Related Ideas

Review these ideas and then use the BACK key on your browser to go back to the page you were on.

The moral status and moral rights of the mother are as crucial to argument about abortion as the moral status and rights, if any, of the embryo or fetus. Most of our attention focuses on the fetus because there is no question about the mother's status. Everyone agrees that she is a clear case of a person with the highest moral status and full human rights.

If, however, you should conclude that the embryo or fetus has the same or similar status, then you must consider the relationship between the rights of mother and child. Do some rights (or one party's rights) take priority in a conflict? Why?

Is it really a matter of priority or "weighing?" Or do all these rights have built in limitations that resolve conflicts?