Features of a utilitarian argument.

1. The only reason for restricting a person’s liberty is to prevent harm to others.
2. Sympathy is the motive for action.
3. The consequences to those affected by the action are used to determine
whether an action should be performed. No action is right or wrong in itself.
4. Another way of saying this is that no action is intrinsically wrong.
5. If the benefits to those affected outweigh the risks, the action is right, but if
the risks to those affected outweigh the benefits, the action is wrong.
     The central problem with utilitarianism: the tyranny of the majority’s
interests.

In regard to the abortion issue, Jane English argues that the only reason for
restricting the woman’s liberty is to prevent harm to others.

Since sympathy for the fetus is the motive for action, the more the fetus
comes to be viewed as a person, the more sympathy can be given to the
fetus.

The consequences to the woman and fetus are taken into account in the
abortion question.

Risks and benefits are weighed. If the net benefits to all affected outweigh
the net harms or risks, the action is right. English argues that the balance of
benefits and harms changes during pregnancy. During the first three months
(trimester), benefits to the woman generally outweigh the harm to the fetus.
During the second trimester, benefits to the woman outweigh the harm to the
fetus provided that the abortion is performed to protect the woman’s
physical, mental, economic or social well-being. During the third trimester,
benefits to the woman outweigh the harm to the fetus provided that the
abortion is performed to protect the health or life of the mother.

English tries to avoid the tyranny of the majority’s interests by placing
greater limits on the practice of abortion as the pregnancy progresses.
“Majority” may be taken in the abortion situation to mean the party with the
greater power. The fetus has less power than the woman. Greater limits are
imposed as the pregnancy progresses since sympathy for the fetus grows as
the fetus more closely comes to resemble a human person.