Abortion and the Right to a Child

When does life begin?
1. AT CONCEPTION?
  1. Catholic view
  2. Pope Paul VI: 'protected absolutely from the moment of conception'
  3. Jeremiah: 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you'
2. AFTER CONCEPTION?
  1. Legal protection from 24 weeks
  2. Signs of brain activity?
  3. When the heart beats?
3. AT BIRTH?
  1. No reliance on mother
Sanctity of Life
1. Life is SACRED
2. God created life
  1. Taking life is intrinsically evil
  2. 'God created mankind in his image'-Genesis 1
  3. 'The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away'-Job 1
3. Doctorine of Double Effect
  1. Ectopic pregancy
  2. Okay if the intention is to save the mother
Quality of Life
1. Life is not valuable in itself
2. Is it playing God?
3. Will it lead to a slippery slope?
4. The foetus is not self aware
5. Singer and Kuhse
  1. Drop sanctity of life and focus on quality
    1. What it means to be a person
Mary Anne Warren
1. Attributes for personhood
  1. Emotionality
  2. Conscious Experiences
  3. Reason
  4. Capacity to Communicate
  5. Self-awareness
  6. Moral agency
Judith Jarvis Thompson
1. Not morally obliged to complete unwanted pregnancy
2. Violin analogy
3. What about rape?
Questions raised by IVF
1. When does life begin?
2. What about embryos that are't fertilised?
3. Screening?
4. Should older women have children?
5. Less research into infertility?
6. Low success rate?
7. Expensive?
Who has the right to a child?
1. Divorced couples?
2. Unmarried couples?
3. Married couples?
4. Unknown donor?
5. Mother AND Father?
6. Money spent on IVF?
7. Infertile women?
8. Surrogacy?

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Abortion and the Right to a Child

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	Created by I Turner over 8 years ago