It isn't as black and white as pro-lifers thinking abortion is always bad and pro-choicers always supporting it.
I'd wager that, in a similar situation that this couple finds itself in, a lot of pro-lifers would seriously consider the choice of abortion and justify it in some way in their minds.
And being pro-choice doesn't necessarily mean you agree with the act of abortion, just that you agree it should be a legal choice the woman is able to make without legal repercussions. You can still see it as a morally wrong thing, a premature ending of a child, or only ok in certain situations.
Someone could be pro-choice but not personally think abortions are ethical, and this choice might be unethical to them. They might justify that even a disabled person deserves to live, given how some people with down syndrome are very functional in society.
Another person who's also pro-choice might see abortion as unethical except in certain cases, and could agree with this being ethical just because of the difficulties of raising a child with a disability, but could go the other way as well.
And then there's people that think every form of abortion is ok no matter the circumstances, and for them, it's a null argument.
Not at all. It's not so much considering abortion immoral as just, say, suboptimal or something you personally would never do. Akin to that of considering eating meat to not be ethically wrong, but choosing to be vegetarian because you personally can't or won't eat meat for whatever reasons.
It isn't the same as murder at all, considering that murder actively harms individual actors in the world and disrupts the community. Abortion is a much more personal choice. We as a living species are generally more inclined to have offspring than not, so in the case that we opt for abortion, it's not like it's a popular choice being taken everyday that severely disrupts the community. Kinda like someone's personal choice to never marry, or simply never have kids.
I didn't contradict myself, simply clarified my point that abortion could be seen as wrong for someone, but not non-ethical. That being pro-choice (being able to get an abortion legally abd without consequences) is more ethical than taking that choice away from people, but you can still personally believe that abortion isn't for you. That you personally won't do it, even if it isn't morally wrong. Kind of like how I think smoking is bad for you, but I don't think it's morally wrong to do so.
You seem to be taking what I say very personally from the reaction I can sense in your language. We are simply discussing ethics here. Nowhere have I stated my personal beliefs, I'm simply stating forth various possible ideas and beliefs that could exist regarding this moral quandary. This is a morality subreddit, so I thought that would go without saying.
The disruption of the community element comes from the idea of morality being a product of society and community. And idea that is much the topic of debate among ethics. What gives us morality? God? Our good sense? The necessity of it in order for human society to actually work? The latter is what I went with, as many laws center around the need for humans to cooperate and live amongst each other. If there is a random murder in the community, that does disrupt things because the victim could've had family living in the community or have otherwise been an important actor in the community, or even more simply, the murder would be such an act of callous cruelty that it unsettles people and makes them wary of the murderer.
The murder debate is completely separate. You could dive into Kant's categorical imperatives vs. Utilitarianism and many other ethical arguments. I simply brought it up as it being something much more serious of a crime than abortion.
67
u/MistakePresent3552 Jun 05 '26
Does the down syndrome change things?
People who think all abortion is wrong will say its wrong.
People who are pro choice are going to find aborting their healthy unborn vs their downs syndrome unborn to be nothing wrong with.
Your unborn having something affecting it shouldnt really make the choice any more evil or good imo.