No Harm, No Foul: Abortion and the Implications of Fetal Innocence
Faith and Philosophy, vol. 19, no.2 (April 2002), 172-194
43 Pages Posted: 1 Nov 2013
Date Written: October 30, 2013
Abstract
Christianity is generally thought to entail a pro-life position on abortion rights. Since the fetus is a person, on this view, from the moment of conception, abortion is murder and hence should be legally prohibited. In this essay, I will concede for the sake of argument the claims that the fetus is a person and that abortion is murder, but I will argue that a Christian can coherently hold that abortion should be legally permitted anyway. The argument will principally be based on claims regarding the ultimate fate of moral innocents and certain commonly accepted liberal normative philosophical views on what behaviors may be legitimately criminalized. In particular, I will assume, as an illustration of how one can hold morally pro-life views and legally pro-choice view, on Mill's harm principle, and argue that, on the assumption that children get a free pass to heaven if they die before reaching the age of reason. I ground the conclusion in something resembling an original position argument with respect to a fetus, and the fact that on most mainstream versions of Christianity, comparatively few people achieve heavenly bliss.
Keywords: abortion, Mill, fetal innocence, harm principle
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