Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Introduction -- "Oh my God, I'm pregnant" -- Understanding the abortion issue -- The moral question and the legal question -- Is abortion a religious issue? -- Neutral terminology -- Is the being in the womb a person? -- Points of agreement between the two sides -- Facts about being in the womb (BIW) -- pt. I. The pro-choice moral position -- 2. There are many reasons for having an abortion -- Women themselves must be the ones who make the abortion decision -- Pregnancy has profound effects on women's lives -- Abortion rights are basic human rights and necessary for gender equality -- The feminist quality of life argument -- 3. The general quality of life argument -- Every child a wanted child -- Every child a healthy child -- The quality of life of the woman -- The quality of life of the whole world : overpopulation -- 4. The not-a-person argument -- Human beings and persons -- A fetus has no absolute value -- Fetuses are not persons -- Mary Anne Warren's not-a-person argument -- Michale Tooley's not-a-person argument -- Michael Tooley's defense of infanticide -- David Boonin's non-a-person argument -- The fetus is a potential person, not an actual person -- The achievement view -- When is personhood achieved? -- The fetus is not a real person, only a biological organism -- Basis and implications of the not-a-person thesis -- 5. The no-duty-to-sustain argument -- A woman's right over her body -- Bolton's no-duty-to-sustain argument -- Thomson's violinist argument -- Thomson's violinist argument and the case of rape -- Thomson's intruder argument -- Thomson on the meaning of a right to life and the right to an abortion -- Thomson's account does not support an absolute right to abortion -- Abortion yes ; securing the death of the child no -- Standard methods of abortion -- Dilation and extraction -- A controversy within pro-choice community -- The question of fetal pain --

pt. II. The pro-life moral position -- 6. The reality of the child in the womb -- The continuum argument -- The SLED argument -- Being a person and functioning as a person -- The person-human being distinction : engineered to try to justify abortion? -- Being and functioning -- The reality of the child in the womb -- 7. Abortion means killing this child -- Standard methods of abortion -- Dilation and extraction or partial-birth abortion -- "Partial-birth abortion" is not really abortion -- What are the results of abortion? -- Abortion as infanticide : the Kamchadal practice -- Abortion kills the child : the first refutation of the violinist argument -- The child's right over his body -- Abortion is intentional killing -- A mother's duty to sustain her child -- The violinist argument and the case of rape -- The special relation between a woman and her child -- Our general duty to help one another -- Summary of refutations of the violinist argument -- Objection and reply : he will never know the difference -- 8. Abortion causes pain to the child -- Abortion is wrong because it causes horrible pain to the child -- The special horror of partial-birth abortions -- Controversy regarding pain for the child -- The risk factor concerning pain to the child -- Weighing harms and benefits -- The pain argument applies eve if the BIW is not a person -- 9. The dignity of the human person -- The question of infanticide -- Making killing seem honorable --

pt. III. Further moral considerations -- 10. Some pro-choice replies to pro-life claims -- 11. When does a person begin to exist? -- Formulating the question -- Some main lines proposed as marking the beginning of a person -- The question of infanticide -- An objection to almost all of these lines -- The achievement view, being-functioning, and the lines -- 12. Other approaches -- The agnostic position -- The gradualist position -- Early versus late abortion -- Pro-life : the Don Marquis future-like-ours argument -- Pro-choice : some replies to the future-like-ours argument -- 13. What should we do if we are in doubt? -- How doubt may arise -- The pro-life if-in-doubt argument -- The pro-choice if-in-doubt argument -- The psychology of pro-choice and pro-life -- The scope of doubt : early versus late abortions -- Which way of going wrong is worse? --

pt. IV. The legal question -- 14. The legal status : pro-choice and pro-life -- Can we legislate morality? -- The pro-choice legal position -- The pro-life legal position -- 15. The role of government -- The government cannot be neutral : it must take a stand -- The government cannot be neutral : it must draw the line somewhere -- "I'm personally opposed to abortion, but I think it should be legal" -- 16. Other significant legal aspects -- Question of discrimination -- Question of imposing -- Question of privacy -- Question of power-freedom-control for women : a pro-choice view -- Question of power-freedom-control for women : a pro-life view -- Which way of going wrong is worse? -- 17. The hard cases : rape, life of the woman, severe deformities -- Two positions on the hard cases -- Case of rape : protecting the woman's choice -- Case of rape : protecting the innocent child -- Case of rape : testimony of a person conceived in rape -- The life of the woman -- The child with severe deformities -- pt. IV. Concluding topics -- 18. Safety issues -- Pro-choice : keep abortion safe and legal -- Pro-life : legal abortion is not safe -- Pro-choice : back-alley abortions -- Pro-life : back-alley abortions -- Is abortion safer than childbirth? -- 19. Going beyond abortion : the unity way --Woman and child go together -- Abortion is harmful to women -- Unwanted pregnancy versus unwanted child -- Abortion is about family relationships -- An alternative to abortion : adoption -- 20. Ultimate issues -- What is abortion? -- What is a human person? -- Further moral considerations -- Identifying with those involved.