Up until close to birth, the fetus is not entirely developed and does not yet obtain all the essential qualities to being a person such as the ability to be self-aware. Being self-aware is to know your surroundings and how they relate to you. Our environment plays a huge role in the way we make decisions. We are generally able to determine how we should act and react in any given situation since we are aware of ourselves. A fetus is not aware of itself and cannot relate itself to its surroundings. Therefore, a fetus does not have the ability to formulate rational thought and decision making, which is a vital. We have to rely on our decisions to get us through like and a fetus is unable to make any decisions regarding itself. They are not aware of their surroundings and do not have the abilities necessary to consider it a person.
An important trait persons hold is being able to communicate and hold relations with others. The social aspect of being a person is one a fetus does not contain. They do not have the ability to communicate with anyone or anything and they can hold a relationship. "because fetuses are neither rational nor possess the capacity to communicate in complex ways nor possess concept of self that continues through time, no fetus is a person" (Marquis). Being unable to have thought and self-awareness takes away the ability to communicate with is essential to being a person. Since a fetus has no self awareness, they do not have the ability to decide whether they want to live or not. Being that a fetus is not to be considered a person based on the necessary traits, a fetus does not have a right to live. Persons have a right to life and we hold our right to live higher than any other species. However, when something is not considered to be a person it loses that right.
A woman has the rights to her own body and may treat it as she wants so long as she is not causing harm to any other persons.