When does human life begin? Well, when does human life end? On euthanasia and abortion.

 A forthcoming presentation abstract:

When does human life begin? Well, when does human life end? On euthanasia and abortion.

The question, “When does human life begin?” is often taken to be a key question in the discussion of the ethics of abortion, especially among general audiences. I observe that this question can be interpreted in a number of ways, due to “human” and “life” having multiple meanings—biological or scientific meanings and moral meanings—and that these different meanings yield different arguments against abortion that would be evaluated in different ways: some are definitely unsound, some are, at best, controversial and in need of defense.

I suggest, however, that engaging the question “When does human life end?” or when can it end, will help us better understand what “human life” is, in the morally relevant sense. So, thinking through a number of common ways that human life can end can help us understand what “life” is, in the morally significant sense, and when “life” begins.

This understanding supports thinking that early abortions, and so most abortions, are morally permissible and shouldn’t be banned or criminalized. This discussion supports thinking about abortion in the broader context of other bioethical issues—which sometimes doesn’t happen—and applying insights from these other issues to abortion. It also helps us see why, pace many anti-abortion activists, issues about “when life begins” are, or can be, religious issues, just as questions about “when life ends” are, or can be, religious issues.