Mary Anne Warren on abortion
Abortion: right or wrong? In determining the moral status of abortion, we must first decide, "How we are to define the moral community, the set of beings with full and equal moral rights" (Warren 156)? According to John Noonan, a pro-life conservative, the presence of human chromosomes in the fetus's cell nuclei from the point of conception is sufficient evidence to prove that a fetus is human. Mary Anne Warren however, refers to this description as merely the genetic sense, "the sense in which any individual entity that belongs to the human species is a human being, regardless of whether or not it is rightly considered to be an equal member of the moral community" (157). In contrast to the genetic sense, she defines the moral sense of human being as those who are "full-fledged members of the moral community and are also members of the human species" (Warren 156). It is these people that are bearers of rights and always merit our consideration and respect.
To further illustrate, let us assume that premise one is a "generally accepted moral truth" (156). In this case, the moral sense of the term human being must apply because the mere genetic sense, does not entitle one to our consideration or respect. Warren's tactic is to then suggest that the second premise switches the meaning of "human being" to the genetic sense, as fetuses are not considered to be full-fledged members of society, with equal moral rights. In fact, the only evidence that pro-life supporters have to substantiate fetuses being humans is biological proof, and that fetuses have the potential capacity for rational thought, which at most can show that the fetus may later become human in the moral sense. This evidence is useless when defining humanity, as it gives no reference to the morality of the fetus, or reasons why it should be given equal moral rights. Consequently, if the terms are taken in the same context, then one of the premises is questio
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Approximate Word count = 655
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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