Abstract
The question of the fetus as a patient is sensitive and we cannot ignore it. To deny the fetus any kind of status is troubling, especially when all prenatal screening and diagnostic tests are directed toward evaluating the fetus’s health and development. On the other hand, one can understand the risks of allowing the fetus to have its own juridical status, leading to the possible slippery slope where a pregnant woman could be neglected as a person for the benefit of her fetus. Can we find middle ground between these extremes to allow the fetus some kind of a social importance, without neglecting women’s right to be in charge of their own bodies and responsible for their fetuses? While medicine has been giving a face to fetuses through technology, shouldn’t we recognize its responsibility towards defining the status of the fetus?
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Payot, A. (2016). Termination of Pregnancy and Perinatal Palliative Care in the Case of Fetal Anomaly: Why Is There so Much Incoherence?. In: Verhagen, E., Janvier, A. (eds) Ethical Dilemmas for Critically Ill Babies. International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine, vol 65. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7360-7_6
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