Agency, Pregnancy and Persons This book provides extensive and critical engagement with some of the most recent and compelling arguments favoring abortion choice. It fea- tures original essays from leading and emerging philosophers, bioethicists and medical professionals that present philosophically sophisticated and novel arguments against abortion choice. The chapters in this book are divided into three thematic sections. The first set of essays focuses primarily on unborn human individuals— zygotes, embryos and fetuses. In these chapters, it is argued, for example, that human organisms begin to exist at conception and that zygotes, embryos and fetuses are persons. These chapters also explore questions about whether or not zygotes, embryos and fetuses are part of their moth- ers’ bodies. The second set of essays focuses primarily on elective abor- tion and the debates surrounding it. These chapters consider whether or not opponents of abortion are commonly hypocritical, how opponents of abortion should think about adoption, how emerging technologies may affect the current debate and whether or not those participating in the debate should rely on analogies to support their case. Finally, the third set of essays shifts focus from the legal and moral status of elective abortion to its place in medical practice. In these chapters, it is argued that elective abortion embodies a kind of ableism, that elective abortion is medically unnecessary, harmful to women’s mental health and that telemedicine abortion poses significant risks to women’s health. Agency, Pregnancy and Persons offers an up-to-date examination of unborn human beings, the debates surrounding elective abortion and the place of elective abortion within medical practice. It will be of interest to medical professionals and those who work in philosophy, bioethics and medical ethics alike. Nicholas Colgrove is a postdoctoral fellow in bioethics and philosophy at Wake Forest University, United States. He has published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, the Journal of Medicine & Philosophy and HEC Forum. Bruce P. Blackshaw is a PhD candidate in philosophy at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. His research interests in bioethics include reproductive ethics, personal identity and conscientious objection in medicine. He has published extensively in journals such as Bioethics, the Journal of Medical Ethics and Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. Daniel Rodger is a Senior Lecturer in Perioperative Practice at London South Bank University, United Kingdom. He is a registered Operating Department Practitioner and co-editor of the Fundamentals of Operating Department Practice, 2nd Edition (2022), published by Cambridge University Press. Routledge Annals of Bioethics Series Editors: Mark J. Cherry St. Edward’s University, USA Ana Smith Iltis Wake Forest University, USA Medical Ethics, Prediction, and Prognosis Interdisciplinary Perspectives Edited by Mariacarla Gadebusch Bondio, Francesco Spöring, and John-Stewart Gordon Care Ethics and Social Structures in Medicine Ruth E. Groenhout Uncertain Bioethics Moral Risk and Human Dignity Stephen Napier A Virtue-Based Defense of Perinatal Hospice Aaron D. Cobb A New Theory of Conscientious Objection in Medicine Justification and Reasonability Robert F. Card The Limits of Parental Authority Childhood Wellbeing as a Social Good Johan Bester Bloody Bioethics Why Prohibiting Plasma Compensation Harms Patients and Wrongs Donors James Stacey Taylor Agency, Pregnancy and Persons Essays in Defense of Human Life Edited by Nicholas Colgrove, Bruce P. Blackshaw, and Daniel Rodger For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge. com/Routledge-Annals-of-Bioethics/book-series/RAB Agency, Pregnancy and Persons Essays in Defense of Human Life Edited by Nicholas Colgrove, Bruce P. Blackshaw and Daniel Rodger First published 2023 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Nicholas Colgrove, Bruce P. Blackshaw and Daniel Rodger; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Nicholas Colgrove, Bruce P. Blackshaw and Daniel Rodger to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this title has been requested ISBN: 978-1-032-01514-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-02041-9 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-18157-6 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003181576 Typeset in Sabon by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive) Contents Contributors ix Foreword x ROBERT P. GEORGE Introduction 1 NICHOLAS COLGROVE PART I Zygotes, Embryos and Fetuses 15 1 Is the Human Embryo an Organism? 17 MAUREEN L. CONDIC 2 A Plausible Account of Basic Equality 35 HENRIK FRIBERG-FERNROS 3 Embryonic Persons 52 RICHARD PLAYFORD 4 Whose Body? 70 CHRISTOPHER O. TOLLEFSEN 5 It Is More Difficult to Justify Abortion If Fetuses Are Parts of Their Mothers 87 DAVID HERSHENOV 6 Do Fetuses Have the Same Interests as Their Mothers? 105 HELEN WATT viii Contents PART II The Abortion Debate 125 7 Hypocrisy, Consistency and Opponents of Abortion 127 BRUCE P. BLACKSHAW, NICHOLAS COLGROVE AND DANIEL RODGER 8 Abortion, Adoption and Integrity 145 KATE FINLEY 9 The Impairment Argument against Abortion 162 PERRY HENDRICKS 10 The Artificial Womb and the End of Abortion 176 CHRISTOPHER KACZOR 11 The Feminists’ Dilemmas: A Response to Overall’s “Rethinking Abortion, Ectogenesis, and Fetal Death” 195 JESSALYN A. BOHN 12 Violinists, Burglars, People Seeds, Samaritans and Reluctant Bone Marrow Donors: Why Do We Need Analogies to Pregnancy in Order to Understand It? 212 FRANCIS J. BECKWITH PART III Abortion and Medical Practice 229 13 False Compassion, True Discrimination: The Practice of Prenatal Diagnosis and Selective Abortion 231 CHRISTOPHER OSTERTAG 14 Is Abortion Medically Necessary? 246 TONI C. SAAD 15 Abortion’s Causal Role in Trauma and Suicide 266 CALUM MILLER 16 Telemedicine Abortion: Why It Is Not Safe for Women 288 CALUM MILLER Index 301 Contributors Francis J. Beckwith is Professor of philosophy and church-state studies at Baylor University. Jessalyn A. Bohn is Adjunct Professor of philosophy at St. Edward’s University. Maureen L. Condic is Associate Professor of neurobiology and anatomy at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Kate Finley is Assistant Professor of philosophy at Hope College. Henrik Friberg-Fernros is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg. Perry Hendricks is a PhD candidate in philosophy at Purdue University. David Hershenov is Professor of philosophy at the University at Buffalo and co-director of the Romanell Center. Christopher Kaczor is Professor of philosophy at Loyola Marymount University. Calum Miller is a Medical Doctor and Research Associate in philosophy and ethics at St. Benet’s Hall, University of Oxford. Christopher Ostertag is Director of Mission Services at OSF Healthcare and a PhD candidate in theology and health-care ethics at Saint Louis University. Richard Playford is Lecturer in religious studies at St Mary’s University. Toni C. Saad is a Medical Doctor and Associate Research Fellow at the Bios Centre. Christopher O. Tollefsen is Professor and Chair of philosophy at the University of South Carolina. Helen Watt is Senior Research Fellow at the Bios Centre and Research Fellow of Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford.