At the heart of the current debate on abortion is the question of what is at stake: for the liberal/feminist group it is the woman's autonomy over her own body; for the conservative/"pro-life" group it is the lif of the ferus itself, Rejecting both of these views as extremes, L Sumuer opts for a moderate position for which he provides a moral foundation. His aim in doing so is both practical and theoretical. O the one hand, he provides an identifiable criterion for the moral status of the fetus that has direct relevance to the morality of aborion and the choice of an abortion policy. On the other, he shows how classical urilitazianism provides the needed foundation for a moderate view of abortion