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Don Marquis: an Argument That Abortion Is Wrong

question 7

Multiple Choice

Don Marquis: An Argument That Abortion Is Wrong
Marquis begins by arguing that the abortion debate has reached a standoff, and that the standard arguments on both sides have insurmountable problems. Opponents of abortion usually argue that all human beings have a right to life and the fetus is a human being, so the fetus has a right to life. Marquis objects that cancer-cell cultures are biologically human, but do not have a right to life. On the other hand, those who believe abortion is morally permissible often claim that only persons have a right to life and the fetus is not a person, so the fetus does not have a right to life. Marquis objects to this argument as well, on the grounds that infants and the severely retarded do not seem to be persons in the relevant sense, but clearly have a right to life. This suggests that a different approach to the abortion debate is needed.
Marquis proceeds by asking what it is that makes killing normal adult human beings wrong. Killing is wrong, Marquis maintains, because it deprives the victim of a valuable future. That is, killing someone is wrong if it deprives her of a "future like ours" (FLO) . This account is supported by four considerations: It fits with our considered judgment about the nature of the misfortune of death, it explains why murder is the worst of crimes, it coheres with our judgments about cases, and it is analogous to a persuasive argument for the wrongness of animal cruelty. If one accepts the FLO account of the wrongness of killing, one must conclude that abortion is presumptively wrong, because (in most cases) abortion deprives the fetus of a future like ours. Marquis closes by replying to the objection that his view entails that contraception is immoral.
-Marquis supports his "FLO" account on the grounds that:

Definitions:

Nazi Racism

The ideology and practices associated with the Nazi regime in Germany, which promoted the superiority of the Aryan race and led to the persecution and extermination of Jews and other minorities.

Holocaust

The genocide of approximately six million Jews during World War II by Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, along with the persecution and killing of millions of others.

Jim Crow

Refers to the laws and customs enforced in the southern United States post-Reconstruction until the 1960s, aimed at segregating and discriminating against African Americans.

George C. Marshall

A key U.S. military leader during World War II who served as Army Chief of Staff and later as Secretary of State, developing the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe's economy.