I Was Once a Fetus: That Is Why Abortion Is Wrong

Abstract

I am going to argue that abortion is wrong in the same circumstances in which it is wrong to kill an adult. To argue further that abortion is always wrong would require showing that it is always wrong to kill an adult or that the circumstances in which it is not wrong—say, capital punishment—never befall a fetus. Such an argument will be beyond the scope of this paper, but since it is wrong to kill an adult human being for the sorts of reasons for which most abortions are performed, it still follows that most abortions are wrong.