{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T02:46:05Z","timestamp":1790649965549,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"12","content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Med Ethics"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Opponents of abortion are often described as \u2018inconsistent\u2019 (hypocrites) in terms of their beliefs, actions and\/or priorities. They are alleged to do too little to combat spontaneous abortion, they should be adopting cryopreserved embryos with greater frequency and so on. These types of arguments\u2014which we call \u2018inconsistency arguments\u2019\u2014conform to a common pattern. Each specifies what consistent opponents of abortion would do (or believe), asserts that they fail to act (or believe) accordingly and concludes that they are inconsistent. Here, we show that inconsistency arguments fail en masse. In short, inconsistency arguments typically face four problems. First, they usually fail to account for diversity among opponents of abortion. Second, they rely on inferences about consistency based on isolated beliefs shared by some opponents of abortion (and these inferences often do not survive once we consider other beliefs opponents of abortion tend to hold). Third, inconsistency arguments usually ignore the diverse ways in which opponents of abortion might act on their beliefs. Fourth, inconsistency arguments criticise groups of people without threatening their beliefs (eg, that abortion is immoral). Setting these problems aside, even supposing inconsistency arguments are successful, they hardly matter. In fact, in the two best-case scenarios\u2014where inconsistency arguments succeed\u2014they either encourage millions of people to make the world a (much) worse place (from the critic\u2019s perspective) or promote epistemically and morally irresponsible practices. We conclude that a more valuable discussion would be had by focusing on the arguments made by opponents of abortion rather than opponents themselves.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/medethics-2020-106633","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,10]],"date-time":"2020-12-10T18:56:52Z","timestamp":1607626612000},"page":"e58-e58","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Prolife hypocrisy: why inconsistency arguments do not matter"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"47","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0506-353X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nicholas","family":"Colgrove","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9115-582X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bruce Philip","family":"Blackshaw","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2121-7167","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniel","family":"Rodger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"2021112903350945000_47.12.e58.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jme.11.2.79"},{"issue":"4","key":"2021112903350945000_47.12.e58.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"353","DOI":"10.1017\/S096318010312405X","article-title":"Stem cells, sex, and procreation","volume":"12","author":"Harris","year":"2003","journal-title":"Camb Q Healthc Ethics"},{"key":"2021112903350945000_47.12.e58.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jme.2005.013920"},{"key":"2021112903350945000_47.12.e58.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-5930.2008.00415.x"},{"issue":"7","key":"2021112903350945000_47.12.e58.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12","DOI":"10.1080\/15265160802248146","article-title":"The scourge: moral implications of natural embryo loss","volume":"8","author":"Ord","year":"2008","journal-title":"Am J Bioeth"},{"key":"2021112903350945000_47.12.e58.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jme.2007.023606"},{"issue":"5","key":"2021112903350945000_47.12.e58.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"263","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-8519.2011.01954.x","article-title":"The substance view: a critique","volume":"27","author":"Lovering","year":"2013","journal-title":"Bioethics"},{"key":"2021112903350945000_47.12.e58.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/medethics-2013-101551"},{"key":"2021112903350945000_47.12.e58.9","unstructured":"McMahan J . Killing embryos for stem cell research. In: Kuhse H , Sch\u00fcklenk U , Singer P , eds. Bioethics: an anthology. 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