it depends on the mother to sustain it. L&g underestimate the medical/physical harms of pregnancy; little"s known women who have had many difficulties during pregnancy. Social harms are also neglected by l&g (familial abandonment, being trapped in an abusive relationship a woman would otherwise leave, increased difficulty in finding/maintaining jobs, etc. Pregnancy transforms a woman into a mother.
