Abortion Bans and Cruelty

Abortion bans have been characterized as cruel especially in not allowing exceptions for rape or incest. The article first examines one approach to morally justifying bans based on the Doctrine of Double Effect (DDE) which distinguishes morally between killing or letting die intending death versus d...

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Main Author: F. M. Kamm
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Michigan Publishing Services 2023-12-01
Series:Journal of Practical Ethics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jpe/article/id/4621/
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author F. M. Kamm
author_facet F. M. Kamm
author_sort F. M. Kamm
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description Abortion bans have been characterized as cruel especially in not allowing exceptions for rape or incest. The article first examines one approach to morally justifying bans based on the Doctrine of Double Effect (DDE) which distinguishes morally between killing or letting die intending death versus doing so only foreseeing death. It then presents some criticisms of the implications of the DDE but also argues that what the doctrine permits helps provide a ground for the permissibility of abortions even if the fetus is a person. Whether there are limits on applying this argument is also considered. In conclusion, the article considers whether and why not permitting exceptions to bans for rape and incest is cruel and whether cruelty is a ground for opposition to bans.
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spelling doaj-art-e0de3526fcf04527b2934bc9170828892025-08-20T02:21:30ZengMichigan Publishing ServicesJournal of Practical Ethics2051-655X2023-12-0111110.3998/jpe.4621Abortion Bans and CrueltyF. M. Kamm0Department of Philosophy, Rutgers UniversityAbortion bans have been characterized as cruel especially in not allowing exceptions for rape or incest. The article first examines one approach to morally justifying bans based on the Doctrine of Double Effect (DDE) which distinguishes morally between killing or letting die intending death versus doing so only foreseeing death. It then presents some criticisms of the implications of the DDE but also argues that what the doctrine permits helps provide a ground for the permissibility of abortions even if the fetus is a person. Whether there are limits on applying this argument is also considered. In conclusion, the article considers whether and why not permitting exceptions to bans for rape and incest is cruel and whether cruelty is a ground for opposition to bans.https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jpe/article/id/4621/abortion bansfetusDoctrine of Double Effectintentional killingduty to aidtime limits on abortion
spellingShingle F. M. Kamm
Abortion Bans and Cruelty
Journal of Practical Ethics
abortion bans
fetus
Doctrine of Double Effect
intentional killing
duty to aid
time limits on abortion
title Abortion Bans and Cruelty
title_full Abortion Bans and Cruelty
title_fullStr Abortion Bans and Cruelty
title_full_unstemmed Abortion Bans and Cruelty
title_short Abortion Bans and Cruelty
title_sort abortion bans and cruelty
topic abortion bans
fetus
Doctrine of Double Effect
intentional killing
duty to aid
time limits on abortion
url https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jpe/article/id/4621/
work_keys_str_mv AT fmkamm abortionbansandcruelty