Abstract
This chapter begins from abortion but is not about abortion. It examines some aspects of the role of the biological mother with respect to the disposition of fetuses after abortions. Should the biological mother be entitled to determine the disposition of the fetus where that disposition is not in the interests of the fetus itself? In particular, should the mother be entitled to be assured of the fetus’ death, either during or after the abortion? Is it wrong to preserve, against the woman’s wishes, fetuses that do or can survive abortion?
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Notes and References
Moreover, there is a growing body of bioethical literature that uses the term “fetus” to refer to the entity that survives abortion.
n the significance of sentience, see M. A. Warren (1989) The moral significance of birth. Hypatia 4(3), 49–52.
Overall (1987) Chapter4, inEthics and Human Reproduction: A Feminist Analysis. Allen and Unwin, Boston, MA.
C. Overall (1987) Ethics and Human Reproduction: A Feminist Analysis. Allen and Unwin, Boston, MA.
R. M. Herbenick (1975) Remarks on abortion, abandonment, and adoption opportunities. Philosophy and Public Affairs 5(1), 98–104. This analogy may not be completely appropriate in cases of abortion for fetal abnormality. In such cases, the fetus is very much wanted, yet the fetus itself may be better off dead, not preserved. On the ambiguities of seeking abortion for the benefit of the fetus, see P. F. Camenisch (1983) Abortion: For the fetus’s own sake? in Medical Ethics and Human Life ( J. E. Thomas, ed.) Samuel Stevens, Toronto, pp. 135–143.
M. B. Mahowald, R. A. Ratcheson, and J. Silver. (1987) The ethical options in transplanting fetal tissue. Hastings Center Report 17 (1), 13.
S. Bok (1984) The unwanted child: Caring for the fetus born alive after an abortion, in Cases in Bioethics, revised ed. ( C. Levine and R. M. Veatch, eds.), Hastings Center, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, p. 2.
D. S. Levin (1985) Thomson and the current state of the abortion controversy. Journal of Applied Ethics 2 (1), 125;
cf. S. L. Ross (1982) Abortion and the death of the fetus. Philosophy and Public Affairs 11 (3), 236;
R. M. Herbenick (1975) Remarks on abortion, abandonment, and adoption opportunities. Philosophy and Public Affairs 5 (1), 101.
I owe this argument to Lois Pineau.
D. I. Wikler (1979) Ought we to try to save aborted fetuses? Ethics 90, 58–65.
S. L. Ross (1982) Abortion and the death of the fetus. Philosophy and Public Affairs 11(3), 238, his emphasis.
D. C. Nathan (1984) The unwanted child: Caring for the fetus born alive after an abortion, in Cases in Bioethics, revised ed. ( C. Levine and R. M. Veatch, eds.), Hastings Center, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, p. 4.
Tor further discussion of the interest in avoiding genetic offspring, see J. A. Robertson (1989) Resolving disputes over frozen embryos. Hastings Center Report 19(6) 7–12.
S. L. Ross (1982) Abortion and the death of the fetus. Philosophy and Public Affairs 11(3), 241, his emphasis.
L. Ross (1982) Abortion and the death of the fetus. Philosophy and Public Affairs 11 (3), 239.
J. G. Raymond (1990) Reproductive gifts and gift giving: The altruistic woman. Hastings Center Report 20 (6), 7–11.
A version of this argument was presented to me by Salida Rodgers.
H.Arkes (1986)First Things: An Inquiry into the First Principles of Morals and Justice. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, p. 377.
H. Arkes (1986) First Things: An Inquiry into the First Principles of Morals and Justice. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, p. 378.
G. Leber (1989) We must rescue them. Hastings Center Report 19 (6), 26–27.
K. Nolan (1988) Genug ist genug: A fetus is not a kidney. Hastings Center Report 18 (6), 16.
H. Arkes (1986) First Things: An Inquiry into the First Principles of Morals and Justice. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, p. 371.
L. B. Andrews (1986) My body, my property. Hastings Center Report 16 (5), 28–38.
L. B. Andrews (1986) My body, my property. Hastings Center Report 16 (5), 28–38;
G. J. Annas (1988) Whose waste is it anyway? The case of John Moore. Hastings Center Report 18 (5), 37–39;
G. J. Annas (1990) Outrageous fortune: Selling other people’s cells. Hastings Center Report 20 (6), 36–39.
G. J. Annas (1990) Outrageous fortune: Selling other people’s cells. Hastings Center Report 20(6), 37, his emphasis.
S. Sherwin (1988) Review of Ethics and Human Reproduction: A Feminist Analysis. Atlantis 13 (2), 125.
There are further feminist reasons for avoiding the ownership paradigm for the fetus, since there is a developing history of seeing the fetus as the property of the male progenitor, the man’s “baby.”
M. A. Coffey (1989) Review of Ethics and Human Reproduction: A Feminist Analysis. Resources For Feminist Research/Documentation sur la recherche feministe 18 (1), 11.
S. Sherwin (1988) Review of Ethics and Human Reproduction: A Feminist Analysis. Atlantis 13 (2), 125.
S. Sherwin (1988) Review of Ethics and Human Reproduction: A Feminist Analysis. Atlantis 13 (2), 123–125.
M. A. Warren (1989) The moral significance of birth. Hypatia 4 (3), 57.
M. A. Warren (1989) The moral significance of birth. Hypatia 4 (3), 62.
J. G. Raymond (1990) Of ice and men: The big chill over women’ s reproductive rights. Issues in Reproductive and Genetic Engineering: Journal of International Feminist Analysis 3 (1), 49.
S. Sherwin (1988) Review of Ethics and Human Reproduction: A Feminist Analysis. Atlantis 13 (2), 125.
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L. Walters (1984) The unwanted child: Caring for the fetus born alive after an abortion, in Cases in Bioethics, revised ed. ( C. Levine and R. M. Veatch, eds.), Hastings Center, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY p. 6.
J. Gallagher (1989) Fetus as patient, in Reproductive Laws for the 1990s ( S. Cohen and N. Taub, eds.), Humana Press, Clifton, NJ, pp. 185–235;
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M. Thompson (1988) Whose womb is it anyway? Healthsharing (Spring), 14–17.
D. S. Levin (1985) Thomson and the current state of the abortion controversy. Journal of Applied Ethics 2 (1), 124.
D. S. Levin (1985) Thomson and the current state of the abortion controversy. Journal of Applied Ethics 2(1), 125; cf. E. F. Paul and J. Paul. (1979) Self-ownership, abortion and infanticide. Journal of Medical Ethics 5, 135.
S. Sherwin (1988) Review of Ethics and Human Reproduction: A Feminist Analysis. Atlantis 13 (2), 125.
J. A. Robertson (1988) Rights, symbolism, and public policy in fetal tissue transplants. Hastings Center Report 18(6), 9.
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Overall, C. (1991). Biological Mothers and the Disposition of Fetuses After Abortion. In: Humber, J.M., Almeder, R.F. (eds) Bioethics and the Fetus. Biomedical Ethics Reviews. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-445-0_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-445-0_3
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