A Right to Her Body
	CONTINUE ON	Review Related Ideas and then Return Here

We ordinarily agree that an adult has the right to make decisions about giving blood, taking medicine, having surgery, removing organs, undergoing examinations, eating food, and so on. But most people also agree that a pilot has no right to take drugs and then fly a plane. I also have no right to beat you with my fist even though that limits my control over the use of my body.

Limits on our rights can arise when another party has a right to action or restraint on our part. Does this include the fetus? What if the fetus has the rights of a person or a potential person? One author, Richard McCormick, has asked whether a woman has a right to take thalidomide while she is pregnant even though it may deform the child? If you agree that it would be wrong for her to do so, why do you believe this? Why does her right to control her body have this limitation?

Furthermore, might there be other moral obligations that limit a woman's right (or a man's) to control her or his body? If so, what are they and how do affect the case of pregnancy?

Ariadne Home	Abortion Bibliography	Abortion Home