How We Should Conceive of Creation: Natural Birth as an Ethical Guidepost for Neonatal Rescue

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DISCLAIMER

The views expressed are the authors' and do not represent the views or policies of the U.S. Navy, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.

Notes

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1 . Conception is a process that takes fractions of a second and is better understood as an event in human experience. The key point is that something completely new has come into existence, in contrast to gestation, where the existing being develops further.

2. Peter Singer's arguments on personhood highlight the arbitrary boundary of delivery for providing ontologic status—it is hard to see a significant difference between an 8-month fetus and a 2-week-old newborn, for example (Singer 2011). The creation model proposed by Rieder would apply to areas beyond the NICU. For example, there would be no ethical obligation to resuscitate a newborn or young child based on creation norms.

3. The author also appeals to natural birth as a guidepost by routinely referencing the normal gestational period, and how much of it may be replaced by neonatal care.