On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion-Mary Anne Warren- Abortion=act which a woman performs in voluntary terminating or allowing person to terminate; her pregnancy, and the legal status which is appropriate for this act- Considers: A fetus is a human beings, and therefore abortion is murder, mere ownership does not give me the right to kill innocent people whom I find on my property - Inappropriate to describe a women’s body as her property o Person is something distinct from her property, but not from her body - Whether or not it is possible to establish that abortion is morally permissible even on the assumption that a fetus is an entity with a full fledged right to lifeo Other to save a woman’s lifeo Thomson: Waking up in bed with a famous violinist---ailment that will kill him unless he his permitted to share your kidneys for a period of nine months **not a defender of other cases besides rape Antiabortionists—if he is consistent—will have to stay in bed with the violinist: for all people have a right to life- This is outrageous—to say that refusal would be murder: his right to life does not obligate you to do whatever is required to keep himalive, nor does it justify anyone else in forcing you to do so- Right to refuse to be a Good Samaritan towards the fetus, i.e. to obtain an abortion---For there is a great gap between the claim that x has a right to life, and the claim that y is obligated to do whateveris necessary to keep x alive **only y’s duty if somehow contracteda special obligation to do so and a woman who is unwillingly pregnant (rape) has nothing which obligates her to make the enormous sacrifice which is necessary to preserve the conceptus- “Indecent” for a woman in her 7th month to obtain an abortion just to avoid having to postpone a trip to Europe- Room for an antiabortionist: Normal case of unwanted pregnancy awoman has assumed responsibility for the fetus, for if x behaves ina way which he could have avoided, and which he knows involves bringing an existence of a human being with a right to life, then it is by no means clear that when it does happen x is free of any obligation to what he knew in advance would be required to keep that human being alive- Violinst: forgetting her pill one day might be sufficient to obligate a woman to complete an unwanted pregnancy- Alternating: Suppose that violinists are prone to the sort of illness the only cure for which is the use of someone else’s body for nine months, and as a result music lovers will draw lots and one person would have to save himo Prima facie reason for supposing that you have an obligation to stay in bed with the violinisto Fetus comes into existence as the result of the woman’s actions—might giver her a right to refuse to keep it aliveo X has no more right to bring into existence, either deliberately or as a foreseeable result of actions he couldhave avoided, a being with full moral rights y, and then refuse to do what he know what he knew beforehand wouldbe required to keep that being alive, than he had to enter into an agreement with an existing person, whereby he maybe called upon to save that person’s life, and then refuse to do so when so called upon- A fetus cannot be considered a member of the moral community, the set of beings with full and equal moral rights, and that is personhood, not genetic humanity, which is the basis of membership in this communityo (1) it is wrong to kill innocent human beings (2) fetuses are innocent human beings (3) it is wrong to kill fetuses o Noonan: classification of fetuses with human beings: presence of the full genetic code, and the potential capacity for rational thought o Moral community: consists of all and only people, rather than all and only human beingso Central concept of personhood: Consciousness (of objects and events external//internal to the being), and in particular to feel pain Reasoning (the developed capacity to solve new and relatively complex problems) Self-motivated activity (activity which is relatively independent of either genetic or direct external control) The capacity to communicate-indefinite topics The presence of self-concepts and self awareness, either individual or racial, or both- Potential personhood a threat to the morality of abortion—overridden in any conflict withthe moral rights of actual peopleo Fetus not fully conscious as a small infant, less personlike than is the average mature mammal, could never override a woman’s right to obtain an abortiono Response: May erode the level of respect for human life—lead to crimes and unjustified euthanasia—educating people to the kinds of moral distinctionso The fact that even a fully developed fetus is not personlike enough to have any significant right to life on the basis of its personlikeness shows that no legal restrictions upon the stage of pregnancy in which an abortion may be performed can be justified on the grounds that we should protect the rights of the older fetus o Postponing a trip to Europe—permitted though immoral o Potential personhood-prima facie reason for not destroying it, but we need not conclude from this that a potential persona has a right to life, by virtue of that potential We do not need to insist that a potential person has no right to life whatever Immoral about wantonly destroying potential people, when doing so isn’t necessary to protect anyone’s rights, could not outweigh the right of a woman to obtain an abortion Space explorer—breaks his body—to create fully developed beings-every right to escape if he could for his right to life outweighs all of their together  A woman’s right to protect her health, happiness, and freedom, and even her life by terminating a pregnancy will always override whatever right to life it may ascribe to a fetus As long as it is not born---its preservation violates the rights of a woman  Minute it is born—no longer violates mother’s rights—adoption ends mother’s right to its rate“Why Abortion is Immortal”—Don Marquis- Killing an innocent adult- Argument stands on whether or not a fetus is the sort of being whose life is seriously wrong to end---assume that this is correct- Avoiding all minor cases- Two Arguments:o Antiabortionist: Life is present from the moment of conception of that fetuses look like babies or that fetuses possess a characteristic such as a genetic code that is both necessary and sufficient for being