The hand that rocks the cradle

This essay responds to Donald Hope's proposal that a woman's right to reproductive choice under the U.S. Constitution should end after she has been pregnant for eight weeks, because before that point science shows the developing embryo lacks human form, while after that point the fetus possesses physical characteristics that make it uniquely human. Hope's line purporting to determine when the fate of developing life becomes a matter of public concern rather than a strictly private decision is drawn both too early and too late. Eight weeks is too early because it imposes coerced motherhood on those least able to bear it while impugning the moral integrity of all women, and it is too late because this rule measures the value of human life by the utility of our physical features. Instead, no line need be drawn at all; the state can give effect to its concern for developing human life by valuing and supporting mothers who make it possible.