Abortion is morally justifiable?

We all have our own values, morals, belief
systems. They are as different and varied
as is the human race.

I don't know anybody who's had an abortion.
Most of my friends wanted children as desperately
as I did. Some even resorted to IVF. I am in no
position to pass judgements on the personal decisions of
other people. I can only imagine that for most people
it would not be an easy decision to make, especially
in difficult circumstances such as rape, incest,
physical and mental disability, mother's life at risk,
and so on.

Personally, I'm not sure if I could do it - but can any one
of us really put our hands on our hearts and say with certainty
what we would do in extremely difficult circumstances?

I can't.

Seriously, Foxy? “I am in no position to pass judgements on the personal decisions of other people.”

What, are you unwilling to say that Hitler’s personal decisions were wrong?

You say that : “We all have our own values, morals, belief systems. They are as different and varied
as is the human race”.

Maybe we do, but that surely does not mean that everyone’s values and morals are equally valid. I am sure you would not stand aside and let your friend be raped just because you wanted to respect the rapist’s morals! (And if you did stand aside you wouldn’t have any friends for long.)

To say that all morality is relative to the individual, as you seem to infer, is to end up in a mad world.

When it comes to abortion we need to discern just what is being done. If the evidence indicates that abortion is the deliberate killing of a fellow human being – and abortionists themselves are willing to say that it is – we need to ask ourselves why it is legitimate to e able to kill these human beings when normally we always say it is wrong to kill the innocent.

To just say that everyone can decide for themselves is incredibly inconsistent and is another step into a morally mad world.

Dear JP,

Well, I certainly did not express myself well here.

I was talking about abortion.

I shall now go and sit in the naughty corner Sir.

My sincere apologies Foxy if I came across too strongly with my response.

I realise of course that you were talking specifically about abortion but if it is acceptable to indulge in moral relativism with abortion, why is it not acceptable to do so with any or all other moral issues? It needs to be explained why abortion should be a special category.

It seems to me that the sort of fuzzy moral thinking you seemed to express is all too common in our society and that is leading us into very problematic areas.

Dear JP,

Few issues in recent years have divided people as has the morality
of abortion. At the root of the controversy is a basic value of
judgement about the human status of the fetus. If the fetus is
considered a baby, then abortion is a form of killing. If it is
considered a mere collection of cells and tissue, then abortion is\
a morally neutral surgical procedure.

But the status of the fetus fetus is inherently ambiguous.
It is neither self-evidently a human being nor self-evidently
just tissue(for if these matters were self-evident
there would be little disagreement about abortion).

cont'd ...

Dear JP,

On the one hand, the fetus is not a human being in
the usual sense, for it is generally not viable. Indeed
no society treats the fetus as human, for example, if
the mother accidentally miscarries, the fetus is not given
a funeral, but is simply disposed of like any other
tissue.

On the other hand, the fetus is not like any other tissue
such as discarded nail or hair clippings. The fetus is
potentially a human being one that might become alive
and unique as you or I. These conflicting value
judgements about abortion stem from this fundamental
ambiguity in the status of the fetus.

The question is compounded by a related issue, the right
of a woman to control her own body. But here too there
are ambiguities. Half the genes in the fetus were
contributed by the father, and although the woman must
bear the child, society may make the father responsible
for the child's support for nearly two decades thereafter.
If the father waives his responsibilities - for example
deserting the mother - then of course he has no further
rights in the matter. But if he accepts his
responsibilities and wants the child born, what are his
rights in relation to the mother's right to control
her body?

For those who believe that the fetus is human, there
is a third party present; the mother is controlling not
only her body, but somebody else's potential body and life.

Not surprisingly, opinion polls show public confusion on the
issue of abortion. Hence my earlier post to simply decide
not to make any judgements.

The great majority of the population supports abortion in
cases of rape, incest, or a threat to the mother's health.
But support for a mother's right to abortion on demand
fluctuates.

Also abortion rates must be seen in the context of
social changes in our premarital, marital, and family life
particularly the climate of sexual permissiveness and the
sense of individualism that leads people to make decision
primarily in terms of their personal desires rather than of
traditional norms.