The Pros And Cons Of Euthanasia

In discussions of euthanasia, a controversial issue has been whether euthanasia is morally wrong or not. Many people, the U.S. Government included, believe that euthanasia is not permissible when it is considered active. According to Warren’s view, however, euthanasia may not be morally wrong in some cases. Therefore, they disagree on whether euthanasia is morally permissible or not. In this paper, I will use Warren’s view on moral personhood to see what her verdict of euthanasia and assisted suicide might be. After that, I will use real life cases to see what Warren’s verdict is in a real life situation of euthanasia. Finally, I will raise two possible objections to her view.
In Warren’s “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion,” she argues against the anti-abortionists argument. The anti-abortionist argument goes as follows: It is wrong to kill innocent human beings.
Fetuses are innocent human beings.
Therefore, it is wrong to kill

She states that there is a significant difference between being genetically human and being a person who belongs to the moral community. From there, she goes on to say that being biologically human is not sufficient to be considered a person. It is only by belonging to the moral community that a human may be considered a person. After that, Warren lays out specific criteria that must be met to be a member of the moral community. The five criteria that must be met are: consciousness (and the capacity to feel pain), reasoning, self motivated activity, capacity to communicate, and the presence of self concepts and self awareness (55). Failure to meet any of the criteria, especially the first two, results in exclusion from the moral community. Once excluded from the moral community, Warren sees no wrong in that human being