The act and consideration of abortion is a debatable issue in the contemporary period as it can be viewed as an immoral and condemned act or, on the contrary, it can be viewed as immoral but recommended. Utilitarianism is defined as the principle that an action is right merely if it provides further pleasure over pain or if it benefits the majority of a population (Williams & Smart, 1973, p.4). According to the utilitarian theory, a follower of this belief would likely be pro-abortion as the outcome of an abortion maximizes happiness in the long run for a larger group of people. The following essay will discuss the context and logic of abortion; provide a thorough explanation of the utilitarian theory, its application on abortion and an overall assessment of the matter.
Abortion is the termination of an undesired pregnancy where the fetus is removed from the female’s womb during the first twenty-eight weeks of the pregnancy. Abortion is a controversial social issue, as it not only affects the individuals influencing and agreeing to the act, however it also affects the social convention as a whole (Jarvis Thomson, 1971). A female’s right to decide what she wants to do with her body and what life decisions she chooses to make has always been acknowledged in society. The government in developed countries, feminists, group activists and strong believers of social justice strongly believe in human rights. In this case, the principle of human rights can include a right that is believed to belong to a human being whether it is a woman, a man or even an unborn child (Javis Thomson, 1971). Thus, the dispute regarding choosing to abort a fetus becomes a social issue as the matter contradicts the viewpoint of the victim and what society teaches individuals about individual rights. The two main viewpoints of abortion is the belief that having an abortion is wrong in every way and absolutely inhumane to even consider it. And the second viewpoint is that abortion might be morally wrong but it is the only option that will provide more benefits and less stress. Many females refuse to abort their baby, as they believe it is a living organism and they cannot bare the thought of ending a life by their own will. However, other individuals believe that it is acceptable to get an abortion, as the victim may not presently be financially stable and mature enough to raise a child (Finer, Frohwirth, Dauphinee, Singh, & Moore, 2005). Thus, an abortion would be a way to fix and eliminate the stress of preparing to incorporate another human being into their life. An abortion is extremely common in Quebec, where around 25,000 females will get pregnant and abort their baby (CIHI, 2010). There are two types of abortions that can be done depending on the stage of the women’s pregnancy. The first type of abortion is the surgical abortion, which can be considered and done typically after fourteen weeks. The second type is medical abortion by taking medication up to nine weeks prior to the last day of their last period (Abortion Canada). An abortion can only take place after the doctor gets ahold of the female’s medical history and after the female has answered questions regarding current medical problems that she faces before the abortion process begins. Overall, abortion is a social issue that triggers controversy because one can argue that it is immoral to eliminate a fetus or that a women has full control over her body and can make her own decisions (Abortion Canada).
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory developed by John Stuart Mill from a hedonistic version based on the belief that an action is only right if it maximizes happiness and pleasure over pain and that it benefits the majority of a population (Rachel, S & Rachel, J, 2015,p. 99-125). In a utilitarian point of view, an action is considered wrong if it delivers the opposite of happiness. The theory values the importance of pleasure and happiness as an outcome of an action. Therefore, pleasure can be measured in quality and/or quantity by making sure that one chooses the action that will provide a heavier emphasis on pleasure. Mill argues that every human desires only happiness and that individual rights and the ability to make personal decision only exist because they are an essential part of human happiness (Rachel, S & Rachel, J, 2015,p. 99-125).
For example, say there are 2 diverging train tracks, on there are 5 people tied down and the other there is just one person tied down. An oncoming train is coming towards them and you can decide which train track it continues on. A utilitarian would decide to choose a train track that would cause the least fatality because it’ll cause the least amount of pain and the most amount of pleasure. This clearly demonstrates that the utilitarian theory is more concerned about the quantity of its moral action rather than the quality of it, therefore ignoring the quality of the action. (Rachel, S & Rachel, J, 2015,p. 99-125)
The utilitarianism theory would be more in favor of abortion than against it as it is the option with the least amount of suffering and pain for the majority of the people involved in the issue. Since the utilitarian theory values pleasure over pain and only considers an action to be right if it brings about the most happiness and benefits for the majority of the population. Therefore, in this case, an abortion would be considered as a better option for a female to consider maximizing her and her family’s happiness because it will encourage a more flexible schedule and an easygoing lifestyle. Although one can argue that terminating the life of an unborn child cannot be the better option, as it is absolutely heartbreaking to have to come to that conclusion. The short-term effect that an abortion will have on the victim and her entourage is that it will trigger pain in the beginning through physical pain from surgery and from its side affects as well as the depressing thought of having removed a fetus from the womb. However, the long term effects outweighs the temporary pain as the long term effects will allow the victim to improve on herself and achieve goals because she will have more time to do so. Positive effects of abortion will include being more financially stable, concentrating on achieving goals, development of maturity, maintaining a better body shape and etc. Thus, in most cases, an abortion will most likely bring more happiness than pain, as the pain will only be temporary. For example, a young female gets raped and gets pregnant without choice. A utilitarian would suggest that she gets an abortion as she will gain more happiness in the long term since she is young and will be able accomplish her goals faster by not giving birth. One needs to think who would benefit from the abortion and who would suffer, as more people would benefit from having the abortion. If the mother of the unborn baby were to keep the child, there are many aspects that need to be taken into consideration such as her ability of taking care of the baby, the father or family’s commitment to raising the child as well as the financial status of the family. Being financially stable is a crucial aspect in developing happiness as Covert (2017) states “a woman who is in a bad financial state who knows that she cannot afford a child will fall further behind if she has to raise a child that will cost thousands per year” which can result in pain (Covert, 2017). By getting an abortion, the female will not need to stress a lot as she will not need to let go of certain things (education, work, hobby, going out) that would have potentially be a distraction for her and her new baby. Overall, the theory of utilitarianism supports the idea of abortion as long as it provides more happiness than pain in the end for the female herself as well as the individuals affected by the issue.
Moreover, two views on abortion may take place; pro-choice being that a woman should not have a baby if it will be unwanted in the women’s life. Thus meaning that if the women will treat the baby with no respect meaning not feeding the human regularly, not buying it clothes, food, shampoo, etc. Where this does not show utilitarianism because it is not showing pleasure over pain. Also, being against abortions because parents who find out from their gynecologist that their children will have a disability will abort (Vehmas, 47-50). This is not a reason to abort a child just because they will have a disability. However in the text, it states that they would minimize suffering to maximize happiness. A child who is intellectually deficient has no restraints compare to a child without an intellectual deficiency, they are shown to integrate in society just as easily as others (Vehmas, p.51-53). People believe that just because one has a disability, they will not be able to do many things; which is wrong. This can be proven in Quebec where there is a company called Action Integration En Deficience Intellectuelle that does everyday life activities with over 100 participants such where they socialize make friends and learn useful skills such as cooking, knitting, etc. As a utilitarianism view, one would say that aborting a intellectually deficient child is the maximum pleasure for the most amounts of people.
In conclusion, abortion is a very controversial social issue that can bring about pain through the idea of terminating an unborn child’s life and happiness through the reassurance of being able to continue your life as it used to be. Though, the utilitarian theory would likely be pro-abortion, as the aftermath of an abortion would maximize happiness in the long run for the majority of a people. By discussing the context and logic behind abortion; providing a thorough explanation of the utilitarian theory, applying utilitarianism to abortion and providing an assessment of the matter allowed us to further understand the link between a well-known philosophy and a debatable issue. Making connections between the utilitarian theory and the issue on abortion will be able to provide individuals with further information on the issue choose whether to engage in that act or not if faced with that situation.