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Selective Reduction: "A Soft Cover for Hard Choices" or Another Name for Abortion?
1Professor of Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in San Francisco, CA. She received her A.B. in Physics and Chemistry from Harvard College, and her J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, MA.
Summary
Selective reduction and abortion, though medically distinct, are morally equivalent procedures involving fetal life termination. This essay argues for their essential sameness despite differing societal views and medical classifications.
Area of Science:
- Medical Ethics
- Reproductive Health
- Fetal Medicine
Background:
- Selective reduction and abortion are distinct medical procedures.
- They are performed under different circumstances by various physicians.
- Societal reactions and moral considerations differ for each.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the ethical and medical distinctions between selective reduction and abortion.
- To posit that selective reduction and abortion are fundamentally equivalent procedures.
- To challenge the differing societal and moral classifications of these interventions.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of medical techniques and objectives.
- Examination of ethical frameworks applied to reproductive procedures.
- Review of societal perceptions and moral calculus for each procedure.
Main Results:
- Despite distinct appellations and procedures, selective reduction and abortion share the core outcome of fetal life termination.
- The differences in medical practice and circumstances do not alter the fundamental ethical consideration of ending fetal life.
- Existing societal and moral distinctions are based on superficial differences rather than intrinsic equivalence.
Conclusions:
- Selective reduction and abortion, while technically different, are ethically and morally equivalent.
- A unified moral calculus should be applied to both procedures.
- Re-evaluation of societal perceptions is necessary to acknowledge their essential sameness.