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Feminism: Reproductive Rights, Gender Equality and Social Justice

As a social movement, the pro-choice movement is strongly leaning towards feminist agenda. Beckman (2016) presents an extensive discussion of abortion as a social controversy in the United States in line with the feminist principles. Pro-abortion proponents argue that women’s empowerment covers reproductive rights and control over their bodies, which include the right to abort unwanted pregnancy. Meanwhile, the feminist groups supporting abortion as a choice cite institutionalized anti-abortion as social inequalities targeting women. They believe in a social justice system that promotes a broader social and structural reform reducing poverty and oppression of women. This system is one that educates and assists women to reach their aspirations for themselves and their families. On the other hand, the article by Hentoff (2009) reflects the counter-argument of pro-life supporters against the feminist argument on abortion. He starts her article with an anecdote about a nine-year-old boy whose mother is a physician who performs abortion. The boy cannot understand the fetus’ evolution or the differences in the stages when abortion is performed. He simplified the process as “still killing the baby!” He also cites a book, The Unborn Patient: Prenatal Diagnosis and Treatment, as one of the reasons why he changed his stance regarding abortion. According to him, there is the concept of the fetus being an individual with DNA—making it distinct from everyone else’s—and therefore, having full personhood. He also quotes a famous pro-life black preacher: “There are those who argue that the women’s right to privacy is of a higher order than the right of life. That was the premise of slavery (23).” Hentoff (2009), while acknowledging the idea that it should be the woman to decide what she wants to do with her body, argues that, “To say it’s a decision you can’t make for someone else allows a life to be taken (25).” This means that in respecting the woman’s right, the society becomes responsible for the life of the unborn baby. He ends the article by insisting, “…the most fundamental human right is the right to life—for the born, the unborn, the elderly who refuse to give up on life (27).” In sum, Hentoff (2009) presents the core of anti-abortion argument against feminism: right to life for the baby exceeds that of the mother’s right to privacy and control over her body. Even so, as the “personhood” of the fetus remains a topic for debate, there is a shift in anti-abortion argument from protecting the baby to the protection of the mother. This shift makes a more direct answer to the women empowerment movement. Peters (2014) describes a shift in anti-abortion argument which moves the social concern from the unborn child to the mother—making it a more direct feminist issue. The new brand of anti-abortion movement claims to protect women by stating that “When those babies aren’t born, that is a loss for their mothers, and that’s part of why they need a chance to live.” The feminist movement sees this as yet another patriarchal attitude which belittles the women’s capacity as moral agents. They point out that women who actively seek abortion are moral agents who are trying to shape their own future.


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