Pregnant women with fetal abnormalities: the forgotten people in the abortion debate.

Abortion law reform focuses on early abortion. Women wanting to have a family who have a fetal abnormality detected later in pregnancy are neglected in the debate and harmed by the consequences of current legal uncertainty. Unclear abortion laws compromise: the quality of prenatal testing; managemen...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: de Crespigny, L, Savulescu, J
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Australasian Medical Publishing Company 2008
Subjects:
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author de Crespigny, L
Savulescu, J
author_facet de Crespigny, L
Savulescu, J
author_sort de Crespigny, L
collection OXFORD
description Abortion law reform focuses on early abortion. Women wanting to have a family who have a fetal abnormality detected later in pregnancy are neglected in the debate and harmed by the consequences of current legal uncertainty. Unclear abortion laws compromise: the quality of prenatal testing; management when an abnormality is found; and patient care, through obstetricians' fears of legal repercussions. Women carrying a fetus with an abnormality are being denied abortion, even when the abnormality is so severe that non-treatment would be an option if the baby were born. Many women are likely to refuse to consider motherhood if they are denied appropriate prenatal testing and access to abortion if serious abnormalities are detected. Current abortion laws result in discriminatory and inconsistent practices, where access to prenatal testing and termination of pregnancy depends on location, the values of the treating doctor or hospital ethics committee, and a woman's personal resources. Legal certainty is needed to reduce the suffering of couples wanting to have a family.
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spelling oxford-uuid:1962d8cf-16b9-48b2-afea-da0aa12c4db32022-03-26T10:48:45ZPregnant women with fetal abnormalities: the forgotten people in the abortion debate.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:1962d8cf-16b9-48b2-afea-da0aa12c4db3Ethics of the biosciencesEthics (Moral philosophy)Practical ethicsEthics and communication in health careEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordAustralasian Medical Publishing Company2008de Crespigny, LSavulescu, JAbortion law reform focuses on early abortion. Women wanting to have a family who have a fetal abnormality detected later in pregnancy are neglected in the debate and harmed by the consequences of current legal uncertainty. Unclear abortion laws compromise: the quality of prenatal testing; management when an abnormality is found; and patient care, through obstetricians' fears of legal repercussions. Women carrying a fetus with an abnormality are being denied abortion, even when the abnormality is so severe that non-treatment would be an option if the baby were born. Many women are likely to refuse to consider motherhood if they are denied appropriate prenatal testing and access to abortion if serious abnormalities are detected. Current abortion laws result in discriminatory and inconsistent practices, where access to prenatal testing and termination of pregnancy depends on location, the values of the treating doctor or hospital ethics committee, and a woman's personal resources. Legal certainty is needed to reduce the suffering of couples wanting to have a family.
spellingShingle Ethics of the biosciences
Ethics (Moral philosophy)
Practical ethics
Ethics and communication in health care
de Crespigny, L
Savulescu, J
Pregnant women with fetal abnormalities: the forgotten people in the abortion debate.
title Pregnant women with fetal abnormalities: the forgotten people in the abortion debate.
title_full Pregnant women with fetal abnormalities: the forgotten people in the abortion debate.
title_fullStr Pregnant women with fetal abnormalities: the forgotten people in the abortion debate.
title_full_unstemmed Pregnant women with fetal abnormalities: the forgotten people in the abortion debate.
title_short Pregnant women with fetal abnormalities: the forgotten people in the abortion debate.
title_sort pregnant women with fetal abnormalities the forgotten people in the abortion debate
topic Ethics of the biosciences
Ethics (Moral philosophy)
Practical ethics
Ethics and communication in health care
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AT savulescuj pregnantwomenwithfetalabnormalitiestheforgottenpeopleintheabortiondebate