Chapter 5 “Abortion” from the book “Intervention and reflection: Basic issues in bioethics” by Munson (2017) provides an immensely comprehensive and detailed discussion of abortion. The numerous cases illustrate difficulties that were faced by women in the times when abortions were still illegal in the US or some American states. In addition to that, Munson (2017) also explains the methods of later-term and early-term pregnancy termination. At this point, it should be noted that Munson (2017) particularly emphasizes the controversy with the late-term abortion. The ethical correctness is questioned because of how this abortion is executed since these methods might injure a woman. What is more, the conduction of late-term abortion implies killing a fetus that would otherwise successfully survive and continue living. At present times, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 prohibits terminating an advanced state of pregnancy at the national level.
The advocates of abortion are outraged with the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. For them, pregnancy is regarded as a burden for women and, hence, it is immoral to deprive women of the right to escape problems and possible complications connected to pregnancy. If a woman is not ready and is unwilling to become a mother, then pregnancy might lead to severe psychological consequences, “including depression and anxiety” (Munson, 2017, p. 472). Women who lack financial and moral support should not be obliged to carry an unwanted child.
Munson (2017) manages to link the arguments of one of the central Enlightenment thinkers, Emmanuel Kant, to abortions. Kant himself wrote on the topics of state functioning and never devoted attention to the topic of pregnancy. Still, Kant, being the grounding father of liberalism, argues that a person could do whatever he needs to protect himself even if he has to kill another person. In this context, abortion is seen as a way for a pregnant woman to shield herself from unwanted consequences. Still, the argument remains controversial because a fetus by no means could protect itself from the upcoming death.
Simultaneously, the opponents of abortion claim that women are responsible for the fetus’s life from the very beginning. Therefore, it is immoral and irresponsible to have an abortion. The opponents also emphasize that a fetus is a person even though it is still underdeveloped and cannot function outside a womb. For them, abortion is a synonym for murder. In addition to that, abortion deprives a person-to-be-born of the future and, hence, devalues the concept of life.
The given text allows a reader to understand the details of the discussed issue. However, I suppose that Munson (2017) devotes too much attention to statistics that have become outdated. The 10th edition of the book was published four years ago; however, the statistics on the number of abortions was collected in 2013. I believe that everyone interested in the topic could find relevant information on the annual number of abortions and its reasons on the Internet because such polls and interviews are conducted regularly. Despite this comment, the assigned chapter is a brilliant source of details on how abortions are performed, the possible dangers and complications, and reasons why various scholars and philosophers believe in the lawfulness or unlawfulness of abortions.
Reference
Munson, R. (2017). Intervention and reflection: basic issues in bioethics (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.