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Construction vs. Development: Polarizing Models of Human Gestation
- Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 24, Number 4, December 2014
- pp. 345-384
- 10.1353/ken.2014.0034
- Article
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This essay argues that the polarization of our public debate over embryo-destructive research may be due, to a large extent, not to different valuations of individual human life but to different conceptions of the process of gestation, with one group treating the process as a making or construction and the other treating it as a development. These two incompatible models of reproduction are shown to explain the various positions commonly encountered in this debate over the treatment of embryos, and to a significant degree those encountered in the debate over abortion as well. Finally, the historical, theoretical, and intuitive strengths of each model are examined.