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The Fetus as a Person

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.


Essays Related to The Fetus as a Person

1. Moral Stautes of a Fetus

Our perception of the scientific methods used to determine when a fetus become a person may differ. Such as Catholics may say the fetus becomes a person with full moral status at the time of conception. ... All of these examples demonstrate differing interpretations of scientific methods used to determine when a fetus becomes a person with moral status. ... Finally, a fetus may not be considered a person with moral status, when considering the criteria for personhood. ... Is she not a person because of these facts? ...

  • Word Count: 707
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Alcohol and The Fetus

People should not make assumptions about something so important especially if it concerns a person's health (Walsh 2-3). ... The fetus is exposed longer because its organs are still developing, therefore, taking the fetus twice as long to break down the alcohol (Walsh 2). ... To the average person one percent is not too large of a proportion. ... Through research, alcohol has been proven toxic to the fetus ("Fetal Alcohol"). ... Drinking alcohol has a much more definite effect on the fetus than on an adult. ...

  • Word Count: 1477
  • Approx Pages: 6

3. Can the fetus Learn?

Can the fetus learn? ... Can the fetus think, feel and learn? ... Many people would say that the fetus is a miniature version of a person with primitive physical, emotional and cognitive capabilities. ... The study demonstrated an effect of repeated music exposure in multiple fetuses, carried over into the newborn period, suggesting that it is possible for the human fetus to learn. ... They found that fetuses in a quiet state habituated more rapidly (mean rate of five stimuli) than fetuses in an active state (mean rate of eight stimuli). ...

  • Word Count: 1245
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Abortion

So why should we allow a fetus, an unborn child, a right? ... But then again, this unborn fetus could be the next Einstein, or a genius that will save the planet from extinction. ... BUT, if you ask that same person, "Should a person be allowed to have an abortion?" ... But a "Pro-life" person might say, "Well it's not really your place to answer another persons right." ... The Pro-life side may still argue that the fetus is a living being, and should not be, as they would put it, murdered. ...

  • Word Count: 1222
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Ethics

When formulating an argument confirming the conclusion that a fetus is a person, one may conclude that because one can not deal with where on the slippery slope argument a fetus becomes a person, you have to start at the beginning of the development of a human being at conception. It is even more difficult to determine when the fetus becomes self-aware, so when drawing conclusions, we should take it as a fact that all fetuses are persons from the beginning. ... As a group, we have concluded that the argument that a fetus is a human being and a person is the strongest because it is so hard to...

  • Word Count: 465
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Abortion

Before viability the fetus is not considered to have the moral sense that a person has and does not entail the necessary elements of "personhood". ... So it is unlikely that a fetus is a person because it has no rational thinking or a thought process while in the womb. ... It occurs in many animals that aren't persons. ... It is seen that the fetus does not resemble a person based on the moral sense. The fetus inside the womb is considered a "potential" person. ...

  • Word Count: 1521
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Abortion

The argument for the "right to life- and the "fetus is a person- does not adhere to the criteria of a good argument because they are not flexible in all scenarios. ... Most abortion debates build their argument on the definition that the fetus is a person. ... Therefore, claiming that a fetus is a person cannot be used by pro-life advocates because they cannot explain the steps of development from "fetus- to "person-. The same problem can be extended to those who defend abortion because if they say the fetus is not a person, they cannot scientifically prove this either. ... We cannot claim t...

  • Word Count: 1386
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Legality Of Abortion

To deny abortion is denying the mother certain civil rights, but if the fetus is considered a person, then the rights of the fetus are being denied by allowing abortion to be legal. ... It is only after exploring these questions can a person justify their position on abortion. ... Distinct and unique characteristics of a person are determined at the time of conception. ... The amendment states that, "No person or state may deprive a person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law" (475 US Constitution). ... Since every person has individual beliefs and ...

  • Word Count: 7565
  • Approx Pages: 30
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Abortion

PHI 125 After reading many positions on abortion, I have come to the conclusion that a fetus is a person and the right to life of a fetus outweighs that of a woman's right to bodily integrity. ... Warren argues that a fetus has no substantial right to life on the basis that it is not a person. ... Therefore, if this is true, the argument that a fetus is not a person is fallible. One could conclude that a fetus is a person and that ending its life by abortion is immoral, for taking one's life is immoral. ... If it is accepted that to murder another person is immoral, then I ca...

  • Word Count: 1016
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

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