The Ethics of Pregnancy, Abortion and Childbirth: Exploring Moral Choices in Childbearing

165 Pages·2016·1.61 MB·English

by  Helen Watt

The Ethics of Pregnancy, Abortion and
Childbirth
The Ethics of Pregnancy, Abortion and Childbirth addresses the unique moral questions raised
by pregnancy and its intimate bodily nature. From assisted reproduction to abortion and ‘vital
conflict’ resolution to more everyday concerns of the pregnant woman, this book argues for
pregnancy as a close human relationship with the woman as guardian or custodian. Four
approaches to pregnancy are explored: ‘uni-personal’, ‘neighborly’, ‘maternal’, and ‘spousal’.
The author challenges not only the view that there is only one moral subject to consider in
pregnancy, but also the idea that the location of the fetus lacks all inherent, unique
significance. It is argued that the pregnant woman is not a mere ‘neighbor’ or helpful stranger
to the fetus but is rather already in a real familial relationship bringing real familial rights and
obligations. If the status of the fetus is conclusive for at least some moral questions raised by
pregnancy, so too are facts about its bodily relationship with, and presence in, the woman who
supports it. This lucid, accessible and original book explores fundamental ethical issues in a
rich and often neglected area of philosophy in ways of interest also to those from other
disciplines.
Dr. Helen Watt is Senior Research Fellow and former Director of the Anscombe Bioethics
Centre, Oxford, UK. She is the author of Life and Death in Healthcare Ethics: A Short
Introduction and the editor of several books, including Fertility and Gender: Issues in
Reproductive and Sexual Ethics.
Routledge Annals of Bioethics
Series Editors:
Mark J. Cherry
St. Edward’s University, USA
Ana Smith Iltis
Saint Louis University, USA
 1 Regional Perspectives in Bioethics
Edited by Mark J. Cherry and John F. Peppin
 2 Religious Perspectives on Bioethics
Edited by Mark J. Cherry, Ana Smith Iltis, and John F. Peppin
 3 Research Ethics
Edited by Ana Smith Iltis
 4 Thomistic Principles and Bioethics
Jason T. Eberl
 5 The Ethics of Genetic Engineering
Roberta M. Berry
 6 Legal Perspectives in Bioethics
Edited by Ana Smith Iltis, Sandra H. Johnson, and Barbara A. Hinze
 7 Biomedical Research and Beyond Expanding the Ethics of Inquiry
Christopher O. Tollefsen
 8 Practical Autonomy and Bioethics
James Stacey Taylor
 9 The Ethics of Abortion Women’s Rights, Human Life, and the Question of Justice
Christopher Kaczor
10 Bioethics, Public Moral Argument, and Social Responsibility
Edited by Nancy M. P. King and Michael J. Hyde
11 The Ethics of Gender-Specific Disease
Mary Ann Cutter
12 Death, Posthumous Harm, and Bioethics
James Stacey Taylor
13 Human Dignity in Bioethics From Worldviews to the Public Square
Edited by Stephen Dilley and Nathan J. Palpant
14 Parental Obligations and Bioethics The Duties of a Creator
Bernard G. Prusak
15 The Bioethics of Pain Management Beyond Opioids
Daniel S. Goldberg
16 The Ethics of Pregnancy, Abortion and Childbirth Exploring Moral Choices in
Childbearing
Helen Watt
The Ethics of Pregnancy, Abortion and
Childbirth
Exploring Moral Choices in Childbearing
Helen Watt
First published 2016
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Taylor & Francis
The right of Helen Watt to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Watt, Helen, 1962–
Title: The ethics of pregnancy, abortion and childbirth : exploring moral  choices in
childbearing / by Helen Watt.
Description: New York : Routledge, 2016. | Series: Routledge annals of  bioethics ; 16 |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015035062 | ISBN 9781138188082 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Pregnancy—Moral and ethical aspects. | Birth control—Moral and ethical
aspects. | Human reproduction—Moral and ethical  aspects. | Bioethics.
Classification: LCC HQ766.15 .W37 2016 | DDC 174.2—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015035062
ISBN: 978-1-138-18808-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-64271-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Acknowledgements
  Introduction
Aim of this Book
Pregnancy and Pathology
Sharing of Parts
Dependency and Status
1 The Uni-Personal Pregnancy
Human Personal Status
Are We Our Bodies?
Are We Our Experiences?
Overlapping Subjects of Experience
Moral Status and Desires
Interests and Brain Damage
Objective Interests and Bodily Kinds
Human Equality
When Does the Human Individual Begin?
Living Wholes and Living Parts
Identical Twinning
Potential and Pregnancy
Human-Looking Fetuses (and Embryos?)
Recognizing Moral Status
Moral Status: What Are the Implications for Pregnancy?
2 The Neighborly Pregnancy
What Kind of Neighbor?
Bodily Attacks
Right Not to Be a Parent
Support and Violence: Strangers and Samaritans
Support and Violence: Parents and Children
Women: Unjustly Disadvantaged?
Functional Support
Pregnancy as a Disease
Right to Control One’s Body
3 The Maternal Pregnancy
Becoming Pregnant: Rights Conferred
Pregnancy and Abortion in Comatose Women
The Right to Mother
All Roles Chosen?
Acknowledging Maternity: Pregnancy and Birth after Rape
Childbirth and Childcare
Pregnancy and Control
Pregnancy and Guardianship
Prenatal Tests
Maternal and Maternal-Fetal Treatments
Treatments in Pregnancy—Conjoined Twin Analogy
Duties to Commence Gestation
Conjoined Twins Continued
Vital Conflicts: What Are the Principles?
Double-Effect Reasoning
‘Unintended Morally Determinative Aspects’
Bodily Respect
Maternal-Fetal Conflicts Continued
Life-Threatening Pregnancies
Ectopic Pregnancy
Early Delivery
4 The Spousal Pregnancy
Fetal Reduction
Wanted Children
Receiving or Producing
Good Enough Parents
Donor Pregnancies
Accepting Donor Embryos (‘Embryo Adoption’)
Pregnancy, Intimacy and Society
Acceptance of Fertility
Sexual Conception: Of What Kind?
Female and Male Parenthood
Male Support of Pregnancy
Conclusion
Appendix: Pregnancy and Lethal Fetal Anomaly
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgements
In writing this book, I have been helped by many people, beginning with my family—
particularly my father, Ted Watt—and colleagues and governors at the Anscombe Bioethics
Centre, particularly David Jones, who made various useful suggestions. I am most grateful to
Mark Cherry and Ana Iltis of Routledge Annals of Bioethics and to two anonymous reviewers
for significant guidance in improving the text and support with preparing the book for
publication. Others who kindly looked at drafts of the manuscript (or parts thereof) include
Erika Bachiochi, William Charlton, Christopher Coope, Sally Crippen, Philip E. Devine, Susan
Dwyer, Michael Hawking, Claire Hordern, John McLean, Maria MacKinnon, Bertha Alvarez
Manninen, Fiorella Nash, Josephine Quintavalle and Celia Wolf-Devine. I thank especially my
dear friend Anthony McCarthy for his generous support with the project, his incisive
comments on the text, and for so many enlightening and enjoyable conversations on these
issues over many years.