Running head: Women's Reproductive Rights

Women's Reproductive Rights

TyAnn Dixon

PHI 208: Ethics and Moral Reasoning

Prof. !!br0ken!!Baker

March 7, 2021
Women's Reproductive Rights 2

Women's Reproductive Rights

Part 1: Introduction

For decades women have been denied their right to make desicions on their bodies'

reproductive choices. Abortion is a very controversial subject that has and will most likely always

be around. In recent years, many laws have been passed dealing with women's health care and

abortions. Various laws have tried to challenge abortion laws in federal courts, such as Roe v.

Wade, Planned Parenthood v. Danforth, Doe v. Bolton, Harris v. McRae. As of May 2018,

Governor Kim Reynolds passed a bill that prohibits doctors from performing abortions if there is

a heartbeat, which can be detected as early as six weeks. (Gale, 2018) Other laws have been

passed denying state funding for fetus termination procedures. Iowa has become one of the

most restrictive states for abortions in the country. Some laws that have been struck down are

those requiring spousal consent for an abortion. Numerous politicians, health care providers,

and religious leaders agree with Governor Kim Reynolds, for example, the Human Life Protection

Act in Alabama. Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, and Louisiana - have all passed bills that

prohibit abortion after the six-week mark.

Some opponents of abortion might object to the idea of an abortion due to ethical or

religious reasons, claiming the procedure is cruel for terminating what is considered a human

life. However, restricting a woman's right to have an abortion or even make her own

reproductive decisions is not only immoral and unethical but downright degrading. Immanuel

Kant argued we must "treat humanity, whether in your personal or in that of anyone else,

always as an end and never merely as a means" (Kant, 2008, p. 29). However, when it comes to

the bodily rights that support abortions, some philosophers answer no, arguing that we should

defend the right to termination even if they granted that fetus a right to live from the moment
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of conception. Nevertheless, according to our reading, some who stand with Pro-Choice feels

that it is a woman's right to choose what happens to her body, more than the fetus's right to

life. (Thames, 2018. Sec. 6.2).

Part 2: Ethical Argument

We will discuss the ethics of restricting abortion rights an unjust restriction on a

woman's right to make her own reproductive choices. We as Americans should have the

right to make our own decisions on what happens to our bodies. Men and women

should be treated the same when it comes to making decisions for their health. Not only

do women have to jump through all these hoops to get abortions but so much as getting

birth control can be an issue. Women should choose whether they would like to have an

abortion, and unfortunately, in most states, they do not.

Part 3: Explanation and Defense

The explanation of the utilitarian theory begins with understanding the works of

John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham. According to our reading, "Utilitarianism is the

theory that morally right actions, laws, or policies are those whose consequences have

the greatest positive value and least negative value compared to available alternatives."

(Thames 2018, sec. 3.1) Because the core beliefs of utilitarianism are the greatest

happiness of a person. When a person is considering using this theory to justify having

an abortion, would contemplate whether the act of abortion will lead to overall better
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results than not having the abortion, as it is the woman's right to make her own

reproductive choices. So if it is going to benefit the woman's happiness to have that

abortion, she should have one without the law's restrictions. Nevertheless, some

utilitarians would say that abortion is immoral and is better to have those restrictions.

However, utilitarians can acknowledge that there are some occasions where abortion

would be the better option than to proceed with the pregnancy. For example,

utilitarians look at the damages resulting from limiting early termination with the

damages that may result by allowing it. There would be reliable utilitarian motivations

to set up approaches that allow fetus removal when the mother picks it. When looking

at abortion, we must ask ourselves what may be the mother's adverse effects to carry

the fetus to term and the positive outcome of aborting it. The same thing for the laws

concerning abortion is that we would ask about the effects of those laws that enable or

permit a woman to have an abortion.

Even though Roe vs. Wade gave women the right to access abortions, many

states make it hard for women to obtain those abortions. Roe vs. Wade stated That our

14th amendment "right to privacy" protects a women's liberty to choose. However,

most states have limitations for abortions. With every bill and law passed by state

legislatures and Congress, it is becoming harder to obtain those abortions needed for

those women. The choice to have an abortion is continuously being taken from women

by those lawmakers. The diminished efforts by state governments to limit or entirely strip

away women's abortion rights have risen exponentially.

Part 4: Objection and Response

Unlike the utilitarian theory, the deontological argument is the idea that

individual acts are always wrong. When it comes to the argument against abortions, we

must start with "the assumption that killing certain beings is always wrong; that is, we

have a duty never to kill them intentionally." ( Thames, B. (2018). It then tries to show

that fetuses belong in that category of beings. The deontological argument claims that It

is immoral to kill an innocent person. Regardless of whether that is a fetus or not, a

person is a person, and murder is unethical—Accordidng to our reading (6.2 Thames, B.

(2018). "Intentionally killing a baby is morally wrong and should be illegal. There is no

clear and significant moral distinction between a baby and that same being at an earlier

development stage. Therefore, intentionally killing that same being at an earlier stage of

development is also morally wrong and should be illegal. Abortion intentionally kills that

same being at an earlier stage of development." Many Pro-Life groups believe that life

begins at conception and abortion unjustly deprives the fetus of a future. Donald

Marquis presents an argument that purports to derive the immorality of abortion from a

deceptively simple but intuitively compelling claim. That "killing a person is wrong

because it unjustly deprives victims of the future." ("An Argument That Abortion Is

Wrong by DON MARQUIS," 2021)

Part 5: Conclusion

In conclusion, no matter what the situation, the ethics of restricting abortion rights an

unjust restriction on a woman's right to make her own reproductive choices. The virtue
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ethicist could respond in two ways. First, the dispute between different deontological

approaches attests, which means the judgment is not as straightforward as proponents

of one position or another. The utilitarian approach that seems to justify infanticide,

such as this approach, would make a clear verdict in the abortion case but may also

have some troubling implications for other cases. Second, questions such as "Is an act of

abortion morally right?" or "Is a policy that bans abortion justified?" fail to gain a full

grasp of the ethical significance of the surrounding circumstances. The laws and bills

that are set to prevent women from seeking abortions violate their constitutional rights.

Those who agree with women getting abortions can usually understand the mother's

health, wellness and understanding that it is the mother's choice no matter the

circumstances.

In comparison, those who disagree with abortions might be more focused on the fetus's

injustice and how the fetus needs to have a chance at life. No matter the circumstances,

whether she is a teen mom, a woman who has suffered sexual assault, cannot afford

another child, it is a woman's right to have an abortion. This is why restricting abortion

rights is an unjust restriction on a woman's right to make her own reproductive choices.
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REFERENCES

An Argument That Abortion Is Wrong by DON MARQUIS. Web.csulb.edu. (2021).

Retrieved 6 March 2021, from

https://web.csulb.edu/~cwallis/382/readings/160/marquis.html.

Chemerinsky, E., & Goodwin, M. (2017). Abortion: A Woman's Private Choice. Texas Law

Review, 95(6), 1189–1247.

Gale. (2018). Scholarly Articles on Abortion: History, Legislation & Activism. Gale.com.

Retrieved February 21 2021, from https://www.gale.com/open-access/abortion.

Thames, B. (2018). How should one live? An introduction to ethics and moral reasoning

(3rd ed.). Bridgepoint Education.