Most opposition to abortion relies on the premise that the fetus is a human being, a person, from the moment of conception. The premise is argued for, but, as I think, not well. Take, for example, the most common argument. We are asked to notice that the development of a human being from conception through birth into childhood is continuous; then it is said that to draw a line, to choose a point in this development and say "before this point the thing is not a person, after this point it is a person" is to make an arbitrary choice, a choice for which in the nature of things no good reason can be given. It is concluded that the fetus is, or anyway that we had better say it is, a person from the moment of conception. But this conclusion does not follow. Similar things might be said about the development of an acorn into an oak trees, and it does not follow that acorns are oak trees, or that we had better say they are. Arguments of this form are sometimes called "slippery slope arguments"—the phrase is perhaps self explanatory—and it is dismaying that opponents of abortion rely on them so heavily and uncritically.
Tag: abortion
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Judith Jarvis Thomson was one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century. Her justly famous essay in defense of abortion rights is a model for how to combine philosophical rigor with political engagement in the real world.
Interesting article. I’ll have to look at some other material Jacobin is putting out. Definitely a bit further to the left than is my usual taste, but seems generally well edited and topically interesting.
👓 Univ. Of Alabama Returns $21.5 Million Gift; Donor Urged Boycott Over Abortion Law | NPR
The move comes after Hugh Culverhouse Jr. urged students and businesses to boycott Alabama over its restrictive new abortion law. The school says its rejection of the money isn't related to that law.
Wow!
The lie or myth or mistaken belief (depending on intentions, I suppose) that the fetus tries to “escape” or “move away” during an abortion is common. It was in the recent fo…
👓 KateAllDay tweeted TW: Rape, all terrible things So I need to tell a story.
Yes Im A Fire Sign (Twitter)TW: Rape, all terrible things
— Yes, I'm A Fire Sign (@KateAllDay) May 17, 2019
So I need to tell a story.
It's about a day I lied to a very nice professional at Planned Parenthood.
I told her that a man I did not want to have sex with had locked me in a room and forced me to take off my clothes.
1/
A painful thread
Amid state attacks on Roe, Warren unveiled a comprehensive strategy for expanding reproductive rights.
❤️ AOC tweeted “6 weeks pregnant” = 2 weeks late on your period. Most of the men writing these bills don’t know the first thing about a woman’s body outside of the things they want from it. It’s relatively common for a woman to have a late period + not be pregnant. So this is a backdoor ban. https://t.co/xWd9GAj51b
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Twitter)“6 weeks pregnant” = 2 weeks late on your period.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 8, 2019
Most of the men writing these bills don’t know the first thing about a woman’s body outside of the things they want from it. It’s relatively common for a woman to have a late period + not be pregnant.
So this is a backdoor ban. https://t.co/xWd9GAj51b
📺 The Abortion Divide | Frontline | PBS
FRONTLINE goes inside the fight over abortion, told through the stories of women struggling with unplanned pregnancies.
🎧 The Daily: The Battle for Missouri, Part 1: The Anti-Abortion Democrat | New York Times
As the Democratic Party struggles to establish its identity in Missouri, the issue of abortion has taken center stage.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: Susan Collins on Roe v. Wade and the Next Justice | New York Times
The Republican from Maine is among few senators willing to break from their parties on major issues — and who may decide the makeup of the Supreme Court.\
She’s usually pretty sound and logical, but I don’t suspect she’s actually going to stand up given the current political climate.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: The Supreme Court Loses Its Swing Vote | New York Times
The retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, often considered the Supreme Court’s ideological center, could fundamentally change its direction.
👓 Abortion is Immoral, Except When It Comes to My Mistresses | McSweeny’s
TIM: Life begins at conception. Pregnancy is a gift from God, which is why I’m cosponsoring this anti-abortion legislation after asking my lover to have an abortion. I’m 65 and she’s 32, but you probably figured that out already.
👓 Theory: Playboy Model Who Got $1.6 Million Had Affair With Trump, Not Broidy | Daily Intelligencer | New York Magazine
Michael Cohen arranged a $1.6 million payout to a model allegedly impregnated by GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy. But was Broidy covering for Trump?
Ho-ly Shiiitttt!! This is a major bomb of a theory!!
It’s well reasoned and incredibly well laid out. Having read it, I can’t help but think that the logic is solid and the probabilities are far more in favor of the theory than they are of the previously reported stories holding water.
I literally can’t wait to see how this plays out…
👓 Anti-abortion Rep. Tim Murphy plans to retire amid sex scandal | USA Today
The announcement comes a day after the pro-life lawmaker allegedly asked his mistress to get an abortion.
The inconsistency of most Republicans and the anti-abortion crowd really kills me. It’s fine for them when the situation presents itself, but isn’t appropriate for anyone else?
If only the people who protest so vociferously and who spend money to fight abortion would instead spend their time and money to support the adoption and care of all these unwanted children, the problem would be so drastically different. You have to care about the lives after they are born or you’re just being hypocritical, otherwise, just what are you really saving? Do they want to save and add to the suffering in the world? Should they be called pro-suffering activists instead of anti-abortion?
This is what happens to the bodies of the women you know. | Medium
On Monday, December 5 at 6:30 a.m., I was kneeling on the floor in front of my toilet, hand plunged into the nearly opaque dark red water, fishing for the warm clumps that had sunk to the bottom. I had cleaned the toilet the night before in preparation, and the sterile specimen jar from the doctor’s office was waiting by the sink. I carefully sorted through the mess in my hand, looking for something to stand out. A small grayish oval with a black dot on the side emerged, no larger than my pinky nail. So that was the head, then. I put it in the jar and my hand back in the water, halfway up my forearm, to search for the body. Another grayish lump, nothing discernible, but then I wasn’t looking too closely because the dizziness was overtaking me.
This was my third miscarriage.
This is what a miscarriage looks like.