Journal of Medical Ethics 47 (3):187-188 (2020)
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Abstract |
Prabhpal Singh has recently defended a relational account of the difference in moral status between fetuses and newborns as a way of explaining why abortion is permissible and infanticide is not. He claims that only a newborn can stand in a parent–child relation, not a fetus, and this relation has a moral dimension that bestows moral value. We challenge Singh’s reasoning, arguing that the case he presents is unconvincing. We suggest that the parent–child relation is better understood as an extension of an existing relationship formed during the gestational period. The change in this relation at birth is not sufficient to justify the radical change in moral status required to rule out infanticide while accepting the permissibility of abortion. Given that the moral status of orphans is also problematic under Singh’s account, we conclude that Singh has not shown that a newborn has greater moral worth than a fetus.
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Keywords | fetus abortion moral status infanticide parental responsibility |
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Reprint years | 2020, 2021 |
DOI | 10.1136/medethics-2020-106173 |
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References found in this work BETA
How Do We Acquire Parental Responsibilities?Joseph Millum - 2008 - Social Theory and Practice 34 (1):71-93.
Citations of this work BETA
Defending the Distinction Between Pregnancy and Parenthood.Prabhpal Singh - 2021 - Journal of Medical Ethics 47 (3):189-191.
Defending the Substance View Against its Critics.Bruce P. Blackshaw - 2021 - The New Bioethics 28 (1):54-67.
Orphans and the Relational Significance of Birth: A Response to Singh.Christopher A. Bobier - 2021 - Journal of Medical Ethics 47 (6):439-440.
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