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Unpublished Paper
Abortion: A Fresh Policy Approach
(2018)
  • Adam White, Bowling Green State University
Abstract
The abortion debate could profit from fresh argument.  This paper proposes an innovative policy as a means to clarify some under-explored considerations.  The proposed policy has three elements: 1) punish immoral abortions, but split the punishment equally between the biological father and mother (this would reduce negligent careless sex and resolve the gender bias of abortion politics); 2) state support for service organizations that serve pregnant mothers at her discretion; and 3) set those value commitments via democratic politics rather than court rulings.  The two moral threats of unwanted pregnancies are familiar: fetal termination versus the violation of the mother’s liberty.  The argument proposes there is unrecognized third moral threat: any policy will require a value concession that violates the authenticity of the conceding party.  All abortion policies, including the proposed policy, should be judged by how effectively they minimize the aggregate of all three moral threats. 
Keywords
  • Abortion,
  • Liberty,
  • Public Policy,
  • Democracy
Publication Date
Summer August 12, 2018
Citation Information
Adam White. "Abortion: A Fresh Policy Approach" (2018)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/adam-white/4/