Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T19:26:06.790Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Value of Choice and the Choice to Value: Expanding the Discussion about Fetal Life within Prochoice Advocacy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2020

Bertha Alvarez Manninen
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this essay, I provide evidence that a new generation of prochoice advocates wishes to move away from defending abortion rights via the view that fetal life has little or no value (for example, as Mary Anne Warren does in her “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion”) and toward a more complex view of abortion rights. This newer view simultaneously grants that fetuses are more than simply “clumps of cells,” that they are, to some extent, entities that possess some degree of value, and also that women still have the right to decide whether they wish to continue a pregnancy (for example, as can be found in the writings of Rosalind Hursthouse, Judith Jarvis Thomson, and Margaret Olivia Little). Prima facie, this may sound like an impossible task—an instance of “having your cake and eating it too”—but I will show throughout my paper that, and how, such a task can indeed be accomplished.

Type
Open Issue Content
Information
Hypatia , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , Summer 2013 , pp. 663 - 683
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by Hypatia, Inc.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Many thanks to Nina Anton, Jackie Gately (Arizona State University), Kate Padgett Walsh (Iowa State University), and Michelle Beer (Florida International University), for their help with earlier drafts and incarnations of this paper. Also, thank you to Ann Cudd, Asia Ferrin, and to the anonymous Hypatia reviewers for all their comments, suggestions, and patience. Finally, as always, thank you to my husband Tuomas Manninen and our daughter Michelle for their support and love.

I would like to dedicate this paper to Professors Jack and Melissa Mulder (Hope College). Although we share differing views on abortion, they have helped me realize the need that exists for prochoice and prolife advocates to dialogue about the difficult issues that are present on both sides of the abortion debate, and the need that exists to take each other's concerns more seriously.

