Personhood

 The Conversation presented Nancy S. Jecker's What is ‘personhood’? The ethics question that needs a closer look in abortion debates. Nancy S. Jecker is a Professor of Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Washington's School of Medicine.

Like a good philosopher she begins by defining personhood:

One underlying ethical concern is, “What is a person?” How people answer this question shapes how they think about a developing human being. When philosophers talk about “personhood,” they are referring to something or someone having exceptionally high moral status, often described as having a right to life, an inherent dignity, or mattering for one’s own sake. Non-persons may have lesser rights or value, but lack the full moral value associated with persons.

She states there are at least three common opposing views of when personhood begins. These paragraphs are too long for easy quoting and well worth reading.

The professor points out there are two persons involved in the abortion issue. 

Suppose, for example, that fetuses are persons. Since pregnant people are too, how should conflicts between them be settled? Suppose a pregnant person’s life were in jeopardy: whose right to life prevails? Some hold that under these conditions, abortion is justified by appealing to self-defense, but others say killing in self-defense is not justified if the threat is “innocent,” without intention of doing harm.

What I would point out is a religious position will be difficult to transform into a secular law. When the religious invade civil society they tend to forget - if they are, for example, Christians - God does not have a zero tolerance policy.

I would like to direct you to an explanation of the Orthodox Christian position on conception with this link. However, the Church does recognize an exception of sorts and also a duty to expectant mothers and to the children they bear - follow this link and this link.  The latter follows upon Professor Jecker's article - personhood creates ethical duties and those I rarely hear from the pro-life crowd and cannot seem to find in their political expression. Consider A MODEST PROPOSAL FOR SOLVING THE BABY FORMULA SHORTAGE by CARLOS GREAVES.

So where do you come down on personhood? What duties are owed by you and/or society to mothers and their fetuses and then their offspring?

sch 5/14/22