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The argument from self ownership thread brought to my attention some of the ways the issue of abortion is dealt with. Semantic difficulties seems to be an area where a more thorough investigation is warranted. The language problem is described quite accurately by Joyce Arthur on her post from the Pro Choice Action Network.
[a]… major fallacy perpetrated by the anti-choice is their interchangeable use of the word “person” with the terms “human”, “humanity” or “human being”. These terms are not synonymous. For example, anti-choicers often confuse the adjective “human” and the noun “human being,” giving them the same meaning. I’m struck by the question they often pose to pro-choicers: “But isn’t it human?” – as if we think a fetus is really a creature from outer space.
If you point out that a fetus consists of human tissue and DNA, anti-choicers triumphantly claim you just conceded it’s a human being. Now, a flake of dandruff from my head is human, but it is not a human being, and in this sense, neither is a fertilized egg. Anti-choicers will respond that a fertilized egg is not like dandruff, because the egg consists of a unique set of chromosomes that makes it a distinct human being. But with cloning, a cell from my dandruff is enough to create a new human being. Although it would have my identical genetic make-up, it would still be a unique individual, because human beings are much more than our genes. Also, both a fertilized egg and a cloned cell represent a potential, not an actual human being.
It’s a worn cliché, but it bears repeating – an acorn isn’t an oak tree and the egg you had for breakfast isn’t a chicken. So the only objective scientific fact we have is that fertilized eggs are human (the adjective) – not that they are human beings (the noun).
Pro-Choice argumentation seems to be a little underrepresented on the web. I found an insightful article from the Pro-Choice Action Network that provides some useful argumentation against the anti-choice arguments. I will include the main section of the Fetus Focus Fallacy in this post.
“Anti-choicers insist that the key question in the abortion debate is whether a fetus is a person or not. If so, abortion is murder, they say, and therefore obviously immoral and illegal. That is not the key question at all, of course – anti-choicers are committing the “fetus focus fallacy.” The practice of abortion is unrelated to the status of the fetus – it hinges totally on the aspirations and needs of women. Women have abortions regardless of the law, regardless of the risk to their lives or health, regardless of the morality of abortion, and regardless of what the fetus may or may not be. On average, abortion rates do not differ substantially between countries where it’s legal and countries where it’s illegal.[2] Which reveals a more pertinent question: Do we provide women with safe legal abortions, or do we let them suffer and die from dangerous illegal abortions? Read the rest of this entry »
The debate on the initial thread has been… interesting. The capacity for people to talk past each other is quite distressing. I am really starting to appreciate the work George Lakoff has done on the issue Cognitive Framing in his book Moral Politics. How we think about and respond to issues is based on this cognitive framework which can affect how we view opposing points of view and how credible we judge them to be.
That being said, it is important to review the arguments in favour of ownership of one’s body.
1) A person owns themselves.
2) Self ownership implies the right to free will
3) In having free will, you cannot have a duty to perform any affirmative actions.
Conclusion– You have no duty to provide another with the means to live.
Therefore it is permissible to remove anything classified as a separate entity from your body.
The objections raised to this have been middling at best and include the assertion that the sylogism ‘begs the question’ by not addressing the issue of fetal rights or the status of the fetus. The actual explanation of the begging the question was left at that, but I will extrapolate and make the objection that the term person should also be applied to the fetus/zygote/blastocyst etc. (Note: Allowing this extrapolation does not invalidate this particular argument and it is still a strong argument for the right of a woman to control her body)
If we are to allow the idea of personhood to a fetus then it is important to allow the distinction between the biological definition of human and the moral definition of human. Biologically, the mass of cells in question can be defined as a ‘human being’ (and is often shrilly bleated repeatedly by the opponents of choice) but certainly not a fully functional independently biological entity. Is it fair to describe the zygote/embryo/blastocyst as equivalent to that of an adult human being?
This would entail this view:
1. Embryos are human beings.
2. All human beings have equal moral status.
3. Therefore, embryos have full moral status.
The implications of this argument have been discussed in part 2 of this series, which makes the claim that to be consistent those who endorse this claim must also accept the fact that spontaneous abortion is a much larger and more pressing issue that should be dealt with first, if we are to define the embryo as having full and equivalent moral status as an adult human being.
Going back to the conclusion of the first sylogism, we read that “In having free will, you cannot have a duty to perform any affirmative actions” the anti-choice side would put forward that the woman does have the duty to perform an affirmative action, that is to let the fetus grow in her womb (at direct risk to her health) as we have defined the embryo in question as having full moral rights equivalent to that of an adult human being, and therefore positive affirmative actions must be taken.
Therefore, if we are to follow the argumentation, we all have the absolute duty to save human beings and if given the opportunity to take affirmative action that will save a life we must do so. The implications of this are far reaching as consider the following case:
A house is on fire and someone is trapped behind a deadly wall of flame. That person will perish if we do not act to save his life. We are obligated then, to run into the fire and attempt to save his life, if we subscribe to the notion that it is a duty to take positive affirmative action.
So,the rights view of the anti-choice stance, to be consistent, should state that whenever there is an opportunity to take affirmative action to save a human life, it must be undertaken. This would lead to people being obligated to be the ‘hyper-good samaritain’. That is risking their life and abandoning their rights in order to save the life of another. This situation, clearly, is absurd.
