Abstract
Ethical and political debates on conception and abortion are often hot and one-sided. In an attempt to present a balanced view, we will discuss the whole spectrum of issues, from normal conception on one side to surrogate motherhood on the other. The main ethical issues are female/male imbalance regarding the side effects of contraception, uncritical use of the “morning-after pill,” abortion on demand without accompanying counselling, preimplantation or prenatal screening for selection of fetus regarding gender, abortion for minor fetal abnormalities, artificial insemination for a healthy woman, anonymity in case of donation of sperm or egg cells, and financial compensation for surrogate motherhood.
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Notes
- 1.
Pills with mifepristone (progestorone blockers) and misoprostol (induction of uterine contraction) as active substances. In many countries, these drugs are sold as over-the-counter drugs.
- 2.
See also seminar paper nr. 42.
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Zwitter, M. (2019). Ethics at the Beginning of Life. In: Medical Ethics in Clinical Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00719-5_13
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