Kantian ethicist Carl Cohen argues that the potential to be rational or participation in a generally rational species is the relevant distinction between humans and inanimate objects or irrational animals. Dean Harris has noted that, if Kantian ethics is to be used in the discussion of abortion, it must be decided whether a fetus is an autonomous person. She believes that the free choice of women would be paramount in Kantian ethics, requiring abortion to be the mother’s decision. She proposed that a woman should be treated as a dignified autonomous person, with control over their body, as Kant suggested.

In her work How Kantian Ethics Should Treat Pregnancy and Abortion, Susan Feldman argues that abortion should be defended according to Kantian ethics. Although a Kantian physician ought not to lie to or coerce a patient, Hinkley suggests that some form of paternalism – such as through withholding information which may prompt a non-rational response – could be acceptable. He argues that there may be some difference between what a purely rational agent would choose and what a patient actually chooses, the difference being the result of non-rational idiosyncrasies. Aaron Hinkley notes that a Kantian account of autonomy requires respect for choices that are arrived at rationally, not for choices which are arrived at by idiosyncratic or non-rational means. Jeremy Sugarman has argued that Kant’s formulation of autonomy requires that patients are never used merely for the benefit of society, but are always treated as rational people with their own goals. Medical research should be motivated out of respect for the patient, so they must be informed of all facts, even if this would be likely to dissuade the patient. She also argues that Kant’s requirement of autonomy would mean that a patient must be able to make a fully informed decision about treatment, making it immoral to perform tests on unknowing patients.

For example, a researcher who wished to perform tests on patients without their knowledge must be happy for all researchers to do so.

Margaret Eaton argues that, according to Kant’s ethics, a medical professional must be happy for their own practices to be used by and on anyone, even if they were the patient themselves. He therefore believed that all humans should have the right to common dignity and respect. Kant believed that the shared ability of humans to reason should be the basis of morality, and that it is the ability to reason that makes humans morally significant. 45 Kantian Ethics (Applications) APPLICATIONS OF KANTIAN ETHICS