•  3
    Zooming in on Justice: The Case for Virtual Bioethics Conferencing
    with Daniel Rodger and Daniel J. Hurst
    American Journal of Bioethics 24 (4): 60-62. 2024.
    In their target article, “Proposed Principles for International Bioethics Conferencing: Anti-Discriminatory, Global, and Inclusive,” Jecker et al. (2024) highlight the growing international scope o...
  •  12
    A reply to Gillham on the impairment principle
    Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 27 (1): 31-35. 2024.
    The impairment argument claims that abortion is immoral, because it results in a greater impairment to a fetus than other actions that are clearly immoral, such as inflicting fetal alcohol syndrome. Alex Gillham argues that the argument requires clarification of the meaning of greater impairment. He proposes two definitions, and points out the difficulties with each. In response, I argue that while the impairment argument’s definition of greater impairment is narrow in scope, it is sufficient fo…Read more
  •  12
    Defending the Impairment Argument
    Journal of Medical Ethics. forthcoming.
    Kyle van Oosterum and Emma Curran have recently argued that the impairment argument against abortion is weak and accomplishes little. They also claim that impairment fails to explain what makes giving a child fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) immoral, which is an important premise of the argument. Here, I explain that the impairment argument is not as weak as they believe. Further, I argue that impairment offers a superior explanation for what makes giving a child FAS immoral than their proposal base…Read more
  •  35
    Is pregnancy really a good Samaritan act?
    Christian Bioethics 27 (2). 2021.
    One of the most influential philosophical arguments in favour of the permissibility of abortion is Judith Jarvis Thomson’s violinist analogy, presented in ‘A Defense of Abortion’. Its appeal for pro-choice advocates lies in Thomson’s granting that the fetus is a person with equivalent moral status to any other human being, and yet demonstrating—to those who accept her reasoning—that abortion is still permissible. In her argument, Thomson draws heavily on the parable of the Good Samaritan, arguin…Read more
  •  366
    Contraception is not a reductio of Marquis
    Bioethics 37 (5): 508-510. 2023.
    Don Marquis’ future-like-ours account argues that abortion is seriously immoral because itdeprives the embryo or fetus of a valuable future much like our own. Marquis was mindful ofcontraception being reductio ad absurdum of his reasoning, and argued that prior tofertilisation, there is not an identifiable subject of harm. Contra Marquis, Tomer Chaffercontends that the ovum is a plausible subject of harm, and therefore contraception deprives theovum of a future-like-ours. In response, I argue th…Read more
  •  100
    Abortion policies at the bedside: a response
    Journal of Medical Ethics 1 (12): 852-853. 2023.
    Hersey et al have outlined a proposed ethical framework for assessing abortion policies that locates the effect of government legislation between the provider and the patient, emphasising its influence on interactions between them. They claim that their framework offers an alternative to the personal moral claims that lie behind legislation restricting abortion access. However, they fail to observe that their own understanding of reproductive justice and the principles of medical ethics are simi…Read more
  •  406
    Artificial Consciousness Is Morally Irrelevant
    American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 14 (2): 72-74. 2023.
    It is widely agreed that possession of consciousness contributes to an entity’s moral status, even if it is not necessary for moral status (Levy and Savulescu 2009). An entity is considered to have...
  •  35
    According to the psychological account of personal identity, our identity is based on the continuity of psychological connections, and so we do not begin to exist until these are possible, some months after conception. This entails the psychological account faces a challenge from the non-identity problem—our intuition that someone cannot be harmed by actions that are responsible for their existence, even if these actions seem clearly to cause them harm. It is usually discussed with regard to pre…Read more
  •  15
    Hypocrisy, Consistency, and Opponents of Abortion
    In Nicholas Colgrove, Bruce P. Blackshaw & Daniel Rodger (eds.), Agency, Pregnancy and Persons : Essays in Defense of Human Life, Routledge. pp. 127-144. 2022.
    Arguments that claim opponents of abortion are inconsistent in some manner are becoming increasingly prevalent both in academic and public discourse. For example, it is common to claim that they spend considerable time and resources to oppose induced abortion, but show little concern regarding the far greater numbers of naturally occurring intrauterine deaths (miscarriages). Critics argue that if abortion opponents took their beliefs about the value of embryos and fetuses seriously, they would i…Read more
  •  33
    Are heartbeat bills ethically defensible?
