Abortion as a moral good?

Desmond O'Neill

While clearly aiming to provoke discussion by positioning abortion as a moral good, it is a pity that Katie Watson's Perspective1 tries to overly smooth out the moral discomfort about abortion experienced by clinicians who do not wish to be labelled—and potentially dismissed in arguments—as either pro-life or pro-choice.

As clinicians, we are used to imbalances of power in relationships in families. Moreover, not all motivations of patients or clinicians are morally sound or altruistic. Caring for others at any stage of life, from childbearing to human life itself, is associated with exhaustion and depletion of resources over time. Nonetheless, this care forms part of the very fabric of our existence and of the community that we accept. 2 Indeed, protecting the most vulnerable members of the society from the negative aspects, such as social inequality and undervaluing of any groups in our care, is the key to good medicine.

We might also note the absence of any mention of fathers, and men seemingly relegated to a role in which they are only identified by their higher levels of sexual or reproductive freedom and power, rather than that of partners or responsible individuals in human reproduction.

These complexities do not correlate well to our excessive reliance on the theoretical framework of Beauchamp and Childress,3 and particularly to our over-reliance on the balance between principles, and to whom these principles apply. Bearing in mind the unfortunate consequences that a lack of sensibility toward vulnerable populations can have,4 abortion is an area of medical practice that should always raise ethical concern and reflection, rather than an ethical good.

I declare no competing interests.

[но автор — ирландец]

References
1. Watson K  Abortion as a moral good.Lancet. 2019; 393: 1196-1197
View in Article
Scopus (0)
PubMed
Summary
Full Text
Full Text PDF
Google Scholar
2. Kleinman A  Care: in search of a health agenda.Lancet. 2015; 386: 240-241
View in Article
Scopus (15)
PubMed
Summary
Full Text
Full Text PDF
Google Scholar
3. Muirhead W  When four principles are too many: bloodgate, integrity and an action-guiding model of ethical decision making in clinical practice.J Med Ethics. 2012; 38: 195-256
View in Article
Scopus (7)
PubMed
Crossref
Google Scholar
4. Grekul J  Krahn A  Odynak D Sterilizing the “feeble-minded”: eugenics in Alberta, Canada, 1929–1972.J Hist Sociol. 2004; 17: 358-384
View in Article
Scopus (0)
Crossref
Google Scholar
Article Info
Publication History
Published: 12 October 2019
Identification

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31286-3
Copyright
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
ScienceDirectAccess this article on ScienceDirect


Linked Articles

Abortion as a moral good
Full-Text
PDF