Abortion & Public Health - Nov 17

Pregnant at 16

- Lakisha Harris from Chicago & Kankakee

- Tara Wicker from Baton Rouge

Pregnant at 16 in Louisiana

- become the ost difficult places in country to get abortion

- procedure has been banned

- & surrounded by states banning it

- barriers expectedly to impact black women, largest group to get abortions in state

Tara

- worrisome and "civil rights" issue
- raises questions about vulnerability & opression

- why is black population disproportionately seeking abortions (65% of abortions in Louisiana)

- connected w eugenics movement - attempted to control birthrate of "undesirable" populations
(history of forced sterilization, etc)

- norplant new (experimental?) birth control came out 1999
"innovative way to curb high teen pregnancy rates in country.."
"black americans thought it was for pop control bcus if its marketing to young black women and teens

Lakisha

- given birth Norplant after birth of her daughtr

- experienced controversial side-effects, never disclosed to her (realized reading Dorothy Roberts)

- doesnt regret being offered/taking birth control - wished she had known more

- sees this as lack of control and access to abortion"

"when you dont give people all of their options. When you don’t give people all of their resources. When you don’t give people the health care that they deserve and need, you limit their life, the possibilities. You limit everything about them.”

Tara and Lakisha similarities

- emphasize their lack of control and that they felt "choiceless"

- see lack of choice as related to issues of systematic injustice
(poverty, racism, education, etc)

- tara: sees anti-abortion legislation as protecting black population, including black fetus

- Lakisha: sees anti-abortion legislation as further restricting and limiting choices of black people

Sherwin "Abortion through a Feminist Ethics Lens"

- some ways: Sherwins feminist analysis provides important context for this discussion

Caveat on Sherwins analysis

concerned with effects of abortion policies on women

- but her analysis will apply to any persons who may become pregnant

- and so should apply to non-binary or trans people as well

- If and insofar as aspects of it may not, then this may indicate a gap in the analysis

are anti-abortion arguments informed?

Anti-abortion arguments uninformed by feminist analysis

- arguments treat moral permissibility or legal permissibility as isolated moral issue, ignoring ("and thereby obsecuring") connections w oppressive social practices

- Relatedly, they tend to focus solely on moral status of fetus

Feminists on abortion intersecting w issues of sexual freedom and control

- feminists take seriously ways in which abortion intersects w issues of sexual freedom and control over reproduction

- paying attention to social context of sex
(ex. not always a matter of simply of "choice")

Reasons for having abortion

- concerns of fears about health, violence, poverty, ability to take care of other children, impact on career, age, readiness, relationships of independence or dependence, etc

- pregnancy (for ex.) make a person vulnerable and more financially dependent, etc.

A feminist approach

- pregnancy and childbirth have major impacts on persons life
(economic, social, psychological, emotional, etc)

- feminist analysis of abortion therefore LOOKS AT IMPLICATIONS OF ABORTION POLICIES, INCLUDING ACCESS TO ABORTION AND ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTION, ON AND FOR WOMEN (or a pregnant persons)

KEY QUESTION:
- How do these policies "fit into general patterns of oppression for women?"
- these should be the principal considerations when evaluating policies

what does the abortion debate center on

- tend to center on moral status of fetus -- whether its a person w moral rights or falls below threshold of full personhood

status of fetus debate

"woman on whom the fetus depends for survival is secondary (if she is considered at all)"

- but fetus inhabits womans body:
---- so distinction between "in" and "out" of body is only "irrelevant" if we ignore the woman's perspective and experience

----- woman's experiences not considered morally relevant, she's reduced to "fetal container" or "mechanical life-support system"

some states imposing punitive measures for what

- for "risky" behaviour or lifestyle choices that might harm fetus

ex. recognizing fetal homocide, recognizing fetus as person so other laws apply to it, etc.

developments in fetal medicine contribute to what

to culture where moral focus is on fetus, and the woman is passive participant

- these perspectives view fetus as physically and socially distinct

what do feminists argue regarding status of fetus

argue that setting up debate in this way frames it as an issues of oppositional/conflicting rights

- where the key qs is whether fetus has rights that outweigh or override a womans rights

-- so, it doesnt address context of womens lives

what do feminist accounts recognize abt fetal status

recognize that fetal status is RELATIONAL, unlike other human beings, fetuses have a dependent existence

-- theyre not physically or socially distinct

What should we focus on rather than appealing to metaphysical criterion of personhood to determine the moral status of fetus

- we should focus on this RELATIONAL dimension

In fact, "personhood" is also relational:

- people develop in concrete social relationships and communities as "embodied, conscious beings w particular social histories"

---- personhood must be defined in terms of "intersections and relationships w others"

relationships fetus has to social world:

are always mediated by the woman/pregnant person

"however much some might prefer it to be otherwise, no one else can do anything to support or harm a fetus w/o doing smth to the woman who nurtures it "

- gives her unique responsibility and privilege in determining its place in social scheme

women place different value on their pregnancies and fetuses,

the same women can value two pregnancies differently or even at different times in the same pregnancy

"there is no absolute value that attaches to fetuses apart from their relational status determined in the context of their particular development"

--- this situation changes after birth since the fetus then enters into a range of social relationships