Abortion Rights And Wrongs

Continuity: Objections

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The continuity argument assumes that if two very different things (A and B) are at very different positions on a continuum, there must be a 'point' in between at which a definitive change occurs. But is this true? The standard counter-example refers to acorns and oak trees. An acorn gradually becomes an oak tree, but there is no 'point' at which any definitive change occurs. If we begin with the oak tree and work backwards there is no 'point' at which it is no longer an oak tree. And yet, we all agree that an acorn is not an oak tree.

If moral status is linked to gradual physiological or psychological developments, there may be no 'point' at which a person or a being with rights emerges. But does this imply that embryos have the same moral status as adults?

Reference: For a critique of the continuity argument, see Donald VanDeVeer's article "On Justifying Wholesale Slaughter" in the Feinberg anthology. Robert Wennberg also criticizes the argument in chapter four of Life in the Balance.

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