A realistic approach to maternal-fetal conflict

Hastings Cent Rep. 1998 Sep-Oct;28(5):7-12.

Abstract

We should not think of babies as having a right to be born healthy. We cannot say what such a right involves, and if we could, enforcing it would infringe on the mother's most basic rights. Most importantly, positing such a right casts the fetus and mother as adversaries, and so destroys the maternal-fetal relationship.

MeSH terms

  • Abortion, Induced
  • Alcoholism
  • Behavior
  • Behavior Control
  • Cesarean Section
  • Coercion
  • Emotions
  • Female
  • Fetus
  • Human Rights
  • Humans
  • Jurisprudence
  • Maternal-Fetal Relations*
  • Pregnancy*
  • Pregnant Women*
  • Prenatal Diagnosis
  • Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects*
  • Risk
  • Smoking
  • Social Control, Formal*
  • Social Problems
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Substance-Related Disorders
  • Treatment Refusal
  • Vulnerable Populations
  • Women
  • Women's Rights