    Bioethics 1 (2): 219-220. 2022.
    Heartbeat bills are laws prohibiting abortion in most circumstances once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, and are common in US states. They have been criticised as poorly designed and disingenuous. In this letter to the editor I examine these criticisms.
  •  52
    Inconsistency arguments still do not matter
    Journal of Medical Ethics 48 (7): 485-487. 2022.
    William Simkulet has recently criticised Colgrove et al ’s defence against what they have called inconsistency arguments—arguments that claim opponents of abortion act in ways inconsistent with their underlying beliefs about human fetuses. Colgrove et al presented three objections to inconsistency arguments, which Simkulet argues are unconvincing. Further, he maintains that OAs who hold that the fetus is a person at conception fail to act on important issues such as the plight of frozen embryos,…Read more
  •  56
    Why inconsistency arguments fail: a response to Shaw
    The New Bioethics 28 (2): 139-151. 2022.
    Opponents of abortion are commonly said to be inconsistent in their beliefs or actions, and to fail in their obligations to prevent the deaths of embryos and fetuses from causes other than induced...
  •  18
    Charles Camosy’s Losing Our Dignity is a concise and disturbing account of how our long held understanding of human equality, largely inherited from Christianity, is gradually being undermined by t...
  •  49
    Defending the substance view against its critics
    The New Bioethics 28 (1): 54-67. 2021.
    Recently, the substance view of persons has been heavily criticized for the counterintuitive conclusions it seems to imply in scenarios such as embryo rescue cases and embryo loss. These criticisms...
  •  1112
    Bioethics, Volume 36, Issue 4, Page 469-471, May 2022.
  •  89
    This book provides extensive and critical engagement with some of the most recent and compelling arguments favoring abortion choice. It features original essays from leading and emerging philosophers, bioethicists and medical professionals that present philosophically sophisticated and novel arguments against abortion choice. The chapters in this book are divided into three thematic sections. The first set of essays focuses primarily on unborn human individuals--zygotes, embryos and fetuses. In …Read more
  •  33
    Strengthened impairment argument does not restate Marquis
    Journal of Medical Ethics 47 (12): 841-842. 2021.
    With Perry Hendricks, I recently outlined a strengthened version of the impairment argument for the immorality of abortion. Alex Gillham has argued that our use of Don Marquis’ deprivation of a ‘future-like ours’ account entails we were merely restating Marquis’ argument for the immorality of abortion. Here, I explain why SIA is more than just a reframing of Marquis.
  •  583
    Can prolife theorists justify an exception for rape?
    Bioethics 36 (1): 49-53. 2022.
    Prolife theorists typically hold to the claim that all human beings possess equal moral status from conception and consequently possess a right to life. This, they believe, entails that abortion is impermissible in all circumstances. Critics characterize this as an extreme anti-abortion position, as it prima facie allows no exceptions, even in cases of rape. Here, I examine whether the prolife claim regarding equal moral status is compatible with a more attractive moderate stance that permits an…Read more
  •  557
    Fine-Tuning the Impairment Argument
    Journal of Medical Ethics 47 (9): 641-642. 2021.
    Perry Hendricks’ original impairment argument for the immorality of abortion is based on the impairment principle (TIP): if impairing an organism to some degree is immoral, then ceteris paribus, impairing it to a higher degree is also immoral. Since abortion impairs a fetus to a higher degree than fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and giving a fetus FAS is immoral, it follows that abortion is immoral. Critics have argued that the ceteris paribus is not met for FAS and abortion, and so we proposed the…Read more
  •  330
    According to the psychological account of personal identity, our identity is based on the continuity of psychological connections, and so we do not begin to exist until these are possible, some months after conception. This entails the psychological account faces a challenge from the non-identity problem—our intuition that someone cannot be harmed by actions that are responsible for their existence, even if these actions seem clearly to cause them harm. It is usually discussed with regard to pre…Read more
  •  22
    Inconsistency arguments still do not matter
    Journal of Medical Ethics 1 1-4. 2021.