This situation calls into question then the idea that a fetus/zygote/blastocyst should have the moral equivalence of an adult human being.
Once you start down a path, the goodness just keeps on coming. Did you want another argument to use against the anti-woman, anti-choice zealots? Here is one from the American Journal of Bio Ethics. Bust it out and let the squirm. :) Please note I did a rough job of paraphrasing,quoting and using text from the article. I will link to the original here… 
Here is what I have posted once in the comment section already, but I think it is worthy of a post of its own.
The argument begins as such, a common pro-life position, human fetus/zygotes/cells have the moral equivalent to a adult human being…summarized below.
Embryos are human beings.
All human beings have equal moral status.
Therefore, embryos have full moral status.
This has been the pro-life stance pretty much all through the debate in part I , rhetoric and ad hominum attacks aside. This study comes to some interesting conclusions about the above conclusion.
The majority of embryos die within a few weeks of conception. See studies by Hertig (1967) and French and Bierman (1962).
The results of these studies graphically represented below.
Intrauterine life: Graph of survival and weeks since conception. (Click link below for graphs)
https://deadwildroses.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/graphs-for-reference-sake/
During the early stage, 8-10 days only 50% of embryos survive. Those that successfully implant, the risk of death becomes much less significant. These numbers show that spontaneous abortion is an everyday phenomenon. A mother of three children could be expected to have also five spontaneous abortions. The embryo’s survival to term is the exception rather than the norm. This next graph shows the effects of spontaneous abortion on human lifespan.
Graph of mortality in the United States from conception through to death. (Please click link below for graphs)
https://deadwildroses.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/graphs-for-reference-sake/
In the first few months, more than 60% of the entire population dies due to the effects of spontaneous abortion (approximately 220 million per year).
IF you accept the first claim:
Embryos are human beings.
All human beings have equal moral status.
Therefore, embryos have full moral status
THEN: Each of these deaths must have just as much weight as an adult human (which you so frequently harp on about). Spontaneous abortion is by FAR the greatest killer of them all.
Some conclusions drawn from that data: Spontaneous abortion kills more than 200 million each year, it accounts for ¾ of all deaths per year, reduces life expectancy in the developed world to mere 29 years, kills only the very young and innocent: those who are powerless to save themselves.
IF you contend that an embryo has full moral status as a human being, then you must agree that spontaneous abortion is clearly the greatest problem facing humanity.
Cancer in all forms kills 7.6 million people per year, while spontaneous abortion kills 30 times this number. Finding a means to save even 5% of embryos from spontaneous abortion would save more lives that a cure for cancer. To remain consistent in your views you must accept the following:
The embryo has the same moral status as a adult human life.
Medical studies show that more than 60% of all people are killed by spontaneous abortion (a biological fact).
Therefore, spontaneous abortion is one of the most serious problems facing humanity, and we must do our utmost to investigate ways of preventing this death – even if this is to the detriment of other pressing issues. (See the current pro-life loonery)
The only way to avoid this conclusion is to abandon the conclusion that full moral status begins at conception.
So really, if you are so concerned about life, what the heck are you doing trying to fix the relatively minuscule amount of human choice aborted fetuses? I am guessing that really…you (pro-life zealots in general) are just about disenfranchising women in service to your silly notion of a god as you adhere to your inconsistent, incoherent beliefs.
Please note again: The article in full can be found in The Scourge: Moral Implications of Natural Embryo Loss by Toby Ord. The American Journal of Bioethics, 8(7): 12-19, 2008. I have taken excerpts, quotes and text from the article and used them in my post.
Woo, a real argument with premises and conclusion. A tight argument I stumbled over on the Killing the Afterlife blog. (http://killtheafterlife.blogspot.com) A neat thread to look at if ya have the time.
1) A person owns themselves
2) Self ownership implies the right to free will
3) In having free will, you cannot have a duty to perform any affirmative actions.
Conclusion– You have no duty to provide another with the means to live.
Therefore it is permissible to remove anything classified as a separate entity from your body.
As my partner edified for me in talking about abortion on a feckless youtube thread. Do not even go down the ‘personhood’ road. It starts and ends with a persons right to their own body. I think this particular argument does a nice job of augmenting that sentiment.
I do not know how I missed it but in 2004, the Bush regency passed the unborn victims of violence act (UVVA). The UVVA codifies the assertion that life essential begins at conception it defines as follows:
“ d) As used in this section, the term “unborn child” means a child in utero, and the term “child in utero” or “child, who is in utero” means a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.”
-Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unborn_Victims_of_Violence_Act)
This is some scary legislation at first glance. However, the frothing at the mouth anti-choice advocates seem to miss sub section c :
“(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the prosecution—
(1) of any person for conduct relating to an abortion for which the consent of the pregnant woman, or a person authorized by law to act on her behalf, has been obtained or for which such consent is implied by law;
(2) of any person for any medical treatment of the pregnant woman or her unborn child; or
(3) of any woman with respect to her unborn child.”
At the same time, the right to get an abortion is still firmly in the hands of a woman. So go ahead, define a mass of cells as an unborn child (in the US), define it as the damn Pope, if the woman wants it gone, it remains her right to have it removed.
Hopefully Obama can make some of this go away and soon.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
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