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Most opponents of abortion (OA) believe fetuses matter. Critics argue that OA act inconsistently with regards to fetal life, seeking to restrict access to induced abortion, but largely ignoring spontaneous abortion and the creation of surplus embryos by IVF. Nicholas Colgrove, Bruce Blackshaw, and Daniel Rodger call such arguments inconsistency argumentsand contend they do not matter.They present three objections to these arguments — the other beliefs, other actions, and hypocrisy objection. Previously, I argued these objections fail and threaten to undermine ethical inquiry. Colgrove et al. have recently replied, but here, I argue their reply fails as well and raises a new criticism of the other actions’ objection. This essay sets out to show, as well as any philosophical argument can, that inconsistency arguments are morally significant.

Hendricks set out to construct an antiabortion version of Jeff McMahan’s Embryo Rescue case in which you have two choices—(1) save a woman from an unwilling pregnancy or (2) save a fetus from being killed. In his Pregnancy Rescue case, he contends we ought to choose (2), which he thinks shows abortion is immoral. However, I argue the Pregnancy Rescue case is a false dilemma because you can save both. I propose an alternative, more elegant dilemma, the Ectogenesis Rescue case with the same choices (1) and (2). Hendricks also believes his case can serve as an antiabortion version of Thomson’s Violinist case, showing that abortion is immoral even if a fetus is not a person. However, while Thomson’s Violinist substitutes the fetus with a person, Hendricks fails to substitute the fetus with something that is not a person. I propose an alternative, the Snakebite Rescue case, which does this.

Ra¨sa¨nen draws a distinction between chronological age and biological age and argues that biological ageing is (sometimes) desirable. To demonstrate this, he asks us to consider the case of April, who like Karel Čapek’s Elina Makropulos, has stopped biologically ageing. Unlike Makropulos, though, April’s biological ageing was halted before puberty, so she will never mature into adulthood. Ra¨sa¨nen contends this case shows ageing can be desirable, but this equivocates between maturing and ageing. Here I argue biological ageing, or the wear and tear normally associated with chronological ageing, is prima facieundesirable, but that maturing can be prima faciedesirable.

Most opposition to induced abortion turns on the belief that human fetuses are persons from conception. On this view, the moral status of the fetus alonerequires those in a position to provide aid—gestational mothers—to make tremendous sacrifices to benefit the fetus. Recently, critics have argued that this pro-life position requires more than opposition to induced abortion. Pro-life theorists are relatively silent on the issues of spontaneous abortion, surplus in vitro fertilisation human embryos, and the suffering and death of born persons due to lack of access to food, shelter and medical care. Colgrove et alcall such arguments inconsistency arguments, arguing they ‘do not matter’ and mischaracterise them as ad hominemattacks. Here, I argue these are better understood as moral dilemmas. While some critics argue pro-life inaction is evidence that they do not really believe human fetuses are persons, I contend this inaction is likely the result of resolvable confusion rather than moral negligence.

Scruton, Roger. On Human Nature. Princeton Univ. Mar. 2017.160p. notes, index. ISBN 9780691168753. $22.95; ebk. ISBN 9781400884667. PHIL Scruton's (The Soul of the World) latest book is a collection of [...]

* Mellema, Gregory. Complicity and Moral Accountability. Univ. of Notre Dame. Apr. 2016.176p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780268035396. $40. PHIL Mellema's (philosophy, Calvin Coll., MI; The Expectations of Morality) book is [...]

Gomez-Lobo, Alfonso with John Keown. Bioethics and the Human Goods: An Introduction to Natural Law Bioethics. Georgetown Univ. 2015.136p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781626162716. $49.95; pap. ISBN 9781626161634. $26.95; ebk. ISBN [...]

Butler, Judith. Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly. Harvard Univ. (Mary Flexner Lectures of Bryn Mawr Coll.). Nov. 2015.256p. notes, index. ISBN 9780674967755. $27.95. PHIL This title is an [...]

Margalit, Avishai. On Betrayal. Harvard Univ. Feb. 2017.336p. notes, index. ISBN 9780674048263. $26.95. PHIL Margalit (Schulman Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) argues that betrayal is best understood [...]

Baggini, Julian. The Edge of Reason: A Rational Skeptic in an Irrational World. Yale Univ. Oct. 2016.272p. notes, bibliog. index. ISBN 9780300208238. $26; ebk. ISBN 9780300222081. PHIL Baggini (cofounder, The [...]