Duty, right and social benevolence: An alternative approach to debates about abortion

Abstract

Debatte oor aborsie, en meer spesifiek oor die reproduktiewe gesondheidsregte van die moeder en die reg op lewe van die ongeborene, is gehul in omstredenheid en meningsverskil. Die debat speel by herhaling af vanuit liberale en outonome ver trekpunte tot menseregte. Vanuit dié vertrekpunte word dikwels min aandag geskenk aan die fundamentele grondslae en filosofieë waarop die konsep van menseregte gebaseer is. In dié verband bied die Ciceroniaans-Reformatoriese benadering ? teoretiese perspektief op menseregte wat die fokus verskuif vanaf die individu se outonomie na die pligte waaruit menseregte voortspruit. Die fokus op sosiale welwillendheid en morele plig slyp en verdiep die metode van argumentering met betrekking tot aborsie. Dit maak ook ? bydrae tot ? meer gebalanseerde benadering tot die beskerming van die ongeborene en die moeder se regte in die algemeen.

The abortion debate, and more specifically the reproductive health rights of the mother and the right to life of the unborn, have been clothed in controversy and disagreement. The debate is repeatedly argued from liberalistic and autonomous viewpoints of human rights, with very little consideration given to the fundamental foundations and philosophies underlying the concept of human rights. It is in relation to the fundamental foundations and philo sophies that the Ciceronian-Reformational viewpoints present us with a deeper and alternative understanding of human rights. The Ciceronian-Reformational approach presents us with a theory of human rights that shifts the focus from individual autonomy to the duties upon which human rights are grounded. The focus on social benevolence and moral duty sharpens and deepens the basis of argumentation regarding abortion, and also presents a more balanced approach to the protection of the unborn and the mother in general.