Stangl Rebecca
Department of Philosophy, 120 Cocke Hall, The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
J Med Philos. 2010 Feb;35(1):32-45. doi: 10.1093/jmp/jhp058. Epub 2009 Dec 24.
It is widely thought that abortion on the grounds of fetal abnormality is morally justified. More controversially, Peter Singer has argued that some infants with severe disabilities ought to be killed. Many disability rights activists object that such claims and practices express disrespect toward disabled persons, even if fetuses and infants are only potentially persons. This can seem puzzling. If disabled fetuses are not members of the community of disabled persons, how can our treatment of the former express disrespect toward the latter? In what follows, I shall argue for two claims: first, the he puzzle is only apparent because whether we respect someone depends not only on how we do treat him but also on how we would treat him were circumstances different, and secondly, "substitutionary arguments" for selective terminations of disabled fetuses or infants do express disrespect toward disabled persons, even if fetuses and infants are only potentially persons.
人们普遍认为，基于胎儿异常而进行的堕胎在道德上是合理的。更具争议的是，彼得·辛格认为，一些严重残疾的婴儿应该被杀死。许多残疾权利活动家反对这种说法和做法，认为这表达了对残疾人的不尊重，即使胎儿和婴儿只是潜在的人。这似乎令人费解。如果残疾胎儿不是残疾人社区的成员，我们对前者的对待方式怎么会对后者表达不尊重呢？在接下来的内容中，我将论证两个观点：第一，这个谜题只是表面的，因为我们是否尊重某人不仅取决于我们实际如何对待他，还取决于情况不同时我们会如何对待他；第二，为选择性终止残疾胎儿或婴儿而提出的“替代论证”确实表达了对残疾人的不尊重，即使胎儿和婴儿只是潜在的人。
