Fetuses That Will be Aborted Don’t Have Moral Status Because They are about to Die, Says Professor

Veronica Neffinger

Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…
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Updated Aug 11, 2017

A video involving a discussion of abortion between actor James Franco and two professors is causing quite a bit of controversy, reports Townhall.com.

Franco and Professor Eliot Michaelson host the video which is part of Franco’s series of YouTube videos discussing philosophical issues. Franco and Michaelson interview Princeton Professor Elizabeth Harman who is a defender of abortion and argues that it is morally neutral.

You can watch the video below.

Harman argues that fetuses that will be aborted have no moral status because of the very fact that they will be aborted.

“I think if a fetus hasn't ever been conscious, it hasn't ever had any experiences, and we aborted it at that stage actually nothing morally bad happens,” she said.

She admitted that this view may seem very “unattractive” or “cold,” but, she continues, “what I think is actually among early fetuses there are two very different kinds of beings. So, James, when you were an early fetus, and Eliot, when you were an early fetus, all of us I think we already did have moral status then. But we had moral status in virtue of our futures. And future of fact that we were beginnings stages of persons. But some early fetuses will die in early pregnancy due to abortion or miscarriage. And in my view that is a very different kind of entity. That's something that doesn't have a future as a person and it doesn't have moral status.”