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    Are Mothers Persons

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    brosinator
    The document discusses Susan Bordo's argument about the abortion controversy presented in her article. The controversy stems from the debate between those who believe a fetus cannot consent to abortion and should not be harmed, and those who believe a woman has sole rights over her own body. Bordo cites court cases establishing the right to refuse medical procedures to support the argument that legally a woman has sole rights over her body. However, some feel this ignores moral concerns over ending a fetus's life. Bordo also criticizes how the medical profession has historically treated women's bodies and reproductive rights.

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    Are Mothers Persons

    Uploaded by

    brosinator
    516 views2 pages
    The document discusses Susan Bordo's argument about the abortion controversy presented in her article. The controversy stems from the debate between those who believe a fetus cannot consent to abortion and should not be harmed, and those who believe a woman has sole rights over her own body. Bordo cites court cases establishing the right to refuse medical procedures to support the argument that legally a woman has sole rights over her body. However, some feel this ignores moral concerns over ending a fetus's life. Bordo also criticizes how the medical profession has historically treated women's bodies and reproductive rights.

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    The document discusses Susan Bordo's argument about the abortion controversy presented in her article. The controversy stems from the debate between those who believe a fetus cannot consent to abortion and should not be harmed, and those who believe a woman has sole rights over her own body. Bordo cites court cases establishing the right to refuse medical procedures to support the argument that legally a woman has sole rights over her body. However, some feel this ignores moral concerns over ending a fetus's life. Bordo also criticizes how the medical profession has historically treated women's bodies and reproductive rights.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    516 views2 pages

    Are Mothers Persons

    Uploaded by

    brosinator
    The document discusses Susan Bordo's argument about the abortion controversy presented in her article. The controversy stems from the debate between those who believe a fetus cannot consent to abortion and should not be harmed, and those who believe a woman has sole rights over her own body. Bordo cites court cases establishing the right to refuse medical procedures to support the argument that legally a woman has sole rights over her body. However, some feel this ignores moral concerns over ending a fetus's life. Bordo also criticizes how the medical profession has historically treated women's bodies and reproductive rights.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Ambrose Ball-Harney

    Reading Response

    The impasse of the abortion controversy or at least what it seems to be part of it


    from Bordo’s article is that the body can’t be tampered with without it’s owners consent.
    The major impasse here is that an infant cannot give its’ consent even if it is to help
    preserve the health and safety of the mother. However society/federal government
    shouldn’t be able to put stipulations upon the mothers’ body and if she wants to proceed
    to change something within her body it should be her choice and hers alone. Thus the
    impasse is created by part of society advocating that the child cannot be aborted without
    its’ consent, and since the child is still within the womb and unable to give its’ consent no
    harm should be done to it. With the other side advocating that since it is the mothers’
    body and the infant is part of her and connected to her, there shouldn’t be a law against
    what she is able to do to her own body. Bordo’s argument seems to be built off of the
    court cases she mentions within her paper. For example the case regarding the cousins
    transfer of bone marrow and how they still have a legal right to refuse the transfer even if
    it is to save another’s life. This right stems from the Constitutions saying that a person’s
    body is their property and theirs alone. Thus the first part of the controversy is reached as
    though legally the cousin was completely in the clear by refusing the transfer, however
    morally this cousin seemed to be lacking.
    Bordo also notes that the medical profession seems to be the leading group that
    ignores the mother’s rights and begins to treat them as mere bodies. The bills and ideas
    put forward in previous years have attempted to curb ‘defects’ within women. These bills
    discriminated against the mentally handicapped and the mentally ill by trying to sterilize
    them to prevent them reproducing (on a quick side note I thought this was interesting
    how it seemed to parallel events that had taken place within Nazi Germany however
    some of these ideas took place before the rise of Nazism).
    Much of the vocabulary from Crowley and Hawkee was present within Bordo’s
    article. Conjecture for example is present from the very beginning within Bordo’s article
    with the mere presentation of the topic of abortion. This is a controversy that is
    considered within our society constantly and a hotly debated topic among politicians and
    the whole population for that matter. With this controversy having such a widespread and
    profound effect on our population and society it is easy to see that Conjecture is present
    within Bordo’s argument.
    Definition seems a little less present, as Bordo never comes out and defines how
    the act of abortion takes place. This may have been a little damaging to her argument as
    well. Instead she relies on the belief that most people who will read her article from a
    rhetorical standpoint already know what the act of abortion is. However she does do an
    adequate job defining the court cases and the controversy at stake and the impasse
    between those who say pro life and those who say pro choice.
    Quality is present within Bordo’s argument in how she cites the multiple court
    cases and examples of bills and actions groups that are very active in our society have
    taken. Thus by citing these sources and events in history she lays out a quality argument
    that lets her reader know that she is being very serious and approaching this impasse with
    the utmost scrutiny. Policy can be seen from the examples above in that this is a matter
    that requires much thought and should be acted on in a formal procedure, and she cites
    how it has in her argument as well.

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