Ethical THEORY

Abortion

What is Abortion?
Abortion is described as the expulsion of the
products of conception before the embryo or
fetus is viable. Any interruption of human
pregnancy prior to the 28th week of gestation
or the delivery of a fetus weighing less than
500 grams is known as abortion.

Methods Of Conducting Abortions

SUCTION (VACUUM
ASPIRATION) ABORTION
-The cervix is stretched to allow
passage of a hollow suction tube
with a sharp-edged openings
near its tip into the uterus.
-Powerful suction force is then
applied, allowing the fetus to be
ripped apart then suctioned out
of the uterus into a collection
container.
-Most 1st trimester abortions in
North America and the United
Kingdom are done in this manner.

DILATATION & EVACUATION (D and E) ABORTION

-Used for 2nd trimester abortions, at which point in
fetal development the fetal bones become calcified.

SALT POISONING ABORTION

-Used after 16 weeks, this technique is
employed often in third world nations because
of its cost effectiveness and ease of
administration.
-A syringe of a concentrated salt solution is
injected into the amniotic fluid via a long needle
through the mothers abdomen. The fetus then
breathes and swallows the hyper-salted amniotic
fluid. The fetus struggles and sometimes seizes
until dead within usually one hour.
-The mother typically then delivers a dead fetus
within one to two days. The fetal skin upon
delivery, having been chemically burned away,
usually presents as a glazed red surface.
-This abortion procedure was first developed in
Nazi concentration camps during WorldWar II.

DILATION and EXTRACTION (D and X); aka

PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION
Used in well developed 2nd and 3rd trimester pregnancies.

HYSTEROTOMY ABORTION
-Used for late term abortions in rare
instances.
-Identical to a Caesarian Section delivery
used to deliver a live baby in the presence of
certain pregnancy/fetal complications, except
the objective there is to deliver a dead fetus.
-The live fetus is first terminated while still in
the mothers womb, such as by cutting of the
umbilical cord.
-Once the fetus is dead, the fetus is then
physically lifted out of the mothers womb and
the abortion is completed.

PROSTOGLANDIN ABORTION
Used to abort mid and later term pregnancies. The hormone is
administered to the pregnant woman into the amniotic fluid or by
vaginal suppositories. It induces violent premature labor
contractions, thus expelling the fetus which usually dies in the
process of delivery. Drugs lethal to the fetus are often injected into
the amniotic fluid, to assure fetal death before delivery.
INDUCED LABOUR (LIVE BIRTH) ABORTION
Premature delivery of a commonly midterm fetus is induced via
various means, the objective being to deliver a premature baby that
is not capable of surviving outside the uterus.
When such abortions typically produce the complication of live
birth, the now delivered living baby is provided only comfort
care - wrapping the infant in a blanket - and denied all medical
and nursing care. Such infants can linger for hours before dying of
natural causes.

Abortion in the
Philippines

There is no law in the Philippines that

expressly authorizes abortions in order to
save the woman's life; and the general
provisions which do penalize abortion
make no qualifications if the woman's life
is endangered.
Article II of the 1987 Philippine
Constitution says, in part, "Section 12. The
State recognizes the sanctity of family life
and shall protect and strengthen the
family as a basic autonomous social
institution". It shall equally protect the

RELIGION & ABORTION

CHRISTIANITY
Christians believe that life begins at the instant of conception.
Therefore, abortion is murder and is prohibited by the Ten
Commandments. (Exodus 20:13)
ISLAM
A notable verse from the Quran reads: Do not kill your children
for fear of poverty: we shall provide sustenance for them as well as
for you. Verily the killing of them is a great sin (17:31).
HINDUISM
Classical Hindu texts strongly opposed abortion: one compares
abortion to the killing of a priest, one considers abortion a greater
sin than killing of ones parents and another says that a woman who
aborts her child will lose her caste.

Ethical Theory
The moral and legal issues raised by the practice of
abortion has tested the philosophers, theologians, and
statesmen of every age since the dawn of civilization.
The Stoics' belief that abortion should be allowed up
to the moment of birth was vigorously opposed by
the Pythagoreans who believed that the soul was
infused into the body at conception and that to abort
a fetus would be to commit murder.

Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice

Pro Life Abortion
To say that someone is "pro-life" is to say
that the person believes that the
government has an obligation to
preserve all human life, regardless of
intent, viability, or quality-of-life
concerns.

Pro Choice Abortion

To be "pro-choice" on abortion is to
believe that individuals have unlimited
autonomy with respect to their own

Jeremy Benthams
Perspective on Abortion
An abortion, according to Benthams
view, might be permissible under
specific circumstances:
mother does not have enough financial
resources to support the growth of this
future child
mother knows that the fetus will be born
with physical disability

Abortion is allowed for the reason of

achieving a balance of pleasure over
pain.

Immanuel Kants
Perspective on Abortion
Kant would believe that an abortion is
morally incorrect because it is not right
to kill a person and it is considered as a
murder under any circumstances.
Kant believes that a fetus is a human
person because it has a soul
Even if the pregnant woman was raped
and she cannot afford to raise this child,
she cannot have an abortion in terms of
Kants perspective on the moral worth

J.S. Mills Perspective on

Abortion

On the topic of abortion rule would

state that any type of killing is bad so
in no way can abortion be morally
right. But since he feels that
someones liberty is important, then
people should be able to decide for
themselves what they do with their
body.
Mill believes that one should take care
of individual happiness first because
in turn that will result in the

J. Thomsons Perspective on
Abortion
The first is a womans right to selfdefence, in which the mother may
end the life of the fetus if it threatens
her own.
The second is the womans right of
ownership of her own body. It is her
body, in the same way that we might
say it is her house or it is her life; she
has priority when it comes to making
decisions over her own body so she
can remove the fetus whenever she