The Abortion Debate - Webnode：关于堕胎的争论- webnode.ppt

The Debate ‘legal status’: how something is to be regarded from the legal point of view ‘moral status’: how something is to be regarded from the moral point of view The Debate a ‘fetus’: an unborn child at any stage throughout pregnancy an ‘embryo’: a fetus at a very early stage of pregnancy The Debate The abortion debate usually surrounds the issues of whether a fetus has the right to life, and whether the pregnant woman’s right over her own body justifies abortion even if the fetus has a right to life. The Debate Does a fetus have a right to be carried to full term? Does a pregnant woman have the right to do whatever she wants with her body, including the right to dispose of a fetus? Under what circumstances is abortion morally permissible? The Debate Arguments on both sides of the debate look at issues from the third-person point of view and pay scant attention to matters of personal concern. Approaching the question from the first person perspective (from the pregnant woman’s point of view) may involve very different considerations. The Debate A woman contemplating whether to continue or end a pregnancy often has to face two difficult choices, neither of which is optimal or beyond reproach. For example, a woman may seek abortion because she lacks the resources to be a good mother at a particular time in her life. Roe v. Wade The United States Supreme Court in the Roe v. Wade (1973) decision established that a woman’s constitutional right to privacy included a right to an abortion. Prospective mothers are free to abort for personal reasons up until the third trimester (i.e. 6 months). Roe v. Wade The right to choose whether to have children was protected by the right to privacy. Privacy can be understood as a condition in which one is not disturbed by government. In relation to abortion, privacy is defined as the ability of a woman to decide what happens to her own body. Roe v. Wade However, a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy is not absolu