ABSTRACT
First, conservatives, such as Catholics, and liberals, such as feminists, believe their disagreement about abortion has to do with rights; thus conservatives assert, and liberals deny, that the foetus has a right to life. According to Ronald Dworkin both sides are mistaken about their own beliefs. Neither liberals nor conservatives really think that foetuses have rights but both sides, whether they know it or not, believe human life, including foetal life, is sacred. The assertion that conservatives and liberals don’t genuinely believe what they think they believe is not proven. Moreover the assertion undermines one of Dworkin’s favourite modes of inference, namely inferences that assume that what most people think is likely to be true. Dworkin suggests that government should legalise abortion yet aim to create a social atmosphere in which human life is seen as sacred. The claim that ‘most people’ regard foetal life as sacred would make sense only if abortion was a comparatively rare event.
