Abortion Rights And Wrongs

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One of the standard objections to Warren's view (and Michael Tooley's as well) is that it seems to follow that infants are not people and do not have the rights of people. Therefore, infanticide is not murder in any ordinary sense and cannot be regarded as a violation of the infant's rights.

Notice that it does not follow from this view that there are no reasons to ever condemn infanticide. Infanticide may still be wrong, or usually wrong; but not because it is homicide and not because it violates the rights of a person. Warren believes that infanticide is usually wrong because there are adults who greatly value infants and many who would take pleasure in adopting one. But these are extrinsic reasons, unrelated to any rights of the infant.


Reference: Warren replied to criticism in a "Postscript on Infanticide." The postscript is included in the Feinberg anthology.

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