Abstract

Bruce P. Blackshaw and Daniel Rodger contend that if we assume fetuses are persons, then abortion is a public health crisis that justifies overriding a gestational mother's rights and compelling her to carry the fetus to term, but dawdle addressing greater public health crises like spontaneous abortion and hunger. They draw a distinction between deliberate and indeliberate harm to justify restricting rights in the former, but not the latter; but such distinction fails to justify restricting rights in most public health crises. Furthermore, it fails to justify curtailing abortion rights as unwilling gestational mothers might deliberately induce abortion in self‐defense, merely indeliberately harming the fetus.