Prenatal Drug Exposure: Ethical Issues
نویسنده
چکیده
Increased understanding of how the well-being of the fetus is affected by prenatal behavior has focused attention on the ethical issues surrounding fetuses. In this article the sources of societal disapproval of drug-abusing, pregnant women are explored, and the relationship between our moral judgments and public policies is discussed. In examining the nature of a pregnant woman’s obligation to avoid harming a fetus she intends to bring to birth, ethical obligations are considered within the context of the complex moral web of parents’ and society’s responsibility for children’s health and welfare. Fundamentally, a pregnant woman’s moral obligation to her not-yet-born child is no more and no less than a parent’s obligation to a born child. Finally, ethical considerations can provide guidelines in formulating public policies directed towards drug-abusing, pregnant women that are effective, proportionate, and efficient. T here has been surprisingly little written on the ethical issues raised by drug abuse by pregnant women. This may be in part because the fetus was more an object of mystery than of knowledge until recent advances in diagnostic and imaging techniques allowed us to visualize the fetus and monitor its growth. Also, it has been only in recent years that we have a more complete understanding of the relationship between patterns of prenatal behavior and the ultimate well-being of the fetus. Finally, the minimal attention given to these ethical issues may be due in part to the polarized abortion debate, which has made civil discussion and honorable, sustainable compromise difficult when it
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