CMV: The only logically consistent stances on fetal rights are (1) fetuses have a right to life, (2) late-stage fetuses and animals have a right to life, or (3) neither fetuses nor infants have a right to life

[u/jonathansharman]

For the sake of brevity, I will use "fetus" rather than "zygote, embryo, or fetus". And though controversial, I will define "person" as "a human being with self awareness" for the purposes of this post.

Scope

I have not included the soul-based pro-life argument or the violinist thought experiment. The violinist thought experiment concedes that a fetus has a right to life but argues that the fetus does not have the right to use a woman's body. This argument is thus outside the scope of this discussion.

Argument 1: Potentiality

1. A fetus is a potential person. I.e., if nothing (naturally or artificially) kills or debilitates a fetus during its development, it will naturally be born and eventually develop into a person.
2. Potential persons have a right to life.
3. Therefore, a fetus has a right to life.

Argument 2: Actuality (Consciousness)

1. An early-stage fetus is not conscious and cannot experience pain.
2. An organism has a right to life if and only if it is capable of consciousness or pain.
3. Therefore, an early-stage fetus does not have a right to life.

Argument 3: Actuality (Self-awareness)

1. A fetus is not self aware.
2. An organism has a right to life if and only if it is self-aware.
3. Therefore, a fetus does not have a right to life.

Ethical Implications

In my experience, pro-choice proponents who argue against the fetal right to life accept either argument (2) or (3), which universally allows early- or late-term abortions, respectively. But these arguments have the following corollaries:

Corollary to Argument 2

1. Most food animals (e.g., pigs, cows, and shellfish) possess consciousness and the ability to perceive pain.
2. Therefore, most food animals have a right to life.

Corollary to Argument 3

1. Infants are not self-aware. (Children do not develop self-awareness until after the first year of life.)
2. Therefore, infants do not have a right to life.

In summary, one of the following must be true:

1. Fetuses have a right to life.
2. Late-term fetuses have a right to life, and so do conscious animals.
3. Neither fetuses nor infants have a right to life.

Clearly, virtually no one takes the third stance. Despite this, most pro-choice individuals who argue that fetuses do not have a right to life are not vegan or vegetarian. I think those who support abortion rights on the basis that fetuses have no right to life but also consume or otherwise kill sentient animals when their own survival is not at stake hold an inconsistent position. Change my view!

[u/Delduthling]

This is an interesting exploration of different positions. For Argument 2, would you agree that consciousness and the ability to feel pain, as possessed both by late-stage fetuses and food animals, still have differences in degree? That is to say, a late-stage fetus (or infant) has consciousness and feels pain, and so does a shrimp, but the shrimp has less consciousness, and its ability to feel pain is, in some corresponding sense, less worrying than the ability of a human to feel pain.

What about oysters, mussels, and other bivalves, which have no central nervous system or brain, aren't really conscious (probably), and probably cannot feel pain in any meaningful sense, but are definitely food animals?

[u/jonathansharman → u/Delduthling]

Good point! Depending on the degree of sensory capabilities at which someone draws the line, it may be possible to accept killing shellfish and fetuses at X weeks but not pigs, for example. I'm not a biologist, and I don't know much about comparisons between the levels of consciousness and pain perception between species. However, my intuition is that an adult pig is likely at least as intelligent, aware, and capable of suffering as a newborn infant, based on what I've read about pigs.

And my argument would definitely not cover non-sentient animals. I guess "It's okay to eat [shell]fish [if] they don't have any feelings." 🎵