ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I present the Impairment Argument, which purports to show that abortion is immoral even if the fetus is not a person. What drives the argument is the fact that nonlethally impairing a fetus, for example by giving it fetal alcohol syndrome, is immoral: since it’s immoral to nonlethally impair the fetus, it (I argue) follows that lethally impairing the fetus is immoral. Since abortion involves lethally impairing the fetus, it follows that abortion is immoral. I finish by considering several objections to the Impairment Argument, concluding that none are successful. Therefore, even if the fetus is not a person, abortion is immoral.
