Your View:

Embryo Rights?

Almost everyone agrees that adult men and women can and do have moral rights. The disputed question concerns the embryo or fetus. What conclusion do you reach? (Remember, we are only asking if the embryo or fetus is the kind of being that can have any rights at all. We are not asking what rights it has.)

The embryo and the older fetus can have rights. The older fetus but not the embryo can have rights. Neither the embryo nor the fetus can have rights. Uncertain whether the embryo or fetus can have rights.

If you believe that the embryo and/or the fetus is the sort of being that can have rights, you still need to consider what rights it has, how strong they are, whether they include a right to support from its mother, and how its rights relate to those of its mother.

If you come to the conclusion that the embryo and/or fetus is not the sort of being that can have rights, you still need to consider whether it is morally wrong to abort it for other reasons. Perhaps it is wrong to abort because of certain consequences even though the fetus has no rights that can be violated? Or perhaps it is wrong to abort it because it has great value, or because of God's intentions, or for some other reason. You might also ask yourself whether a person can acquire obligations to (or concerning) an embryo/fetus even though it is not in itself the sort of being that can have rights?