This book introduces readers to the many arguments and controversies concerning abortion. While it argues for ethical and legal positions on the issues, it focuses on how to think about the issues, not just what to think about them. It is an ideal resource to improve your understanding of what people think, why they think that and whether their (and your) arguments are good or bad, and why. It's ideal for classroom use, discussion groups, organizational learning, and personal reading.
This open educational resource is freely available in full text, PDF, Google Doc, ePub, Mobi, and other formats. It's also now posted as a speech-to-text "audiobook" on these pages. Also in Spanish, Italian, and French. Much of the book is also available as a YouTube presentation and there are many TikTok videos on these topics too.
A $5.38 paperback can be ordered and shipped to anyone who would benefit from a thorough assessment of arguments on all sides of the abortion debates. ($5.38 is the lowest price Amazon would allow). It's also a Kindle book for $.99 (or free), which can be shared and sent also.
The book is by two philosophy professors with extensive teaching and research experience on abortion and related issues: Nathan Nobis, PhD at Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA and Kristina Grob, PhD at the University of South Carolina Sumter.
From the Preface
To many people, abortion is an issue for which discussions and debates are frustrating and fruitless: it seems like no progress will ever be made towards any understanding, much less resolution or even compromise.
Judgments like these, however, are premature because some basic techniques from critical thinking, such as carefully defining words and testing definitions, stating the full structure of arguments so each step of the reasoning can be examined, and comparing the strengths and weaknesses of different explanations can help us make progress towards these goals.
When emotions run high, we sometimes need to step back and use a passion for calm, cool, critical thinking. This helps us better understand the positions and arguments of people who see things differently from us, as well as our own positions and arguments. And we can use critical thinking skills help to try to figure out which positions are best, in terms of being supported by good arguments: after all, we might have much to learn from other people, sometimes that our own views should change, for the better.
Here we use basic critical thinking skills to argue that abortion is typically not morally wrong. We begin with less morally-controversial claims: adults, children and babies are wrong to kill and wrong to kill, fundamentally, because they, we, are conscious, aware and have feelings. We argue that since early fetuses entirely lack these characteristics, they are not inherently wrong to kill and so most abortions are not morally wrong, since most abortions are done early in pregnancy, before consciousness and feeling develop in the fetus.
Furthermore, since the right to life is not the right to someone else’s body, fetuses might not have the right to the pregnant woman’s body—which she has the right to—and so she has the right to not allow the fetus use of her body. This further justifies abortion, at least until technology allows for the removal of fetuses to other wombs. Since morally permissible actions should be legal, abortions should be legal: it is an injustice to criminalize actions that are not wrong.
In the course of arguing for these claims, we:
- discuss how to best define abortion;
- dismiss many common “question-begging” arguments that merely assume their conclusions, instead of giving genuine reasons for them;
- refute some often-heard “everyday arguments” about abortion, on all sides;
- explain why the most influential philosophical arguments against abortion are unsuccessful;
- provide some positive arguments that at least early abortions are not wrong;
- briefly discuss the ethics and legality of later abortions, and more.
This essay is not a “how to win an argument” piece or a tract or any kind of apologetics. It is not designed to help anyone “win” debates: everybody “wins” on this issue when we calmly and respectfully engage arguments with care, charity, honesty and humility. This book is merely a reasoned, systematic introduction to the issues that we hope models these skills and virtues. Its discussion should not be taken as absolute “proof” of anything: much more needs to be understood and carefully discussed—always.
Table of Contents
2.1 “Murdering Babies”
2.2 “Termination”
2.3 “Killing”
3.1 Fetal Consciousness
3.2 When Most Abortions Occur
3.3 Why Most Abortions Occur
4.1 “Question-Begging” Arguments
4.1.1 “Against” Abortion:
4.1.2 “For” Abortion:
4.2 “Everyday” Arguments
4.2.1 “Against” Abortion4.2.1.1 “Abortion ends a life.”
4.2.1.2 “Abortion kills babies and children.”
4.2.1.3 “Abortion is murder.”
4.2.1.4 “Abortion kills innocent beings.”
4.2.1.5 “Abortion hurts women.”
4.2.1.6 “The Bible says abortion is wrong.”
4.2.1.7 “Abortion stops a beating heart.”
4.2.1.8 “How would you like it if . .?”4.2.2 “For” Abortion4.2.2.1 “Women have a right to do whatever they want with their bodies.”
4.2.2.2 “People who oppose abortion are just trying to control women.”
4.2.2.3 “Men shouldn’t make decisions about matters affecting women.”
4.2.2.4 “Women and girls will die if abortion isn’t allowed.”
