ABSTRACT
This essay argues that the polarization of our public debate over embryo-destructive research may be due, to a large extent, not to different valuations of individual human life but to different conceptions of the process of gestation, with one group treating the process as a making or construction and the other treating it as a development. These two incompatible models of reproduction are shown to explain the various positions commonly encountered in this debate over the treatment of embryos, and to a significant degree those encountered in the debate over abortion as well. Finally, the historical, theoretical, and intuitive strengths of each model are examined.
Subject(s)
Abortion, Induced , Beginning of Human Life , Embryonic Development , Fetal Development , Pregnancy , Abortion, Induced/ethics , Abortion, Induced/legislation & jurisprudence , Beginning of Human Life/ethics , Comprehension , Dissent and Disputes , Embryo Research/ethics , Ethical Analysis , Ethical Theory , Female , Germany , Humans , Jurisprudence , Models, Theoretical , Semantics , Stem Cell Research/ethics , United StatesSubject(s)
Catholicism , Nutritional Support/ethics , Persistent Vegetative State , Withholding Treatment/ethics , Withholding Treatment/legislation & jurisprudence , Dissent and Disputes , Female , Florida , Humans , Life Support Care/ethics , Life Support Care/legislation & jurisprudence , Parents , Persistent Vegetative State/diagnosis , SpousesSubject(s)
Abortion, Induced , Fetus , Jurisprudence , Socialism , Abortion, Eugenic , Abortion, Therapeutic , Beginning of Human Life , Civil Rights , Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities , Criminal Law , Freedom , Humans , Individuality , International Cooperation , Internationality , Judicial Role , Legislation as Topic , Liability, Legal , Life , Maternal Welfare , Moral Obligations , Personhood , Physicians , Political Systems , Pregnancy , Pregnant Women , Rape , Social Justice , Social Responsibility , Social Values , Social Welfare , Spain , United States , Value of LifeABSTRACT
This essay argues that the failure of our public debates over abortion and embryo-destructive research is due, to a large extent, not to different valuation of individual human life but to different conceptions and intuitions concerning the process of gestation, one group treating the process as construction and another treating it as development. These two incompatible models of reproduction are shown to explain the various positions commonly encountered in these life-related debates. Finally, the historical, theoretical, and intuitive strengths of each model are examined.