The Fallacy of Relevance and Moral Risks.

Abstract

Paltrow and colleagues (2022) focus on the deleterious consequences that could occur if Roe were overturned, including food and housing insecurity, loss of employment, bankruptcy, unjustified arrests and imprisonment, criminal surveillance, and even death. In this short response, I observe that there is no argument for the claim that Dobbs will cause such effects. I explain why the authors’ argument commits the fallacy of relevance, and I argue that the authors misunderstand the distribution of moral risk at stake in abortion.