No one disputes the now common view that the main crime committed in
aborting a pregnancy - is a crime against potentialities. If so, what
is the philosophical difference between aborting a fetus and
destroying a sperm and an egg? These two contain all the information
(=all the potential) and their destruction is philosophically no less
grave than the destruction of a fetus. The destruction of an egg and a
sperm is even more serious philosophically: the creation of a fetus
limits the set of all potentials embedded in the genetic material to
the one fetus created. The egg and sperm can be compared to the famous
wave function (state vector) in quantum mechanics - the represent
millions of potential final states (=millions of potential embryos and
lives). The fetus is the collapse of the wave function: it represents
a much more limited set of potentials. If killing an embryo is murder
because of the elimination of potentials - how should we consider the
intentional elimination of many more potentials through masturbation
and contraception?
The argument that it is difficult to say which sperm cell will
impregnate the egg is not serious. Biologically, it does not matter -
they all carry the same genetic content. Moreover, would this
counter-argument still hold if, in future, we were be able to identify
the chosen one and eliminate only it? In many religions (Catholicism)
contraception is murder. In Judaism, masturbation is "the corruption
of the seed" and such a serious offence that it is punishable by the
strongest religious penalty: eternal ex-communication ("Karet").
If abortion is indeed murder how should we resolve the following moral
dilemmas and questions (some of them patently absurd):
Is a natural abortion the equivalent of manslaughter (through
negligence)?
Do habits like smoking, drug addiction, vegetarianism - infringe upon
the right to life of the embryo? Do they constitute a violation of the
contract?
Reductio ad absurdum: if, in the far future, research will
unequivocally prove that listening to a certain kind of music or
entertaining certain thoughts seriously hampers the embryonic
development - should we apply censorship to the Mother?
Should force majeure clauses be introduced to the Mother-Embryo
pregnancy contract? Will they give the mother the right to cancel the
contract? Will the embryo have a right to terminate the
contract? Should the asymmetry persist: the Mother will have no right
to terminate - but the embryo will, or vice versa?
Being a rights holder, can the embryo (=the State) litigate against
his Mother or Third Parties (the doctor that aborted him, someone who
hit his mother and brought about a natural abortion) even after he
died?
Should anyone who knows about an abortion be considered an accomplice
to murder?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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