Fetal rights: Difference between revisions

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	=== Abortion ===		=== Abortion ===

	Legal opposition to ] stems from concern for fetal rights. ~~The~~ ~~existence of~~ abortion ~~leads~~ ~~many~~ ] activists to oppose fetal rights even when they do not come in conflict with the abortion issue.<ref>http://www.now.org/nnt/fall-2001/fetalrights.html</ref>		Legal opposition to ] stems from partly concern for fetal rights. Social controversy about abortion may lead some ] activists to oppose fetal rights even when they do not come in conflict with the abortion issue.<ref>http://www.now.org/nnt/fall-2001/fetalrights.html</ref>

	=== Fetal Insurance ===		=== Fetal Insurance ===

Revision as of 11:52, 31 July 2006

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Fetal rights refer to the rights of fetuses as they are legally and ethically recognized.

Fetal Rights in Law

Several examples of legal issues regarding fetal rights include:

Smoking Ban For Pregnant Women

Based on studies showing that 10% of infant deaths are caused by smoking mothers, Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas has considered adopting a smoking ban for pregnant women for the purpose of reducing infant mortality by preventing them from being exposed to dangerous health factors during their fetal stage of development.

The Laci and Connor Law

The Laci and Connor Law which protects pregnant women and their unborn children from assailants by allowing for the prosecution of the murders of both the woman and her fetus. This law was passed in 2004 after the murder of the then pregnant Laci Peterson and her fetus, Connor Peterson.

Abortion

Legal opposition to abortion stems from partly concern for fetal rights. Social controversy about abortion may lead some pro-choice activists to oppose fetal rights even when they do not come in conflict with the abortion issue.

Fetal Insurance

In 2002 President George W. Bush announced a plan to insure health care coverage for fetuses under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Fetal Abuse

Fetal abuse laws which protect fetal health rights against alcoholic and drug abusing mothers and have been enforced in various states.

Fetal Rights in Ethics

The debate around fetal rights in ethics center around two questions. Is the fetus a person? And if so do the rights of the fetal person outweigh the rights of the parents of the fetus?

Fetal Rights and Fetal Personhood

If the fetus is a person then it would have the rights accorded to persons. However, challenges to the personhood of the fetus have been proposed. The ethicist Peter Singer has argued that our notion of personhood comes from our intelligence, and that therefore humans without the intelligence qualities we attribute to persons should not be considered persons. Since children in the fetal and even infant stages of development have the intelligence level of animals according to Singer they should not be considered persons.

Critics of this view point out that if such a notion were to be held then persons in comatose states or perhaps people who are simply unconscious could not be considered persons as they would lack the appropriate level of intelligence. Also they point out that such a view would conflict with the identity argument which states that either the individual in question is a person or he or she is not. If Singer is correct then differing degrees of intelligence would correspond to differing degrees of personhood. However this would conflict with the identity argument as a exact level intelligence for personhood is not specified making it ambiguous in determining personhood at any given time.

Fetal Rights and Parental Rights

If fetal personhood is agreed upon then another relevant question arises in cases where the rights of fetal persons conflict with the rights of parents. Does the fetal person's right to live outweigh the parent's rights to autonomy? Or do the parent's rights to autonomy outweigh the fetal person's rights? In the debate on abortion those who consider themselves "pro-life" generally believe that the fetus' rights outweigh the parent's rights. People who are "pro-choice" but who might also agree with the personhood of the fetus generally would argue that the mother's right to autonomy supercedes the rights of the fetus as otherwise it would compel the her to act in such a way that would limit her freedom.