    William Simkulet has recently criticised Colgrove et al’s defence against what they have called inconsistency arguments—arguments that claim opponents of abortion (OAs) act in ways inconsistent with their underlying beliefs about human fetuses (eg, that human fetuses are persons at conception). Colgrove et al presented three objections to inconsistency arguments, which Simkulet argues are unconvincing. Further, he maintains that OAs who hold that the fetus is a person at conception fail to act o…Read more
  •  469
    Strengthening the impairment argument against abortion
    Journal of Medical Ethics 47 (7): 515-518. 2020.
    Perry Hendricks’ impairment argument for the immorality of abortion is based on two premises: first, impairing a fetus with fetal alcohol syndrome is immoral, and second, if impairing an organism to some degree is immoral, then ceteris paribus, impairing it to a higher degree is also immoral. He calls this the impairment principle. Since abortion impairs a fetus to a higher degree than FAS, it follows from these two premises that abortion is immoral. Critics have focussed on the ceteris paribus …Read more
  •  286
    Why we should not extend the 14-day rule
    Journal of Medical Ethics (10): 712-714. 2021.
    The 14-day rule restricts the culturing of human embryos in vitro for the purposes of scientific research for no longer than 14 days. Since researchers recently developed the capability to exceed the 14-day limit, pressure to modify the rule has started to build. Sophia McCully argues that the limit should be extended to 28 days, listing numerous potential benefits of doing so. We contend that McCully has not engaged with the main reasons why the Warnock Committee set such a limit, and these sti…Read more
  •  915
    Detached from Humanity: Artificial Gestation and the Christian Dilemma
    with Daniel Rodger
    Christian Bioethics. forthcoming.
    The development of artificial womb technology is proceeding rapidly and will present important ethical and theological challenges for Christians. While there has been extensive secular discourse on artificial wombs in recent years, there has been little Christian engagement with this topic. There are broadly two primary uses of artificial womb technology—ectogestation as a form of enhanced neonatal care, where some of the gestation period takes place in an artificial womb, and ectogenesis, where…Read more
  •  27
    In their previous book,1 Samuel and Maureen Condic provided a comprehensive defence of the position that a human being's life begins at fertilisation. They briefly addressed the twinning argument,...
  •  546
    Pro-life advocates commonly argue that fetuses have the moral status of persons, and an accompanying right to life, a view most pro-choice advocates deny. A difficulty for this pro-life position has been Judith Jarvis Thomson’s violinist analogy, in which she argues that even if the fetus is a person, abortion is often permissible because a pregnant woman is not obliged to continue to offer her body as life support. Here, we outline the moral theories underlying public health ethics, and examine…Read more
  •  99
    Parental responsibilities and moral status
    Journal of Medical Ethics 47 (3): 187-188. 2020.
    Prabhpal Singh has recently defended a relational account of the difference in moral status between fetuses and newborns as a way of explaining why abortion is permissible and infanticide is not. He claims that only a newborn can stand in a parent–child relation, not a fetus, and this relation has a moral dimension that bestows moral value. We challenge Singh’s reasoning, arguing that the case he presents is unconvincing. We suggest that the parent–child relation is better understood as an exten…Read more
  •  1587
    Prolife Hypocrisy: Why Inconsistency Arguments Do Not Matter
    Journal of Medical Ethics (Online First): 1-6. 2020.
    Opponents of abortion are often described as ‘inconsistent’ (hypocrites) in terms of their beliefs, actions and/or priorities. They are alleged to do too little to combat spontaneous abortion, they should be adopting cryopreserved embryos with greater frequency and so on. These types of arguments—which we call ‘inconsistency arguments’—conform to a common pattern. Each specifies what consistent opponents of abortion would do (or believe), asserts that they fail to act (or believe) accordingly an…Read more
  •  710
    Quotas: Enabling Conscientious Objection to Coexist with Abortion Access
    with Daniel Rodger
    Health Care Analysis 29 (2): 154-169. 2020.
    The debate regarding the role of conscientious objection in healthcare has been protracted, with increasing demands for curbs on conscientious objection. There is a growing body of evidence that indicates that in some cases, high rates of conscientious objection can affect access to legal medical services such as abortion—a major concern of critics of conscientious objection. Moreover, few solutions have been put forward that aim to satisfy both this concern and that of defenders of conscientiou…Read more