If fetuses are persons, abortion is a public health crisis.
Bioethics
; 35(5): 465-472, 2021 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1165822
ABSTRACT
Pro-life advocates commonly argue that fetuses have the moral status of persons, and an accompanying right to life, a view most pro-choice advocates deny. A difficulty for this pro-life position has been Judith Jarvis Thomson's violinist analogy, in which she argues that even if the fetus is a person, abortion is often permissible because a pregnant woman is not obliged to continue to offer her body as life support. Here, we outline the moral theories underlying public health ethics, and examine the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of public health considerations overriding individual rights. We argue that if fetuses are regarded as persons, then abortion is of such prevalence in society that it also constitutes a significant public health crisis. We show that on public health considerations, we are justified in overriding individual rights to bodily autonomy by prohibiting abortion. We conclude that in a society that values public health, abortion can only be tolerated if fetuses are not regarded as persons.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Public Health
/
Abortion, Induced
/
Personhood
/
Pandemics
/
Fetus
/
COVID-19
/
Human Rights
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Pregnancy
Language:
English
Journal:
Bioethics
Journal subject:
Ethics
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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