Morality and convenience abortions.

• Position: EDITORIAL COMMENT
• Pages: 7(3)

Because abortion is an emotional issue, often it is not considered rationally. In fact, two issues arise. The first is whether abortion is immoral. The second is how, if abortion is immoral, it should be dealt with legislatively.

The morality issue appears to be straightforward and can best be dealt with by examples. Thus if it is morally wrong to kill an infant immediately after birth, how can it not be morally wrong to kill an infant immediately before birth? The immorality of the latter course is obvious, (1) and it should not be obscured by the simplistic claim that a woman can do what she likes with her own body. This claim is fallacious because it treats the unborn child as a mere thing, not as a separate living entity requiring moral consideration, which it is. Therefore a woman who has an abortion is both dealing with her own body and also killing another human being.

Further, when an abortion is effected, not immediately before birth, but at an earlier stage, similar considerations apply. It is now accepted that a two month old baby, for example, or a six month old baby is a separate living entity with its own D.N.A The fact that there may be doubts whether it would be able to survive outside its mother's womb does not detract...