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If fetuses are persons, abortion is a public health crisis.
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- Author(s): Blackshaw B;Blackshaw B; Rodger D; Rodger D
- Source:
Bioethics [Bioethics] 2021 Jun; Vol. 35 (5), pp. 465-472. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Apr 02.
- Publication Type:
Journal Article
- Language:
English
- Additional Information
- Source:
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 8704792 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1467-8519 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 02699702 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Bioethics Subsets: MEDLINE
- Publication Information:
Publication: Oxford : Wiley-Blackwell
Original Publication: Oxford ; New York : Basil Blackwell, c1987-
- Subject Terms:
- 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.
(© 2021 The Authors. Bioethics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
- Comments:
Comment in: Bioethics. 2022 May;36(4):469-471. (PMID: 34904272)
- Contributed Indexing:
Keywords: COVID-19; Thomson; abortion; moral status; persons; public health
- Publication Date:
Date Created: 20210403 Date Completed: 20210531 Latest Revision: 20220531
- Publication Date:
20221213
- Accession Number:
10.1111/bioe.12874
- Accession Number:
33811355
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