ABSTRACT
The hard cases of abortion, such as fetal deformity, rape, incest, and life of the mother, deserve careful consideration because many people who are otherwise in favor of protecting human life in utero make exceptions in such cases. In such situations, abortion seems to be not only permissible, but perhaps even obligatory. However, it would be a mistake to believe that hard cases exist only for critics of abortion. Defenders of abortion also find some cases, such as sex selection abortion or abortion for other trivial reasons, quite difficult to reconcile with common moral intuitions. This chapter will consider hard cases for critics of abortion, and the next chapter will examine hard cases for defenders of abortion.
