本文是以母胎關係、道德地位與義務之關聯為主要的研究論題，重點在論述與修正關懷倫理所論之母胎關係作為道德義務之考量以提供處理墮胎議題一新的思考方式。 文中首先回顧西方生命倫理學上對於墮胎爭議的三個主要立場─保守主義、自由主義與折衷主義─此三立場因全然視母胎為兩獨立個體，未注意母胎之間的特殊關聯，致爭論之重點落於權利與價值衝突的對立模式，未能給予合理的解決方式。 本文採取並分析諾丁的關懷倫理來探討墮胎議題，因關懷倫理注意到母胎之間的特殊的情感與關係連結，唯個人的道德實踐尚需依賴個人對義務與關係的重視程度，致處理墮胎議題尚存疑難；作者期以儒家生命倫理學之論據，從對胎兒道德地位之釐清與母親仁心之發用兩方面來補足之，最後，並以此論述針對台灣近來一些關於生育政策之制定的反省。 Abortion is an important and difficult moral issue in bioethics, because it involved the moral dilemma between the pregnant women and fetus. This essay is a discussion of the mother-fetus relation, moral status and obligations. It explicates with critical comments the point of view of care ethics on these notions and tries to take a new approach in the reflection of the abortion issue. In the essay, it starts with a review of the three traditional approaches, namely the conservative, the liberal and the feminist approaches and points out that they all took the mother and the fetus as separate individuals, paying no attention to the special relationship between them, and thus fell into the dead alley of conflicts between human rights and human values. Ethics of Care is a different voice from the traditional three main theories, Noddings’ care ethics is employ because it picks up the special emotions and relationship between the mother and the fetus instead of the rights approach. However, personal moral practice is still dependent on the commitment one takes for one’s obligations and relationship. The solution proposed remains controversial. In this essay, the basic tenets of Confucian bioethics, namely the moral status of the fetus and the mother as a moral agent, and their ethical relationship are introduced to mitigate the dilemma. It proposes a reasonable solution of the dilemma which is extended to an analysis of some of the issues of the new abortion policy of Taiwan.
