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流產 |
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法律問題
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直到20世紀末葉，自願流產在多數國家仍就被法律所禁止。可是，即使最嚴厲的刑法通常也認可了醫學關於避孕的寬容觀點，對使用“事後避孕藥”（也叫緊急避孕藥或性交後避孕藥——譯者注）或宮內避孕器並不實行處罰。不管是否可能受精，這些避孕措施會防止妊娠發生。確實，事實上這種避孕藥品和裝置被公認為避孕藥具而不是墮胎藥具，這就暗示著宗教關於墮胎的傳統解釋並未普遍為人所接受。法律也從未認可流產是謀殺的觀點。如果法律接受了這樣的觀點，處罰為人流產者將與處罰謀殺者相同：死刑或無期徒刑。然而，事實上，對非法流產的處罰總是要輕許多。此外，捲入非法流產的大人物（所牽涉的婦女施行了流產手術）實際上根本從未被起訴過。
確實夠含混的，就涉及流產的法律而言，這種古怪的躊躇表明，現代世俗國家不可能支持任何一種特殊的道德理念或宗教觀念，而是傾向於尋求折中立場。事實上，現代國家不得不為不同的、常常有著信仰衝突的國人都提供服務和保護；它能夠以完全理性的舉措，通過立法來履行這種職責。在流產的法律調整方面，這種舉措無疑地指向一個方向：讓整個事務由醫學做出專業判斷和讓個人的良心做出選擇。 |
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Abortion |
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A Legal Issue
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Until late in the 20th century, voluntary abortions were prohibited by law in most countries. However, even the most restrictive criminal laws usually recognized the broader scientific view of conception by providing no penalties for the use of "morning-after pills" or intra-uterine devices, which prevent the beginning of pregnancy in spite of possible fertilizations. Indeed, the very fact that such substances and devices are generally considered contraceptives and not abortifacients suggests that the traditional religious interpretations are not shared by the public at large. Neither did the laws ever reflect the opinion that abortion is murder. If they had, the penalties for abortionists would have been the same as for murderers: Death or life imprisonment. In actual fact, however, the penalties were always much less severe. Moreover, the most important person involved in the crime, the woman who had the abortion performed, was practically never prosecuted at all.
Such curious hesitancy, indeed ambiguity, on the part of the law indicates that
the modern secular state cannot support any particular moral or religious viewpoint, but tends instead to seek some position of compromise. In fact, the state, which has to accommodate and protect the adherents of many different and often conflicting beliefs, can meet this obligation only by basing its laws on purely rational considerations. In the case of abortion, such considerations point clearly in one direction: leaving the matter entirety to professional medical judgment and the conscience of the individual. |