References

Adler, Nancy, David, Henry P., Major, Brenda, Roth, Susan, Russo, Nancy, and Wyatt, Gail. 1990. Psychological responses after abortion. Science 248 (4951): 41–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2004. When children have children. http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/when_children_have_children (accessed November 12, 2011).Google Scholar
Banoit, Cecilia. 1983. The right to grieve: Two women talk about their abortions. Healthsharing: A Woman's Health Quarterly 5 (1): 19–26.Google Scholar
Bazelon, Emily. 2007. Is there a post‐abortion syndrome? The New York Times, January 21. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/magazine/21abortion.t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print (accessed November 12, 2011).Google Scholar
Beckwith, Francis. 1992. Personal bodily rights, abortion, and unplugging the violinist. International Philosophical Quarterly 32 (1): 105–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bongaarts, John, and Westoff, Charles. 2000. The potential role of contraception in reducing abortion. Studies in Family Planning 31 (3): 193–202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buckels, Nancy. 1982. Abortion: A technique for working through grief. Journal of American College Health Association 30 (4): 18–19.Google Scholar
Cannold, Leslie. 1998. The abortion myth: Feminism, morality, and the hard choices women make. Hanover, N.H.: Wesleyan University Press.Google Scholar
Casper, Lynn, McLanahan, Sara S., and Garfinkel, Irwin. 1994. The gender–poverty gap: What we can learn from other countries. American Sociological Review 59 (4): 594–605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dagg, Paul K. B. 1991. The psychological sequelae of therapeutic abortions—denied and completed. American Journal of Psychiatry 148 (5): 578–85.Google ScholarPubMed
Deschner, Amy, and Cohen, Susan. 2003. Contraceptive use is key to reducing abortion worldwide. The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy 6 (4): 7–10.Google Scholar
Dworkin, Ronald. 1993. Life's dominion: Argument about abortion, euthanasia, and individual freedom. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Ertelt, Steven. 2008. Colorado Abortion‐Personhood Amendment Gets OK from Top Pro‐Life Group. http://www.lifenews.com/2008/08/06/state-3430/ (accessed March 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Francke, Linda. 1978. The ambivalence of abortion. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Finer, Lawrence B., Finer, Lori F., Frohwirth, Lindsay, Dauphinee, A., Singh, Sushella, and Moore, Ann M. 2005. Reasons U.S. women have abortions: Quantitative and qualitative perspectives. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 37 (3): 110–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilchrist, A. C., Hannaford, P. C., Frank, P., and Kay, C. R. 1995. Termination of pregnancy and psychiatric morbidity. British Journal of Psychiatry 167 (2): 243–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ginsburg, Faye. 1998. Contested lives: The abortion debate in an American community. Los Angeles: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Hursthouse, Rosalind. 1991. Virtue theory and abortion. Philosophy and Public Affairs 20 (3): 223–46.Google ScholarPubMed
Jones, Rachel, Finer, Lawrence B., and Singh, Susheela. 2008. Characteristics of U.S. abortion patients. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/US-Abortion-Patients.pdf (accessed November 21, 2011).Google Scholar
Jones, Rachel, Darroch, Jacqueline, and Henshaw, Stanley K. 2002. Patterns in the socioeconomic characteristics of women obtaining abortion in 2000–2001. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 34 (5): 226–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaczor, Christopher. 2011. The ethics of abortion: Women's rights, human life, and the question of justice. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kennedy, Bobbie Jeanne. 1988. I'm sorry baby. American Journal of Nursing 88 (8): 1067–69.Google ScholarPubMed
Kissling, Frances. 2005. Is there life after Roe?: How to think about the fetus. Conscience: The News Journal of Catholic Opinion. http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/conscience/archives/c2004win_lifeafterroe.asp (accessed January 5, 2012).Google Scholar
Kliff, Sarah. 2010. Remember Roe! How can the next generation defend abortion rights when they don't think abortion rights need defending? Newsweek, April 29.Google Scholar
Kushner, Eve. 1997. Experiencing abortion: A weaving of women's words. New York: Harrington Park Press.Google Scholar
Little, Margaret Olivia. 2002. The morality of abortion. In Ethical issues in modern medicine, ed. Steinbock, Bonnie, Arras, John and John London, Alex. New York: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Ludlow, Jeannie. 2008. Sometimes, it's a child and a choice: Toward an embodied abortion praxis. Feminism Formations 20 (1): 26–50.Google Scholar
Major, Brenda, and Cozzarelli, Catherine. 1992. Psychosocial predictors of adjustment to abortion. Journal of Social Issues 48 (3): 121–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Major, Brenda, Zubek, Josephine, Lynne Cooper, M., Cozzarelli, Catherine, and Richards, Caroline. 1997. Mixed messages: Implications of social conflict and social support within close relationships for adjustment to a stressful life event. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 72 (6): 1349–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Major, Brenda, Appelbaum, Mark, Beckman, Linda, Ann Dutton, Mary, Felipe Russo, Nancy, and West, Carolyn. 2009. Abortion and mental health—evaluating the evidence. American Psychologist 64 (9): 863–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Major, Brenda, Cozzarelli, Catherine, Lynne Cooper, M., Zubek, Josephine, Richards, Caroline, Wilhite, Michael, and Gramzow, Richard. 2000. Psychological response of women after first–trimester abortion. Archives of General Psychiatry 57: 777–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Major, Brenda, Applebaum, Mark, Beckman, Linda, Ann Dutton, Mary, Felipe Russo, Nancy, and West, Carolyn. 2008. Report of the APA task force on mental health and abortion. http://www.apa.org/pi/wpo/mental-health-abortion-report.pdf (accessed November 21, 2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maxwell, Carol. 2002. Pro‐life activists in America. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
McDonagh, Eileen. 1996. Breaking the abortion deadlock: From choice to consent. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
McDonnell, Kathleen. 1984. Not an easy choice: A feminist re‐examines abortion. Toronto: The Women's Press.Google Scholar
Munk‐Olsen, Trine, Munk Laursen, Thomas, Pedersen, Carsten B., Lidegaard, Øjvind, and Bo Mortensen, Preben. 2011. Induced first‐trimester abortion and risk of mental disorder. New England Journal of Medicine 364 (4): 332–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Needle, Rachel, and Walker, Lenore. 2008. Abortion counseling: A clinician's guide to psychology, legislation, politics, and competency. New York: Springer Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Pearce, Diana. 1978. The feminization of poverty: Women, work, and welfare. Urban and Social Change Review 11 (1–2): 28–36.Google Scholar
Poppema, Suzanne. 1996. Why I am an abortion doctor. New York: Prometheus Books.Google Scholar
Pressman, Steven. 2002. Explaining the gender poverty gap in developed and transitional economies. Journal of Economic Issues 36 (1): 17–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reardon, David. 1987. Aborted women: Silent no more. Westchester, Ill.: Crossway Books.Google Scholar
Reid, T. R. 2010. Universal healthcare tends to cut abortion rate. The Washington Post, March 14. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/03/12/AR2010031202287.html (accessed November 12, 2011).Google Scholar
Rovner, Julie 2011. Poll: Generation Y divided on abortion, like their parents. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/06/09/137079714/poll-generation-y-supports-gay-marriage-but-is-divided-on-abortion?sc=fb&cc=fp (accessed November 21, 2011).Google Scholar
Schalet, Amy. 2010. Sex, love, and autonomy in the teenage sleepover. Contexts 9 (3): 16–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stotland, Nada, ed. 1991. Psychiatric aspects of abortion. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Press.Google Scholar
Thomson, Judith Jarvis. 1971. A defense of abortion. Philosophy and Public Affairs 1 (1): 47–66.Google Scholar
Torre‐Bueno, Ava. 1997. Peace after abortion. San Diego: Pimpernel Press.Google Scholar
Van Gelder, Linsy. 1978. Cracking the women's movement protection game. Ms. Magazine, December.Google Scholar
Warren, Jocelyn T., Marie Harvey, S., and Henderson, Jillian T. 2010. Do depression and low self‐esteem follow abortion among adolescents? Evidence from a national study. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 42 (4): 230–35.Google ScholarPubMed
Warren, Mary Anne. 1973. On the moral and legal status of abortion. The Monist 57 (1): 43–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warren, Mary Anne. 1997. Moral status: Obligations to persons and other living things. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wicklund, Sue, and Kesselheim, Alan. 2007. This common secret: My journey as an abortion doctor. New York: Perseus Books.Google Scholar
Wilcox, John. 1989. Nature as demonic in Thomson's defense of abortion. New Scholasticism 63 (4): 463–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilmouth, Gregory, de Alteriis, Martin, and Bussell, Danielle. 1992. Prevalence of psychological risks following legal abortion in the U.S.: Limits of the evidence. Journal of Social Issues 48 (3): 37–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, Joseph. 2008. Reducing abortion in America: The effect of socioeconomic factors. http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/files/CACG_Final.pdf (accessed November 12, 2011).Google Scholar
Zabin, L. S., Hirsch, M. B., and Emerson, M. R. 1989. When urban adolescents choose abortion: Effects on education, psychological status, and subsequent pregnancy. Family Planning Perspective 21 (6): 248–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed