Description
The author of the essay, Mary Boyle, discusses the concept of gender in relation to abortion in a detailed and incisive way. She finds that many assumptions about women and doctors underlie the content of abortion law, and that these assumptions are often contradictory. She argues that the "pro-life" position is problematic, and that abortion should be considered a human rights issue.
Only women have abortions, yet it is mainly men who decide whether they may have them. Re-Thinking Abortion offers an incisive and original analysis of the abortion debates, abortion legislation and of women's and men's experience of abortion.In the past, abortion hasn't often been addressed in psychological theory. Mary Boyle finds, however, that among the law-making body (largely male) the concept of gender is central to the formulation of abortion legislation. In a detailed study of legislative debates spanning thirty years, she finds that many implicit assumptions about women and doctors underlie the content of abortion law. Re-thinking Abortion is an incisive and original analysis, highlighting inconsistencies and contradictions that show the problematic nature of the "pro-life" position and revealing the nature of the threat presented by abortion.