5.1 Arguments Against Abortion
5.1.1 Fetuses are human
5.1.2 Fetuses are human beings
5.1.4 Fetuses are potential persons
5.1.5 Abortion prevents fetuses from experiencing their valuable futures5.2.1 No good arguments that it is wrong
5.2.2 Early fetuses aren’t conscious & feeling: personhood and harm
8 Discussion Questions5.2.4 “What ifs”: rape and later-term abortions
Advanced Praise
"A lucid and engaging introduction to the ethics of abortion. Nobis and Grob are refreshingly fair and balanced in their treatment of a hotly contested issue. They seek to find the best arguments, not arguments that fit any particular agenda. For such a short book, the text is remarkably comprehensive: they define key terms such as ‘murder and ‘baby,’ assess everyday arguments about abortion, discuss the science of fetal development, and rigorously engage the most important philosophical arguments. I have taught many class sessions on abortion; no text I’ve used is nearly as useful as this one. Highly recommended!"
About the Authors
Nathan Nobis, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the author and co-author of many articles, chapters and other writings in ethics and philosophy.
Kristina Grob, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina Sumter. Her interests include ethics and moral development. Each semester she shows students that philosophy can be a way of life, no matter their day jobs.
Please feel free to contact the authors through this form with any comments or questions. They can also be reached through the book's Facebook page.
Abortion Ethics Blog Post Archive
Below is an archive of the blog posts written after the publication of Thinking Critically About Abortion. Many of these posts are inspired by observations about how people often engage the issues, other posts discuss further arguments, and other posts recommend other readings and resources.
Posts that are relevant to all:
- Is Your Opinion on Abortion Wrong? Critical Thinking and Abortion
- Are you part of a cult about abortion, or anything else?
- Politicians: take a philosophy course!
- Teaching the topic of Abortion
- An "elevator speech" defense of Abortion
- Abortion and Soundbites: Why Pro-Choice Arguments Are Harder to Make
- "Abortion Is Difficult" by Michael Huemer
- Judith Jarvis Thomson (1929-2020) on abortion
- Moral Arguments and the Bible and Abortion and the Bible
Posts critical of pro-choice arguments and engagement:
- Is abortion "up for debate"? Clearly, it is! That's why 'ethical literacy' is needed.
- Is the "bodily autonomy" argument for abortion *that* simple?
- Are Pro-Choicers Irrational (for Only Encouraging Voting)?
- "Force birther"-ism and Virtue Signaling
- Is abortion "healthcare"? What if it often is not?
- Pro-life virtues and vices? Pro-choice virtues and vices? On sex/gender and arguments
- Abortion "Zingers": What About That??
- What are rights? What's the "right" to abortion?
- Does "life" begin at conception? Biological versus "biographical" life
- Are fetuses "human beings"? Biological versus psychological definitions
- Is Herbie 'The Love Bug' a Person?
- Definitions of "Murder" and Anything Else
- Abortion and "What We Are," in our "Essence"
Posts critical of abortion critics' arguments and engagement:
- "When does life begin?" and "Are fetuses human?": Two bad 'scientific' questions to ask about abortion
- "Fetuses are human beings; all human beings are equal in dignity & worth; so abortion is wrong." Good or bad argument?
- Racism, Slavery and Abortion
- Comment on "If Black lives matter, vote for Trump"
- Yes, "a person is a person, no matter how small," but . .
- "If abortion is not wrong, then it's OK to kill sleeping people??!"
- Abortion "Zingers": What About That??
- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome & Abortion
- What are rights? What's the "right" to abortion?
- Does "life" begin at conception? Biological versus "biographical" life
- Are fetuses "human beings"? Biological versus psychological definitions
- Is Herbie 'The Love Bug' a Person?
- Trent Horn on "The Problem of Personhood"
- Pro-life virtues and vices? Pro-choice virtues and vices? On sex/gender and arguments
- Regret ≠ Wrongdoing or Illegal Behavior
- Abortion and "What We Are," in our "Essence"
- On an Abstract "Metaphysical" Argument Against Abortion
- Abortion and the Bible
- Embryo-rescue cases and voting
- Definitions of "Murder" and Anything Else
- Soundbites and Abortion
- A Response to Clinton Wilcox's review of 'Thinking Critically About Abortion' at "Secular Pro-Life"
- A Not Optimally Honest Abortion Debate: A Response to Alexandra DeSanctis’s "An Honest Abortion Debate" in The National Review
Posts on personhood:
- Section 5.1.3 of "Thinking Critically About Abortion," "Fetuses are persons"
- Is Herbie 'The Love Bug' a Person?
- Trent Horn on "The Problem of Personhood"
Book reviews:
- Review of Francis Beckwith’s Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice
- Review of Robert George and Christopher Tollefsen's Embryo: A Defense of Human Life
- Review of Hendrik van der Breggen's Untangling Popular Pro-Choice Arguments: Critical Thinking about Abortion
Further resources and other posts:
- The Respect People Foundation
- DefendingFeminism.com
- "Engaged Philosophy" interview
- College Ethics: A Reader on Moral Issues that Affect You, Second Edition
- Abortion and Animal Rights: Does Either Topic Lead to the Other?
- "Early and Later Abortions" PowerPoint
- A Law School Syllabus on Abortion
- Public Philosophy on Abortion
- Thank-you notes!
Videos:
Are there topics you'd like to see discussed? If so, send a message!