In matters of virtues, the most associated term would be eudaimonia.

Often translated as
“happiness” or “personal well-being”, it is described as the ultimate good, the rational activity in
pursuit of virtue itself. Catherine Moore, in her article “What is Eudaimonia? Aristotle and
Eudaimonic Well-Being”, pointed out that Aristotle, along with other philosophers raise the
notion of what may be needed for eudaimonic well-being, although he had a slightly different
look onto it. Moore wrote:

“Where Aristotle diverged from Plato and some other thinkers is in his belief about what is
‘enough’ (roughly) for eudaimonia. For the latter, virtue was enough for the ultimate good that
is eudaimonia. For Aristotle, virtue was required, but not sufficient (Annas, 1993).” To better
comprehend the thoughts, more than acting with virtue, we must also intend to be virtuous.

Now, since the idea of abortion was never mentioned in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics,
we are opt to understand its ethicality by analyzing if having an abortion promotes eudaimonic
happiness or if the former disallows the latter in the light of Moore’s explanation. Moore denies
the idea that eudaimonia is a state of mind, and further explaines that it is not attained through
different means but rather becomes present through pursuing virtue. She added:

“...we know Aristotle believes happiness is not about pursuing eudaimonia through various
means in order to be happy. This is, he argues, is founded in instrumentality. Happiness, he
might be seen as arguing, is once again the rational activity in pursuit of virtue itself.”

If a pregnant woman is ought to achieve eudaimonic well-being, we are left to question if

her having an abortion is meant to promote eudaimonic life or not. Suppose, then, that this
woman is assured to put her life at an unfortunate cost (either discrepancies to physical or mental
well-being or death) if she carries the fetus to term. The question of virtue in aborting and not-
aborting implies the woman’s pursuit of virtue, and thus makes it a key dilemma for eudaimonia
pursuants. If abortion (which means the woman will not have to risk her well-being) is virtuous,
then she must choose to abort. If, on another side, carrying the fetus to term (which means there
is a trade of her well-being and a chance for the birth of the fetus) is virtuous, then she must
refuse to abort.

* https://positivepsychology.com/eudaimonia Catherine Moore, BSc in Psychology