Toward the end of her book, Pollitt lists 23 different books for further reading (pages 221-223).
However, for understandable reasons, she does not happen to list James H. Fetzer's book RENDER UNTO DARWIN: PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECTS OF THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT'S CRUSADE AGAINST SCIENCE (2007), which includes an excellent chapter about the abortion debate (pages 95-120).
Fetzer uses deontological moral theory (based on Kant's moral theory) to work out a convincing and compelling pro-choice position.
Fetzer's pro-choice philosophical argument deserves to be better known among those who favor the pro-choice position.
Disclosure: Fetzer is an emeritus professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth, and so am I.
Fetzer's pro-choice philosophical argument in his book can be situated in the larger historical context of American culture. Historically, American culture is famous (1) for advancing the cause of political liberty (our experiment in representative democratic government) and (2) for advancing the cause of economic liberty (capitalism).
As Fetzer understands, political liberty involves freedom of choice. Therefore, his pro-choice argument can be connected with the larger American tradition of political liberty as expressed in our American experiment of representative democratic government.
In addition, I would say that the American spirit of equality under the law can be extended to women not just in granting adult women the right to vote, but also in granting adult women legal rights regarding abortion, as stipulated in the majority ruling in Roe v. Wade.
Pollitt notes the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and others "have argued that the Supreme Court should have legalized abortion on grounds of equality rather than privacy" (page 9).
For centuries in Western culture, adult women have not had equality under the law with adult men.
But equality of women and men under the law in the United States is still in the process of emerging in the United States.
Now, Walter J. Ong, S.J. (1912-2003), calls attention to male insecurity in his book FIGHTING FOR LIFE: CONTEST, SEXUALITY, AND CONSCIOUSNESS (1981), the published version of his 1979 Messenger Lectures at Cornell University. No doubt the male insecurity that he writes about contributes significantly to efforts to advance the equality of women and men under the law.
In conclusion, Pollitt clearly wants to inspire more Americans to support abortion rights for women. In the process of making her overall case for abortion rights for women, she skillfully skewers a broad range of well-known conservatives for various things they've said. In this respect, her book is a book-length exercise in punditry by a pundit. No doubt she makes good points along the way. However, in the final analysis, she mostly emphasizes the big picture and raising consciousness. For example, she does not delineate legislative initiatives that could be undertaken -- or even specific political actions that the National Organization for Women and other women's organizations could undertake.
(Article changed on November 6, 2014 at 07:31)
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