Moral Permissibility of Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Moral Permissibility of Abortion - Essay Example Finally, moderate view supporters will consider the stage of fetus development and suggest that abortion is possible at the early term. In this essay, I will argue that despite the fact that Deb has a legal right to terminate the pregnancy, she needs to choose a solution which would give more positive consequences that the opposite one. Pro-life critics would oppose this argument saying that there is not case where human life can be taken away by other people. Human life is the biggest value. However, challenging the way people define ‘human’ and ‘sentience’ can lead to acceptance of abortion under some circumstances. In many ways, moral permissibility of abortion depends on the state of fetus development. According to Sumner (1981), human fetus is not static in its development. First of all it is constantly developing. Second, it is developing gradually and, third, there is a huge difference between the beginning of the pregnancy and the end of pregnancy where fetus is well-developed (Sumner, 1981). When a woman becomes pregnant, there is only a zygote in her body which does not look and act as a human being. In the process of development, zygote transforms becoming more developed and human-like. During late stages of pregnancy, the fetus is already well-developed. If a child is born being seven, eight or nine months, it can survive with the help of doctors. This fact proves that sentient characteristics in fetus develop in time; they are not presented in zygote initially. Thus, abortion during at the early term is permissible. These three characteristics used by Sumner (1981) in moral reasoning of abortion lead to the rejection of the main argument of prohibitionists as it does not consider that fact that pregnancy is a dynamic process. Conservatives argues that abortion is evil under any circumstances because it is the act of killing a