Conversation with Anthony Sepulveda (Brown) on Abortion, Relational Ethical Quandaries, and Mothers: Member, World Genius Directory (10)
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/06/08
Abstract
Anthony Sepulveda (Brown) is a Member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: abortion; the 20th and 21st century; ethical views; ethical premises about abortion; the father; religion and abortion; and secular worldviews and religion.
Keywords: abortion, Anthony Sepulveda, mother, relationships.
Conversation with Anthony Sepulveda (Brown) on Abortion, Relational Ethical Quandaries, and Mothers: Member, World Genius Directory (10)
*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citation style listing after the interview.*
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Abortion, what is it, historically?
Anthony Sepulveda (Brown)[1],[2]*: The act of terminating pregnancy.
Jacobsen: What is it now, in the latter 20th century and early 21st century?
Sepulveda (Brown): The same act, if conducted under significantly safer conditions.
Jacobsen: What ethical views seem the most relevant for this subject matter?
Sepulveda (Brown): For many, abortion is no different from murder. Made all the more heinous because they equate the fetus to a healthy, living child. They are mistaken insofar as a developing fetus is not so different from any other arrangement of human cells. If anyone is so passionate about the sanctity of such minute issues, they’d have to express themselves towards all behaviour that could be considered sadistic or masochistic if they didn’t want to seem hypocritical.
Jacobsen: What ethical premises seem the most important to consider regarding the gamete cells of the father, the mother, then the zygote, the blastocyst, and the foetus?
Sepulveda (Brown): It’s most important to reduce the overall suffering of all parties involved once aborting the pregnancy has been deemed necessary. Often, abortions are conducted well before the infant is capable of living outside the womb or even feeling pain. In those cases, the only ones who truly suffer are the parents involved. Once the pregnancy has developed beyond a certain point, the birthing process is induced and the child is put into protective custody.
In Tango’s case, there was one major complication – her husband. He is not a rational man and there’s no way she could hold everything together with him in the picture. Years ago he threatened my life for simply speaking to her. So I could only imagine how far he’d go if he learned someone else had impregnated her.
It was so hard for me to tell her to, in her eyes, kill her child. I knew how hard she was willing to work to give it a good life. But I knew she’d never consider cutting her husband out of their child’s life; that’d be to cruel an option in her eyes. So, I told her the truth – either everyone suffers or just the three of us will (Tango, myself and the photographer). Thankfully, she chose the latter.
Jacobsen: What ethical premises seem the most important to consider regarding the father, whether part of a relationship with the mother or a sperm donor?
Sepulveda (Brown): Most consideration is given to the mother as she has to physically carry the child and her role as parent is certain. In comparison, fatherhood can be doubted for obvious reasons. There are some arguments that men should have some say in what happens. But while it would be fair to let them voice their opinions, I believe that the final decision should be up to the mother.
In the case of sperm donors, they should have absolutely no say in what happens.
Jacobsen: What ethical premises seem the most important to consider regarding the mother?
Sepulveda (Brown): Her highest priorities are her health and safety.
Jacobsen: What ethical premises seem the most important to consider regarding the type of relationship status of the mother?
Sepulveda (Brown): Any consequences to someone’s relationships shouldn’t matter in comparison to the suffering of those involved. To love someone is to want them to be happy, no matter what it takes. It requires you to be humble enough to accept your position in their life and pursue what’s best for them anyway.
To those reading – please don’t judge anyone you know who’s either been through or is going through this process. Rarely is it a casual option. So just keep your mouth shut and support them as much as you can.
Jacobsen: How do different religions view abortion?
Sepulveda (Brown): Many consider the act to be an abhorrent sin for which those who’ve committed it will be punished for eternity.
Tango is one such person. And when she expressed that belief, there was nothing I could do to disprove her religious views. Which I wouldn’t have done if I could because I knew how important her faith is for her. Instead, I tried to assure her that no loving God or reasonable person would judge her unfairly. And I promised her that every year we’d take some time to pray to her child and tell it how things were going so that if our day of judgement comes, God and her child could make an informed decision.
Despite how things went, I intend to keep that promise.
Jacobsen: What about secular (agnostics, atheists, humanists, etc.) people who are “Pro-Life,” so the same or similar views minus the transcendent justification or argument for the views?
Sepulveda (Brown): Their arguments are more reasonable, insofar as they’re grounded here in objective reality. But their views aren’t as logically valid as they think. Beyond the argument about suffering I made above, Judith Jarvis Thomson developed an excellent counterargument that I recently learned about in the video Abortion and Ben Shapiro by Philosophy Tube. It would take me longer to explain here than watch, so I’d highly recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.
Appendix I: Footnotes
[1] Member, World Genius Directory.
[2] Individual Publication Date: June 8, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/Sepulveda-10; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.
*High range testing (HRT) should be taken with honest skepticism grounded in the limited empirical development of the field at present, even in spite of honest and sincere efforts. If a higher general intelligence score, then the greater the variability in, and margin of error in, the general intelligence scores because of the greater rarity in the population.
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