Warren and Marquis on Abortion

Warren and Marquis on Abortion

Mary Ann Warren’s argument for abortion is that personhood is necessary for the right to life. Warren distinguishes between morality and genetics of humans to define only those moral as persons. She declares that all, and only, persons are members of the moral community. A moral human has the right to life. Therefore, only persons have the right to life. Warren says a "fetus is not a person,” and only persons have moral rights. However, there are some questions as to what defines a person. Warren creates a list of the five traits of personhood: consciousness, reasoning, self-motivated activity, complex communication, and self-concepts. Consciousness is necessary and reasoning is probably necessary to be a person, but there are some cases where you can be a person without the full five traits. A strong objection Warren’s personhood talks about person-likeness, however Warren anticipates protest and addresses it. Biological similarities and emotional responses are both person-like qualities, yet neither are a good basis for full rights; biological similarities are insufficient and emotional responses are not rationally-grounded.

Some philosophers try to prove that fetuses as persons, yet according to Warren this claim fails. For instance, a fetus is conscious to some degree but has no other person traits. Although there are biological similarities between a fetus and a human, morality outweighs genetics, and claiming to be “person-like” is an inadequate basis for full rights. Therefore, the fetus is not a person and does not fit in as a member of the moral community. Without moral rights, the fetus does not have the right to life, and Warren concludes that abortion is consequently permissible. Warren justifies that "even a fully developed fetus is not person-like enough to have any significant right to life."

We've just seen how Warren argues that personhood is necessary for the right to life, deeming abortion permissible....