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Is pregnancy a disease? A normative approach
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- Published on: 13 February 2024
- Published on: 13 February 2024Disease is not a metaphor we should use
Smajdor and Räsänen's comparison of other human beings (those yet to be born) with pathogens or cancer has troubling historical antecedents. It reflects an undesirable coarsening of the debate around medical care in pregnancy, and does not reflect the lived experience of most women towards the children they bear.
Hospitality provides a far better metaphor for pregnancy than disease. It focuses on our duty to support those who are unexpectedly or even reluctantly in the position of accommodating someone else in need.
Conflict of Interest:
Chair, Medical Study Group, Christian Medical Fellowship
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