The Moral Permissibility of Abortion

Philosophy

Before I read Margaret Little’s essay, The Moral Permissibility of Abortion, I used to have a negative perception towards abortion. I support Margaret’s argument that early abortion should be permissible for women. It should be given special respect and should not be viewed through the bias that leads many people to view it as morally crude act. Reason should always be applied in debating on the issue as opposed to just superficial judgments or conclusions (McMichael 43). In her essay, Margaret (2005) analyses the important of this change of view very clearly and convincingly. Upon thorough inspection, I found that the author has a strong case in support of necessary abortion (Cohen & Wellman 52).

When an abortion is done earlier, it in no way ends human life (Little 35). This is because the embryo and fetus is just tissue in the early stages of development. Anti-abortionists wrongfully use the words “murder” and “killing” when making a description of abortion. Should a mother die as a result of successfully enduring the pregnancy then it is better for her to do an abortion. This would help prevent the fatality (Greasley 89). Therefore, early abortion doesn’t involve a person per se. Hence, abortion should be made permissible during this first half of the pregnancy (Cohen & Wellman 59).

In conclusion, supporting the permissibility of abortion does not necessarily mean that abortion should be a morally neutral or right act. Abortion cannot be assumed to be obviously indecent although sometimes even decent actions cause undesirable results. It requires much effort to nurture early human life to a human being. This involves different factors such as intimacy, welfare, creation and so forth. Inasmuch as we respect the development of human life, we should embrace and learn to view abortion differently. This will help the women who decide to abort since they believe that bringing a child into the world is not the best thing at that time.

Works Cited

Cohen, Andrew I., and Christopher Heath Wellman, eds. Contemporary debates in applied             ethics. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.

Greasley, Kate. Arguments about abortion: personhood, morality, and law. Oxford University        Press, 2017.

Little, Margaret Olivia. “The moral permissibility of abortion.” Contemporary debates in applied            ethics (2005): 27-39.

McMichael, John Westley. Beyond permissibility: Traversing the many moral pitfalls of abortion          (a virtue ethics approach). State University of New York at Albany, 2015.