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If abortion substantially risks homicide, it should be illegal.

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Abortion may pose a substantial risk of homicide, justifying its criminalization after 10 weeks of gestation. This argument, based on the harm principle, aims to prevent future harm.

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Area of Science:

  • Bioethics
  • Legal Philosophy
  • Public Policy

Background:

  • Widespread disagreement exists regarding whether abortion constitutes homicide and its legal status.
  • Resolving the moral status of abortion is not required to establish a case for its regulation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce and defend The Prevention Argument, which posits that abortion should be criminalized if it substantially risks homicide.
  • To explore the ethical and legal justification for criminalizing abortion based on potential harm prevention.

Main Methods:

  • The paper employs a philosophical argument, The Prevention Argument, focusing on the potential for abortion to risk homicide.
  • It analyzes the harm principle as a basis for legal intervention, suggesting criminalization if a substantial risk is present.
  • The argument specifically considers the threshold of 10 weeks' gestation as a point where such risks may become significant.

Main Results:

  • The Prevention Argument suggests that if abortion after 10 weeks' gestation substantially risks homicide, lawmakers have a strong reason to criminalize it.
  • This approach shifts the focus from the moral status of abortion to the foreseeable harm it may present.
  • The argument is presented as having a modest burden of proof and relying on widely accepted normative principles.

Conclusions:

  • Criminalizing abortion after 10 weeks' gestation is supported by the harm preventive case, aiming to prevent potential homicide.
  • The ethical framework presented could potentially be extended to justify regulation of earlier abortions.
  • This argument offers a novel pathway through the abortion debate by focusing on risk assessment and harm prevention.