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Originally Posted by hannukah harry
i'm not going to reply to your post at the moment. i'm not sure how to do so, honestly. what is a 'morally signicant human being?' what is 'moral worth?' what are 'moral rights?' right now, my first reaction is that they're bullshit terms. they have no real meaning. they sound good, but they're really empty words. but i'm not sure. i'd like to hear what you mean by them and think about it a bit.
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Well, by "morally significant human being", I mean a genetic human being with the same set of "moral rights" that all other humans possess. This category is intended to anticipate the response that not all genetic human beings are automatically entitled to the equal concern and respect to which morally significant human beings are entitled.
"Moral rights" are claims about good and evil (or right and wrong, if you prefer) that require certain conduct from individuals. For example, if a mother has a moral right to control her body, then her moral claims as a morally significant human being are being violated whenever her moral right to control her body is being violated.
As I said earlier, I believe that all morally significant human beings have a right to live. It is, admittedly, a very difficult position to argue in favor of: I will conclude by saying that I believe killing people who have never used their autonomous will to bring harm to you is always, always wrong... unless, of course, killing would prevent a greater number of deaths from occuring - you are also not expected to sacrifice your own life in order to avoid killing. Thus, we are in agreement that abortion to save the life of the mother is ok.
It's wrong to kill your neighbors, friends, coworkers, family, etc. - what's the moral difference between them and a fetus?