The Problem With ‘Justifying’ Abortion Care

A cogent and fascinating summary of the ethical (and advocacy) difficulties that justifying someone’s abortion can create. This interview with Drs. Katrina Kimport and Monica McLemore on the subject of their recent scientific journal article reviews how problematic it is to set up a hierarchy of abortions that are better than others, such as when they occur in pregnancies complicated by rape or fetal anomalies. When we evaluate or judge the reasons for someone’s abortion, we are actually assuming that we can judge and control another person’s body. It is better–rhetorically and certainly ethically–to focus on the autonomy of the pregnant person in all decisions.