If abortion substantially risks homicide, it should be illegal

Bibliographic Data

ID21702291
AuthorsMatthew Braddock (0000-0002-5679-3412, University of Tennessee at Martin, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume47
Issue1
Pages29-57
Publication date2026-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMetamedicine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0166-2031 • E-ISSN: 1573-1200
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s11017-025-09737-y
PMID41369857
OpenAlexW4417181600
LanguageEN
References cited33

Is abortion homicide, the morally unjust killing of a person? Should it be illegal? There is widespread disagreement. However, there is a way through the impasse. It is not necessary to establish whether abortion is homicide, only whether it substantially risks homicide. If abortion presents this risk of harm, then lawmakers have a powerful reason to criminalize it. This paper defends The Prevention Argument : if abortion substantially risks committing homicide after 10 weeks’ gestation, then lawmakers should criminalize such abortions to prevent the foreseeable harm of mass homicide. Why 10 weeks? Because it is plausible that abortions after 10 weeks endanger an innocent person’s life and, if so, the harm preventive case for criminalizing them is strong. This argument deserves a hearing because it has a modest burden of proof and relies on accepted normative principles like the harm principle. It could also be extended to earlier abortions

Abortion · Harm · Harm principle · Homicide · Normative · Value of life · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations · Organ Donation and Transplantation · Reproductive Health and Technologies

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