The Language of Argument

3 8 5

T h e P r o b l e m o f A b o r t i o n

After the class of actions is picked out, we need to determine what is being

asked about this class of actions—what kind of moral judgment is at stake.

It is one thing to ask whether abortion is morally wrong, and another thing

to ask whether abortion should be illegal. These are both moral questions

(because the second asks what the law should be and not what it is),

but they can be answered differently. It is not uncommon for people to claim

that abortion is morally wrong but should not be made illegal, because it is

a matter of personal, not public, morality. It is also important to distinguish

the question of whether abortion is or is not morally wrong from the separate

question of whether abortion is or is not good. People who deny that abor-

tion is morally wrong do not hold that abortion is a positive good. They do

not, for example, recommend that people get pregnant so that they can have

abortions. So, from now on, we will focus on the issue of the moral wrong-

ness of abortion.

The “Pro-Life” Argument

We can begin to understand this problem if we reconstruct the main

argument against abortion, using the method sketched in Chapter 5. Most

opponents of abortion call themselves “pro-life” and base their position on

an appeal to a moral principle involving the “right to life.” Of course, most

opponents of abortion are not opposed to killing weeds, germs, or even fish.

What they have in mind, then, is probably a principle such as this:

It is always morally wrong to kill a human being.

This principle by itself does not rule out abortion. To reach this conclusion,

we need further premises of the following kind:

Abortion involves killing a human fetus.

A human fetus is a human being.

With these premises, the anti-abortion argument will have the following

form:

(1) It is always morally wrong to kill a human being.

(2) Abortion involves killing a human fetus.

(3) A human fetus is a human being.

∴(4) Abortion is always morally wrong.

This argument is valid and reasonably charitable, so we have completed the

first stage of reconstruction.

We next ask if the premises of this argument are true. The second premise

is not controversial, given our definition of abortion; but the third premise

raises many problems. Much of the debate concerning abortion turns on the

question of whether a fetus is a human being. We will examine this question

later on. For now, we will assume for the sake of argument that a fetus is a

human being. That leaves only the first premise.

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