The Ethics of Abortion : Pro-Life Vs. Pro-Choice (Contemporary Issues) (Paperback)

by Robert M. Baird (Editor), Stuart E. Rosenbaum (Editor) "For almost thirty years the issue of abortion has grown increasingly difficult..." (more)
Key Phrases: Supreme Court, District Court, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
YA-Another challenging group of essays on a timely theme. The revised edition contains seven opinions from the 1989 edition as well as new essays that consider many sides of the issue. The selections reflect contemporary concerns of thoughtful men and women in the fields of philosophy, theology, psychotherapy, law, medicine, and journalism. Arranged in five sections that deal with broad aspects of the question, the book succeeds in bringing the issues into focus for meaningful analysis. The writing styles are as diverse as the opinions: the cerebral pro-life discussion of Judge Bork; Anna Quindlen's anguished essay; the sensitive narrative of a visit to an abortion clinic by Catholic theologian Daniel Maguire; and the horrific descriptions of case histories of a psychotherapist and a social worker. Students willing to follow the rigorous arguments in this collection may find their own ideas clarified, strengthened, or changed; or, they may have even more questions than when they began.
Jackie Gropman, Richard Byrd Library, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
With its 11 essays and its recounting of the Blackmun decision of Roe v. Wade, this book lays out the arguments on abortion. Four argue against and seven in favor of abortion, though some believe that it is not always permissible. Most center on the basic principles: life should be protected and individuals should be free from interference with their bodies. One side asks if fetuses are really living persons; the other if pregnancy is really an invasion against which women are entitled to respond. A few search out new ground; Charles Hartshorne says that the issue is not whether abortion is wrong but whether society should make a woman's decisions for her. Mostly missing are the deep issues. Paul Ramsey mentions God, but no one presents a fully worked-out theory of the meaning of life.
- Leslie Armour, Univ. of Ottawa
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 354 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books; 3rd edition (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573928763
• ISBN-13: 978-1573928762
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #279,322 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #26 in

  Books > Nonfiction > Women's Studies > Abortion & Birth Control

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Ethics of Abortion: The Discussion's Ablest Contributors, April 16, 2000

By	Norm (Washington state) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ethics of Abortion: Pro-Life Vs. Pro-Choice (Contemporary Issues) (Paperback)

I'm an M.A. student in philosophy who has found this collection very useful and representative of the current state of the issue in American ethics. It contains landmark essays by landmark people and could be of much use both to the lay reader and in ethics classes. One must conclude that the gentleman who found the volume 'appualing' [sic] would be best served by english instruction and higher education before stumbling into untranslated Anglo-American philosophy.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tough choice!, October 31, 2008

By	Lucifer (www.bobshakespeare.com) - See all my reviews

Should a woman be allowed to have an abortion? or to take birth-control pills, which do essentially the same thing, only sooner? In _The Ethics of Abortion_, we hear from both sides--four writers arguing against abortion, and seven in favor, not counting the mothers of Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and George W. Bush, whose opinion was evidently not consulted. (Besides, it's too late.)

For the answer to the question, "Should Abortion be re-criminalized," don't bother to ask a Republican politician--those fellas will say anything just to get elected ("Life starts at the moment of conception," and blah-blah-blah, e.g., John McCain); but do they ever actually do anything to overthrow Roe v. Wade, or to outlaw the pill, or to prosecute briefly-pregnant female liberals for murder? Don't count on it.

The very best way to solve this ethical dilemma is not to argue with one another; but rather, to ask, "WWTVMD?" (i.e., What would the Virgin Mary Do?"

On 21 March, 1 BCE, came a day that forever altered the course of cosmic and human history: "Conception Day." That's when the Son of God and the holy Ghost of God came down from Heaven together - the Ghost to impregnate the Virgin Mary, and the Son (Jesus), to become her precious little fetus. Born in Bethlehem on Christmas morning, the Son of God remained on the planet for the next thirty years, preaching hellfire and performing wonders. At age 30, after an especially difficult weekend in Jerusalem, he said goodbye to his disciples and returned home, ascending skyward in a cumulus cloud, not to be seen again until the 21st century and the end of the world.

Today, any fourteen-year old unmarried Jewish girl, upon learning she was pregnant, would sneak into a clinic and demand to have an abortion. If Mary had committed that sin, nipping her pregnancy in the bud, the Son of God would have been bounced safely back to Heaven, sparing him a lot of earthly suffering - but it would have cost humanity the greatest gift God ever gave to the world, which is the gift of potential forgiveness for sins if you just meet certain conditions. The whole Christian religion could have been snuffed out before it began! Which, in the view of many, is a strong argument against abortion. (Don't look at me: I'm "the devil," a feminist, and pro-choice.)

2 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a book for inquisative people, December 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ethics of Abortion: Pro-Life Vs. Pro-Choice (Contemporary Issues) (Paperback)

This book was very appualing, it was not up to the caliber of the books I usually read. There was not very much controvercy, that you would expect from a book like this. Although the complexity of the few decent stories that they had, it was very easy to understand. My son got ahold of this book, and was soon asking me all there questions about abortion. I thought it to be very unappealing. It offered a weak collection of essays from both side of the operating table. But, my friend, Brad Bucholtz (who lives in Berlin, WI) liked it very much, he bought 10 copies of this book for his whole family!