Incoherent Abortion Exceptions

Scarfone, M.

doi:10.1111/josp.12366

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 28 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…In the Spring of 2019, long-term efforts of anti-abortion advocates came to fruition as states began to introduce legislation restricting access to abortion early in gestation; 33 specifically, 25 Southern and Midwestern states across the US proposed early abortion ban bills. Despite widespread public support for exceptions to abortion bans in cases of rape and incest, 34 much of the anti-abortion legislation introduced across the US did not include such exceptions. Where prior generations of pregnant Americans could rely on the national legal protections of abortion under Roe, pregnant people now no longer have that right.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“A daily reminder of an ugly incident … ”: analysis of debate on rape and incest exceptions in early abortion ban legislation in six states in the southern US

Evans

Schnabel

Wyckoff

et al. 2023

Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters

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Abortion bans in the United States often include provisions for abortion in the circumstances of rape or incest experience. Such exceptions have been included in important legislation like the Hyde Amendment, 2003 Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, 2010 Affordable Care Act, and state and federal legislation banning abortion in early gestation. Thus, examination of these laws is critical given the 2022 Supreme Court decision to devolve legal access to the state level. This study examines arguments made by proponents and opponents of rape and incest exceptions within early abortion ban legislation using publicly available video archives from legislative sessions in six Southern states. A narrative analysis was conducted on the legislative debate of rape and incest exceptions during the 2018–2019 legislative sessions. We found three core themes when examining legislative debate: belief in people’s claims underpinned opposition or support for exceptions; opinions about trauma were related to views on exceptions; and exception supporters called for empathy and non-partisanship in consideration of rape and incest. Additionally, support and opposition for the inclusion of rape and incest exceptions in draft law did not follow party lines. This study seeks to deepen understanding of the strategies used by legislators to promote and rebuff rape and incest exceptions in early abortion legislation while providing greater opportunity for tailored reproductive health, rights, and justice advocacy and policy, especially in the context of the US South where abortion access is now extremely restricted.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“A daily reminder of an ugly incident … ”: analysis of debate on rape and incest exceptions in early abortion ban legislation in six states in the southern US

Evans

Schnabel

Wyckoff

et al. 2023

Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

VII: The Special Ethics of Killing Human Beings

Erk

2022

The Ethics of Killing

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Abortion Ban Advocates and Rape Exception

Dominiak

2024

Bioethical Inquiry

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The present paper argues that abortion ban advocates can justify an exception for rape. Recently, Blackshaw offered an interesting argument that if abortion ban advocates modified their position along the lines of Thomson’s analysis of rights, they could make an exception for rape. However, doing so would require making concessions they would be unlikely to make, the crucial one being subscribing to an absurd view that abortion in the case of rape is permissible but only if it is performed in a certain way, that is, in a way that withdraws life support from the fetus. Agreeing first with Blackshaw’s premises, we argue that the view in question is hardly absurd. Thus, relying on Boonin’s acknowledgment that although very rare, a position according to which abortion should be legal but only if it is performed in a way that lets the fetus die rather than kills it is a possible position, we argue, first, that it is Blackshaw’s position that is inconsistent, second, that since deontology sees permissibility of a given result as path-dependent, deontologically oriented abortion ban advocates should find the view in question appealing rather than absurd and, third, that although there are indeed scenarios in which withdrawing life support is morally equivalent to killing, extraction abortions in the case of rape are not amongst them. Since in the case of rape the fetus is not entitled to life support, extraction abortions are better classified as permissible non-omissive allowings than impermissible killings. Thus, there is nothing absurd in the view that abortion in the case of rape is permissible but only if it is performed in a certain way. Accordingly, adopting this view does not seem to be much of a concession for abortion ban advocates who can therefore make an exception for rape.

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Incoherent Abortion Exceptions

Cited by 4 publications

References 28 publications

“A daily reminder of an ugly incident … ”: analysis of debate on rape and incest exceptions in early abortion ban legislation in six states in the southern US

“A daily reminder of an ugly incident … ”: analysis of debate on rape and incest exceptions in early abortion ban legislation in six states in the southern US

VII: The Special Ethics of Killing Human Beings

Abortion Ban Advocates and Rape Exception

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