Incoherent Abortion Exceptions

Journal of Social Philosophy 53 (1):127-140 (2020)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

There has recently been an expansion of anti-abortion measures in the United States. Within these various measures there is a divide over certain exceptions: some States permit abortion for pregnancies caused by rape while other States do not. This paper explores the underlying moral justification for such exceptions. I argue that within the dominant moral framework for reproductive ethics these exceptions are incoherent by their own lights. But this is not a defense of an exceptionless anti-abortion position. Rather, because the typical way of making such exceptions is incoherent, this shows why the anti-abortion movement is dangerous: as these incoherencies are acknowledged, this may lead to ever stricter measures being put in place. I end by suggesting that those who are sympathetic to these exceptions should find it easier to move to a pro-choice position rather than to a more extreme, exceptionless one.

Other Versions

No versions found

Similar books and articles

Abortion Bans: The Exceptions That Prove the Rule Makes No Sense.Tamara Kayali Browne & Evie Kendal - 2024 - International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 17 (2):114-122.
The moral significance of spontaneous abortion.T. F. Murphy - 1985 - Journal of Medical Ethics 11 (2):79-83.
Making a Case for Stricter Abortion Laws.Henrik Friberg-Fernros - 2017 - Cham: Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan.
The Relevance of Aristotle’s Notion of Equity for the Contemporary Abortion Debate.James M. Jacobs - 2004 - Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 78:119-132.
The Moral Permissibility of Abortion.Margaret Olivia Little - 2005 - In Andrew I. Cohen & Christopher Heath Wellman (eds.), Contemporary Debates in Applied Ethics. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 51-62.

Analytics

Added to PP
2020-07-04

Downloads
1,917 (#7,102)

6 months
294 (#7,591)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Matthew Scarfone
University of Toronto, St. George Campus

Citations of this work

Abortion Ban Advocates and Rape Exception.Ł Dominiak - forthcoming - Journal of Bioethical Inquiry:1-13.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Taking rights seriously.Ronald Dworkin (ed.) - 1977 - London: Duckworth.
A defense of abortion.Judith Jarvis Thomson - 1971 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 1 (1):47-66.
Autonomy and Trust in Bioethics.Onora O'Neill - 2002 - New York: Cambridge University Press.

View all 34 references / Add more references