Beginning Lives

In this textbook the complex questions surrounding the morality of abortion are examined. Beginning by discussing the moral status of the foetus, she outlines and criticizes the main philosophical liberal positions on abortion, discussing also their bearing on the related issues of infancticide, foetal research, surrogacy, murder and our treatment of animals. The author offers an approach on these issues based on the recently revived theory of neo-Aristotelianism which emphasizes the virtues and vices. A central element of the book is its emphasis on the special nature of abortion: its unique relation to the facts of women's pregnancies and hence to our attitudes to childbearing, motherhood, maturity and sexual relations.