Diacritica 25-2_Filosofia.indb - cehum - Universidade do Minho

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BERIL SÖZMEN IDEMEN
Good Samaritan. But if he doesn’t give his consent, a woman would fail
morally if she takes by stealth what she cannot attain by consent.
Conclusion
Th e aim of this essay was to argue that abortion is morally permissible and
that a woman can be thought of as morally obligated to abort or else relieve
the putative father of all rights and obligations of parenthood in a case of
a pregnancy, which came about without the intent or the consent of the
prospective father. Based on the articles on abortion by Judith Jarvis Th omson,
Rosalind Hursthouse and Michael Slote, I discussed some of the main
points about procreation and abortion raised by virtue ethics and care ethics.
I argued that by extension these points support the view that a man
should have the right to opt for or against parenthood in a case of unintended
pregnancy, if he has clearly and consistently made it clear that he
does not wish to have a child. I have concentrated especially on the need for
consent and on the role of empathy and have argued that a complete moral
evaluation of unintended pregnancies and abortion must include a discussion
of the position of the putative father.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Jan Vorstenbosch for his helpful comments on the fi rst
draft of this article.
Works Cited
Dubay v. Wells, 06-11016-BC, (2006) United States District Court Eastern District of
Michigan Northern Division. http://www.mied.uscourts.gov/opinions/lawsonpdf/06-
11016.pdf. Accessed 14.07.2010.
Gandy, Kim (2006) Th ey Just don’t get it. National Organization for Women. http://www.
now.org/news/note/032206.html. Accessed 14.07.2010.
Hursthouse, Rosalind (1997), “Virtue Th eory and Abortion”, in Crisp, Roger and Slote,
Michael (eds.) Virtue Ethics. Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp 217-238.
---- (2003), “Normative Virtue Ethics”, in Darwall, Stephen (ed.) Virtue Ethics. Oxford,
Blackwell Publishing, pp 184-201.
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