@article {Paul133, author = {E F Paul and J Paul}, title = {Self-ownership, abortion and infanticide.}, volume = {5}, number = {3}, pages = {133--138}, year = {1979}, doi = {10.1136/jme.5.3.133}, publisher = {Institute of Medical Ethics}, abstract = {Doctors have been placed in an anomalous position by abortion laws which sanction the termination of a fetus while in a woman{\textquoteright}s womb, yet call it murder when a physician attempts to end the life of a fetus which has somehow survived such a procedure. This predicament, the doctors{\textquoteright} dilemma, can be resolved by adopting a strategy which posits the right to ownership of one{\textquoteright}s own body for human beings. Such an approach will generate a consistent policy prescription, one that sanctions the right of all pregnant women to abortions, yet grants the fetus, after it becomes viable as a potentially independent person, a right to its own body. The doctors{\textquoteright} dilemma is surmounted, then, by requiring that abortions of viable fetuses be performed in a manner that will produce a live delivery. Hence, infanticide and termination of viable fetuses are proscribed.}, issn = {0306-6800}, URL = {https://jme.bmj.com/content/5/3/133}, eprint = {https://jme.bmj.com/content/5/3/133.full.pdf}, journal = {Journal of Medical Ethics} }