PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - McMahan, Jeff TI - Infanticide and moral consistency AID - 10.1136/medethics-2012-100988 DP - 2013 May 01 TA - Journal of Medical Ethics PG - 273--280 VI - 39 IP - 5 4099 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/39/5/273.short 4100 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/39/5/273.full SO - J Med Ethics2013 May 01; 39 AB - The aim of this essay is to show that there are no easy options for those who are disturbed by the suggestion that infanticide may on occasion be morally permissible. The belief that infanticide is always wrong is doubtfully compatible with a range of widely shared moral beliefs that underlie various commonly accepted practices. Any set of beliefs about the morality of abortion, infanticide and the killing of animals that is internally consistent and even minimally credible will therefore unavoidably contain some beliefs that are counterintuitive.