This book examines one of the most contested questions in contemporary bioethics: should religion be permitted a seat at the table of bioethics? To address this question, it brings secular and religious bioethicists into structured confrontation across core topics including abortion, conscientious objection, medically assisted dying, circumcision, and human enhancement. Contributors present contrasting arguments, enabling systematic comparison of their underlying assumptions, methods, and normative commitments. Structured to facilitate critical engagement rather than synthesis, the volume critically examines the claimed epistemic authority and public legitimacy of religious reasoning in bioethics, and the conditions under which such perspectives may - or may not - meet the standards of public reason, inclusivity, and rational justification. The book will interest bioethicists, philosophers, theologians, clinicians, and policymakers concerned with the limits of moral authority in medicine and biomedical science.

Chapter “Should religion be permitted a seat at the table of bioethics? The case of abortion” is available open access under a Creative CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Kevin Smith is a bioethicist at Abertay University, Dundee. His research interests include the ethics of gene therapy and genetic modification (‘genethics’), the ethics of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), and the relationship between bioethics and religion. He has published widely across these areas. His current work focuses on critically examining the role and influence of religious perspectives within contemporary bioethical discourse.