Why isn't it ethical to kill a fetus?

Question

I hold the position that a fetus isn't an actual "being" due to biological characteristics absent in fetuses(sentience,ability to feel pain).

But assume a fetus is a living creature and CAN feel pain for the sake of argument,why is it wrong to kill it?

A fetus doesn't ask to be born nor does it have the ability to express it's preference for life,therefore it isn't consenting to life.Any judgements by individuals validating "pro life" attitudes are moralistic and don't reflect on a infants agency but rather their own beliefs.

Another argument is that quickly killing a infant provides less suffering than the amount of suffering that a normal human being experiences during their lifetime.It's comparable to quickly killing someone or sadistically making them suffer over the length of roughly about 80 years.

Assume someones just a sadist and they like killing things.We attribute value to human life based upon assumptions that every individual is an autonomous being who has the right to life,liberty and prosper. Fetuses aren't autonomous in that they cannot survive outside of the body.A baby can breathe on it's own,filter it's own waste,ect.A fetus cannot and therefore cannot be considered autonomous.Agency isn't assigned based upon independence but rather physical existence in an external environment.

Answer 1

I like your additional details to Todd. I've used a similar argument before. A fetus, however, is a little further along than I am comfortable aborting. A fetus is defined as the 9th week after fertilization. Taken from Wikipedia: "The heart, hands, feet, brain and other organs are present, but are only at the beginning of development and have minimal operation". At this point, for me, it's more than just potential life. It's more than just a cluster of cells.



Edit: I disagree with the argument of it being the one that might be able to cure cancer. The same argument could be used for anyone on death row. Granted there is much less potential. That, and all these things will eventually be discovered and the fact that this specific one didn't discover it isn't a big deal because, ignorance is bliss. Someone would have figured out electricity, maybe 50 years later but things were already set in motion for it to be figured out. This applies to anyone who has had a major impact.

Answer 2

Since it has the potentiality of evolving into human life it is considered to be a human. Think about it, although the chances are quite slim, this human could be the next Einstein or the next Shakespeare or the next Newton - whatever. Perhaps this baby will entail inconveniences for the mother and father of the baby but you have to realize that this baby could very well benefit society more than it shall deter it's parents.



Also in most morals and laws humans are not allowed to be murdered if are not guilty for any crime. In fact even if a person is thought to have done a horrendous crime this person has the right to not be executed until proven guilty with ground-stable evidence and at least one court session (innocent until proven guilty). Considering how the baby hasn't done anything wrong at all it is against the law to murder this baby for mistakes the parents did.



This is why it isn't ethical to kill a baby.

Answer 3

Life begins at Conception

Answer 4

Life begins once a sperm and egg mate. You ars killing life growing inside a woman.