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Full-Text Articles in Law
Constitutionalizing Fetal Rights: A Salutary Tale From Ireland, Fiona De Londras
Constitutionalizing Fetal Rights: A Salutary Tale From Ireland, Fiona De Londras
Michigan Journal of Gender & Law
In 1983, Ireland became the first country in the world to constitutionalize fetal rights. The 8th Amendment to the Constitution, passed by a referendum of the People, resulted in constitutional protection for “the right to life of the unborn,” which was deemed “equal” to the right to life of the “mother.” Since then, enshrining fetal rights in constitutions and in legislation has emerged as a key part of anti-abortion campaigning. This Article traces the constitutionalization of fetal rights in Ireland and its implications for law, politics, and women. In so doing, it provides a salutary tale of such an approach. …
Rights Discourse And Neonatal Euthanasia, Carl Schneider
Rights Discourse And Neonatal Euthanasia, Carl Schneider
Book Chapters
At the heart of our difficulty in approaching neonatal euthanasia lie the intractable questions it raises: What is human life? When is death preferable to life? What do parents owe their children? What does society owe the suffering? Those moral questions could hardly be more perplexing, yet they are further complicated when they must be resolved not informally and case by case, but through generally applicable social rules. This is so for numerous reasons. For instance, the wide range of deeply held opinions about neonatal euthanasia makes rules hard to formulate, and the wide range of factual situations in which …