The debate over abortion usually focuses on politics and law and the most frequently asked question tends to be whether or not abortion should be outlawed or continue to be allowed at the discretion of each individual. Behind these debates are the most basic of ethical questions which do not always receive the attention they may deserve. There are many opinions on this topic, however, a good place to start is whether or not law has the authority to rule over morality and whether the laws that we have now bring enough attention to the moral value of abortion. Along with these concepts abortion can also be viewed through the eyes of the utilitarian approach to ethics which focuses on both pleasure and pain and the ability to maximize pleasure over pain. To do so we must first know exactly what abortion is and then must also have a broad definition of what the utilitarian theory encompasses. Abortion by definition is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion of a fetus or embryo from the uterus resulting in its death. The utilitarian theory by definition focuses on the rightness or wrongness of the act in question and its effects on a community as a whole (Katz, 2004). Viewing abortion through the utilitarian approach, theorists would want to distinguish between the possibility of pleasure and pain instances of abortion over the amounts of