Abortion is termed as the deliberate termination or rather spontaneous expulsion of either a fetus or an embryo before it can survive on its own outside the uterus. Concerning the issue of abortion, one of the primary moral principles that guides my moral philosophy on abortion is based on the deontological moral principle which emphases on the morality of a specific action based on rules; in most instances described as duty or moral obligation (Shakil, 2013). My moral philosophy on abortion is also guided by virtues such as integrity, justice, and respect for others, all which promote doing good while avoiding evil.
Following the deontological perspective, in the event a woman becomes pregnant, ultimately she has a duty or moral obligation to not only take care of the child but also protect it from any harm, therefore, abortion should be illegal. In addition, should also be illegal due to the fact that it results in both physical harm and consequently the death of the baby. however, there should be exceptions to this rule; hence, abortion should be legal under special circumstances such as when pregnancy is as a result of incest, or rape, when the pregnancy puts the mother’s life in danger; since the mother’s life in this case is more important than that of the fetus, and lastly in instances when the fetus suffers from severe congenital disabilities.
Violation of the laws against abortion should ultimately result in long prison sentences since abortion equates to murder. In this case, punishment should be based on retributive justice, whereby, “the only way to stratify justice is for the wrongdoer to suffer in proportion to way he’s made others suffer” (CrashCourse, 2016). Moreover, such punishment should also act as a deterrence to both the wrongdoer and the society at large.
References
CrashCourse. (2016). What Is Justice?: Crash Course Philosophy #40. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0CTHVCkm90
Shakil, A. (2013). Kantian Duty Based (Deontological) Ethics. https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/kantian-duty-based-deontological-ethics/
