In April, the IJFAB Blog editor provided some information on pro-life feminism in an entry called “Pro-Life Feminism: A Catholic feminist philosopher considers the consequences of punishing women for seeking abortions” mentioning both Sidney Callahan’s famous essay on the subject and the recent work of a Catholic philosopher, Rebecca Bratten Weiss. For anyone interested in following this feminist pro-life approach to considering women as whole people in need of support, check out this new article in the National Catholic Register, “Victorious but Wary, Pro-Life Movement Views the Post-Election Landscape: Pro-life leaders say the Republican sweep gives them an opportunity to roll back legal abortion — but others warn the movement risk gains by not investing in their own alternatives to Planned Parenthood.”
Among the anti-abortion tactics familiar to many reproductive rights activists is the rise of Pregnancy Crisis centers. IJFAB Bloggers have addressed anti-abortion tactics in the past including obstetrician Katherine McHugh‘s consideration of, among other things, Missouri’s attempt to publish the names of women who have received abortions, as well as philosopher Alison Reiheld’s reminder that reproductive health clinics aren’t just for abortions.
What strikes this editor as most interesting about the so-called New Pro-Life Movement is that it is concerned by the prospect of removing reproductive choice from women and not replacing it with anything that further empowers women to control their own reproduction, and appears to be genuinely concerned less with reducing access to abortion and more with making abortion unnecessary:
“As a pro-life movement, we need to continue to innovate how we reach out and support women who have unintended pregnancies and are in need of support,” Schleppenbach said, “so no woman ever has to feel that abortion is her only option.”
Other pro-life activists, such as Rebecca Bratten Weiss and Matthew Tyson, founders of the New Pro-Life Movement, believe that the pro-life movement needs to see its work more broadly than ending abortion, becoming more intentional about establishing the dignity of the human person as the bedrock of culture.
“Every aspect of the culture should be supporting life at every moment,” Weiss told the Register. She said the nonpartisan New Pro-life Movement draws its principles from Catholic social teaching on the dignity of the human person.
“Our long-term vision involves providing families with the social safety networks that they need so we truly have a culture that values life, not just laws that say don’t kill,” she said.
Part of their concern is that pro-life leaders speak up to make sure that people do not lose health coverage and that life-affirming measures from the Affordable Care Act, such as prenatal coverage for pregnant women, do not end up on the chopping block along with anti-life measures such as the contraceptive mandate.
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“We want to expand what it truly means to be pro-life,” Tyson said.
If this is a genuine commitment to improving women’s lives, it will mark an improvement over the standard pro-life political approach to simply blocking abortion at every turn and in every way possible. In fact, it will more closely mirror the kind of nuanced position on abortion that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and some other protestant churches have developed on abortion. The ELCA’s formal position is that women’s welfare is critically important and their aim is to make abortion a “last resort” to which few women feel the need to resort, but which is available for them nonetheless. Consider the ELCA Social Statement on Abortion, Page 6, IV.B. Ending a Pregnancy (emphasis mine):
This church recognizes that there can be sound reasons for ending a pregnancy through induced abortion. The following provides guidance for those considering such a decision. We recognize that conscientious decisions need to be made in relation to difficult circumstances that vary greatly. What is determined to be a morally responsible decision in one situation may not be in another. In reflecting ethically on what should be done in the case of an unintended pregnancy, consideration should be given to the status and condition of the life in the womb. We also need to consider the conditions under which the pregnancy occurred and the implications of the pregnancy for the woman’s life.
An abortion is morally responsible in those cases in which continuation of a pregnancy presents a clear threat to the physical life of the woman.
A woman should not be morally obligated to carry the resulting pregnancy to term if the pregnancy occurs when both parties do not participate willingly in sexual intercourse. This is especially true in cases of rape and incest. This can also be the case in some situations in which women are so dominated and oppressed that they have no choice regarding sexual intercourse and little access to contraceptives. Some conceptions occur under dehumanizing conditions that are contrary to God’s purposes.
There are circumstances of extreme fetal abnormality, which will result in severe suffering and very early death of an infant. In such cases, after competent medical consultations, the parent(s) may responsibly choose to terminate the pregnancy. Whether they choose to continue or to end such pregnancies, this church supports the parent(s) with compassion, recognizing the struggle involved in the decision.
Where will the pro-life movement go from here? And will its foundational principles be woman-centered? Will they be ones that pro-choice feminists can actually meaningfully engage with? Is an alliance in favor of women’s reproductive health services possible? What does a genuine feminist commitment require?
Something is afoot. Something interesting. Something morally important. It is not for this editor to make a judgment answering the questions above. But it sure will be worthwhile for feminist bioethicists to keep a close eye on the shifting landscape of the abortion debate.
