Answer:
What does this mean in specific circumstances? In cases where the life of both the mother and the baby are in dan ger if the pregnancy continues, atte mpts should first of all be made to save both.
For example, in a toxemia1 pregnancy, the induction of premature delivery may be necessary, but it should be done at a point that balances the survival chances of both mother and baby, and in no case would it be acceptable to ki ll the child before delivery, even if the child’s chances of surviving outside the womb at such a premature age are low.
In cases where the unborn child is way too young to survive outside the womb and both mother and child will definitely di e before fetal viability, saving one person’s life is the best that one can do, even if the de@th of the second person is hastened slightly as a foreseen but unintended consequence of that action. Two such cases are fast-spreading uterine cancer that coincides with pregnancy and ectopic pregnancies in which the embryo implants in the fallopian tube. The doctor may ethically remove the cancerous uterus or the damaged fallopian tube, respectively, in order to save the life of the mother, even though he has reason to believe that this action will slightly hasten the de @th of the unborn child.
