Document Detail


The case of Medea--a view of fetal-maternal conflict.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  9055158     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Medea killed her children to take away the smile from her husband's face, according to Euripides, an offence against nature and morality. What if Medea had still been carrying her two children, perhaps due to give birth within a week or so, and had done the same? If this would also have been morally reprehensible, would that be a judgment based on her motives or on her action? We argue that the act has multiple and holistic moral features and that, in fact, there is no absolute principle, such as the right of the fetus to life, which governs our moral judgments about fetal-maternal conflicts. We suggest that they illustrate a pervasive feature of human moral discourse and can only be addressed by attending to a range of negotiable moral considerations which depend on particular features of each situation.
Authors:
M C Reid; G Gillett
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of medical ethics     Volume:  23     ISSN:  0306-6800     ISO Abbreviation:  J Med Ethics     Publication Date:  1997 Feb 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  1997-06-02     Completed Date:  1997-06-02     Revised Date:  2009-11-18    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  7513619     Medline TA:  J Med Ethics     Country:  ENGLAND    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  19-25     Citation Subset:  E; IM    
Affiliation:
University of Otago Medical School, New Zealand.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Abortion, Eugenic
Abortion, Induced / psychology
Adult
Drama
Ethics, Medical*
Female
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Infanticide / legislation & jurisprudence*,  psychology
Maternal-Fetal Relations
Medicine in Literature
Moral Obligations
Morals*
Mythology*
Personhood
Pregnancy
Pregnant Women*
Value of Life
Comments/Corrections

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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