Abortion, the pope, and singer

Abortion is one of the most controversial issues today. It has become a question of not only ethics, but morals. In the 1973 case of Roe v Wade the Supreme Court ruled that a woman has the right to terminate a pregnancy by abortion within the first six months of the pregnancy. However, conservative Presidents have changed the legislation enough to allow states to restrict abortion in various ways (Practical Ethics, Peter Singer). In the following …

…take away the fetus’ potential for life. But this ‘potential life’ is different from the actual life. Paul II’s argument against abortion is based completely on religious morals and writings. The first commandment “You shall not kill” has no religious meaning to Singer. His whole argument shows the answer to the question of abortion “within the bounds of non-religious ethics” (Practical Ethics, Singer). Therefor, the arguments of the two men are hard to compare.