Don Marquis makes the case for the immorality of abortion in his paper “Why Abortion is Immoral”. Marquis contends that the premature death of an adult human being is seriously immoral as it deprives them of having a “future like ours”. Furthermore, Marquis contends that while abortion is not the same as premature death, it does rid the fetus of a potential valuable future; therefore, it must be considered seriously immoral. The valuable future argument displays two major exceptions to the morality of abortion. 1) In cases where the fetus would not be able to have a valuable future (severe handicap) and 2) in cases where the fetus would be in so much pain that it would be more valuable to end the fetus’s life prematurely. However, this is where the valuable future argument begins to unravel.
If one is take Marquis’s position on cases of moral abortion at face value, as if to say that suffering rids one of any valuable future then two major issues must be considered:
1) If a fetus is to be born into a home with no support or unnecessary suffering, such as females in pre-industrial China, then it must be moral to abort the fetus as per Marquis’s logic.
2) If one must be absolutely certain of the lack of a valuable future when considering the morality of abortion then how can one be positive on the morality of euthanasia or capital punishment?
Let me explain the case of the first variable. In recent years, China has had a one baby policy. As such, young females are often abandoned and left without the necessary support system for development. One could certainly consider that without a nurturing environment, said child has almost zero chance for a valuable future, similar to the case of severe handicaps. If this situation is considered to be moral then further inquisition must be made for other extenuating circumstances such as unwanted pregnancy. In cases where the child is unwanted, the mother could very well not follow the necessary pre-natal practices and not be willing to or be unable to provide the necessary nurturing environment to provide a child with the frame work for a ‘valuable future’. If prima facie these premises are considered to be true then it must be true that a number of extenuating circumstances exists for the morality of abortion.
As for the second case, Marquis’s argument raises serious implications in other moral issues. If Marquis’s argument is considered absolute then it would suggest that euthanasia and capital punishment are always immoral even in the worst situations. Take for example a terminal cancer patient. Many would certainly meet the conditions of unnecessary suffering; however, there is little way of determining the permanency of said condition. Miracles happen. In the case of deformities, you can be absolutely certain the fetus will not recover. That being said, with cancer, because there is a level of uncertainty, it would be seriously immoral to prematurely end their life as per Marquis’s reasoning.
For Marquis’s argument to be valid in these terms, his idea behind a valuable future needs to be revised. Instead of implying that one must be certain, as in the case of deformities, he must suggest that one only has to be certain to the best of their knowledge. This would suggest that in cases of moral abortion, as long as there is backable concern of a legitimate lack of a valuable future at the current moment then abortion is moral. However, this is only acceptable if he is willing to conclude that it is always immoral to abort a child free of physical ailments. While it could be argued that an unwanted child will not have a valuable future, it could equally be argued that at the current moment there are other options to provide a valuable future. Thus, if Marquis is to adopt this ideology then all cases of abortion, except those that meet certain conditions of unnecessary suffering, must be considered immoral. However, for this to be true, he must be willing to accept that a fetus raised in a negative environment with little or no nurturing will always be immoral to abort.
2019-9-26-1569462028