Let’s consider responsibility first. In our society, as in most cultures, it is the parents responsibility to nurture and care for their children. This is considered to be both a legal and a moral duty of the parents. Note, significant portions of this responsibility are to respect the rights of the child while preparing the child physically, emotionally and mentally to succeed (or at least to survive) as an adult.

If a parent fails in their duty to provide the requisite nurturing and care then society (i.e., the state) is empowered to take the drastic step of removing the child from the custody of the parents and providing alternate arrangements for the rearing of the child. Additionally in egregious cases of neglect or abuse by the parents, the state may prosecute and punish the parents. By common consent this action by the state is considered to be both legal and moral.

Can we apply this standard to the situation of a pregnant woman? Not easily! The simple fact is that it is impossible for the state to remove the child until the pregnancy is complete. Any attempt to do so earlier may possibly damage the embryonic mother or the embryonic child or both! To attempt to do so would be irresponsible and possibly violate the rights of both mother and child. Thus not only is the usual societal remedy not available in such cases but we have also introduced another competing right into the mix (i.e., the right of the state to protect the child). Whew, can things get any more complicated? Answer, of course they can! Why else would these be such contentious issues?

In addition there is the question of what to do in those cases when through accident, or disease, or genetic faults (whether induced naturally such as environmental stress or artificially such as a side effect of a medicine or drug), or due to some other reason the embryonic child has a critical defect. What are the legal and moral rights of the embryonic child in this situation? What are the legal and moral rights and responsibilities of the embryonic mother in this situation?

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Tags: Abortion, contraception, politics, Science

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 5:03 pm and is filed under Abortion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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