Forum: The Religious Situation, 1968 (Part 2)

Listening to Women

“…Prior to Beverly Harrison’s work on abortion in 1983, Christian ethical discussions of abortion in the 20th century reflected a masculinist approach to the topic typified by Ralph B. Potter’s 1968 piece “Abortion Debate” (Potter 1968). Irene Oh recently noted that she was “stunned by the near total absence of women’s actual experiences with pregnancy and, especially, parenting throughout the essay” (Oh 2019, 137). As Oh was asked to specifically reflect on the essay’s argument and whether it has stood the test of time, her extended discussion of Potter’s methodological and epistemological perspective is both warranted and insightful.…”

“…As Oh was asked to specifically reflect on the essay’s argument and whether it has stood the test of time, her extended discussion of Potter’s methodological and epistemological perspective is both warranted and insightful. She went on to note that she was “dismayed by the presumption of men who believe they ought to be making decisions about women’s bodies and women’s lives without consulting women themselves” (Oh 2019, 137).…”

“…In fact, when the question of why a married woman, particularly one who already has children, might seek an abortion, Potter resorts to speculation that reveals more about the cultural assumptions and attitudes about women of his day than any real insight into how women engage in moral decision‐making about their fertility. In reflecting on this question of why married women might end a pregnancy he opines that women seek abortions out of “nothing more than her own convenience” and castigates married women who have abortions as possessing a “stubborn and selfish spirit incompatible with the generous adaptability which must sustain the true family.” He further accuses women of merely seeking to “preserve or extend whatever comfort they have attained” (Oh 2019, 139). These tropes of convenience, selfishness, and the desire to indulge one’s comfort that Potter employed not only continue to permeate the cultural landscape of the American abortion conversation today, but they can be traced back to the nineteenth century and the zealous campaign by a group of physicians who worked to criminalize abortion in the United States (Peters 2018, 105–13).…”