“Hard Cases” and Reproductive Rights

Abstract

The issues raised in the position papers are deeply troubling, for a variety of reasons. They deal with “hard cases”—like late abortion and fetal abuse—that are visible and numerous enough to cause considerable public discomfort. These hard cases evoke sharp tensions between various rights and values—tensions that may never be resolved to anyone’s satisfaction. Indeed, their preferred resolution will be viewed, in most cases and by most people, as the lesser of two evils. The hard cases call into question the appropriateness of society’s responses and the priorities given to different interventions. Finally, and I believe this to be crucial, they affect subgroups of the population that, in some manner and to some degree, are not considered like “us,” the majority. These subgroups may be composed of individuals whose mental or physical capacity and functioning may differ from the norm, and who will be viewed sympathetically, but perhaps condescendingly, or they may consist of persons whose behavior will be viewed by the great majority of us as incomprehensible at best or at least irresponsible—if not quasi criminal.