Why Birth Is the Optimal Point for Personhood and a Right to Life
Why Birth Is the Optimal Point for Personhood and a Right to Life Personhood, entailing a right to life, is a desirable moral institution. It institutionalizes protections that any rational person can benefit from. What makes people a special moral case is our ability to be deprived in ways that other living things cannot. Animals capable of feeling — especially suffering — also deserve moral consideration, though arguably less than persons who can be deprived of a future they value. If we agree that personhood, accompanied by a right to life, is desirable, then the question becomes: who merits its protection? Determining the scope of personhood requires considering several factors, all centered on a basic question: at what point do we achieve the greatest benefit and least harm? Under this moral framework, birth is the least arbitrary and most defensible point at which to grant personhood. This does not mean one cannot argue for the moral value of a well-developed fetus. However...