(p.s. excuse me if I sound rude at some points - my english lacks of nuances, as I am not a native speaker. I spent 50 mins of my life on this right now... it would be a nice thing for me to receive smth back. I do lack RC for commenting and communicating on my level.. thats it..)

Do you think it would be a good idea (ethical...) to test medicines on pregnant women

the ethical questions are the most hard ones, cause they DONT have a clear single answer, its a bit like a game with non-zero summa. the answer valid to one socium in given time, can be very unvalid to other socium in another time, with other given conditions. there were periods of history, where the quote 'human's life is the cheapest thing in univerce' was born.

now, let me take myself to your Q.

is it a good idea to test medicines xxx.

the answer is: yes, why not! when we change xxx to woman, it is still "yes'. when we change xxx to 'pregnant woman', suddenly it occures that we have are stalking a grey zone, and have doubts. did something changed... sufficiently? there were some laws, that prohibited a (guilty and pregnant) woman execution till she give a birth to her child. I think, the basic idea is the same here: we can talk out and do what we need with the woman, but we have no moral rights to do anything with her child.

I think using logica will bring us to a further logical decision: given that mother is responsible for her child and makes all the decisions for his well-being, using un-tested drug is upon her decision. (did we get any 'new' knowlegde through these reasonings? I dont think so, actually). oh, and by the way, during pregnancy women's ability to think, to considerate things and take comprehensible desisions -- falls down considerably...

we can try to count pros and contras of each decision (to take untested drugs or not to). tho I consider we cant sum up mechanically pros and contras in this case. to me (i'm not a loving mother) bonus to all the human sociaty prevails the minus of losing one certain baby, or getting it injured during the medication. the value society will be getting in the long-run perspective, the mankind is already 8 billions and still growing, Doctor Maltus is laughting very much at us from Heaven. we are a problem for our planet, and it will be solving this problem in one way or another. and it already started, you know. wars, diseases and the hunger - is the arsenal.

but all this considerations is a total waste of time, just an excersise in rhetorics. the answer is: yes! and you know, why? just because!

also, I think your question is kinda a trap. any words are a trap, actually. I mean, being constructed in this way, the question is momentarily direct you, your mind, your modus operandi to move in a certain direction.

do we need pregnant women to bring us some new healthy members of society? of course!! should we increase by all possible means the odds that worsen it? yes. (who will put here 'no', I wonder?.. ) -> then medicine is ok. correct? no! it seems to me, exactly here the substitution of the concept takes place, we substitute a part of the answer that is known in advance... the 'good medicine' suddenly grows to the size of A Very Huge Importance in our days. you think all about it, like, what if she is getting no medicine, the concequences will be terrible, diff problems, injury, maybe death. The truth is: healthy woman will not need medicins, actually, she dont need even doctors! doctors and medicines are needed to a percent of woman, whose cases really suffer from some problems. and now, the sad news: there amount of healthy women in our society ... well, I think you've got the idea.

so. my conclusion: people have to be well-educated, trained (yes! giving a birth is a bit like a job done in a right way, it needs some training and skills etc), and medicine is really needed in exceptional cases. Understanding this, I believe, should eliminate the fear of “not receiving the medicine”, and at the same time - the question "how can we give to a pregnant woman an untested medication" - disappears by itself, because it is not the worst of evils, and it does not solve most of the problem. The size of the problem, suddenly, is decreased!