Beyond the Abortion Wars: A Way Forward for a New Generation

by Charles C. Camosy Phd

Overview

Now in paperback! A terribly timely take on the polarized abortion debate

The abortion debate in the United States is confused. Ratings-driven media coverage highlights extreme views and creates the illusion that we are stuck in a hopeless stalemate. In this book (published in hardcover in March 2015) Charles Camosy argues that our polarized public discourse hides the fact that most Americans actually agree on the major issues at stake in abortion morality and law.

Unpacking the complexity of the abortion issue, Camosy shows that placing oneself on either side of the typical polarizations -- pro-life vs. pro-choice, liberal vs. conservative, Democrat vs. Republican -- only serves to further confuse the debate and limits our ability to have fruitful dialogue. Camosy then proposes a new public policy that he believes is consistent with the beliefs of the broad majority of Americans and supported by the best ideas and arguments about abortion from both secular and religious sources.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802874689
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	10/09/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	221
Sales rank:	834,836
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 2.40(d)

About the Author

Charles C. Camosy is associate professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University. He is also the author of Peter Singer and Christian Ethics: Beyond Polarization and For Love of Animals: Christian Ethics, Consistent Action, which was featured on The Dish and in The New York Times.Charles C. Camosy is associate professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University. He is also the author of Peter Singer and Christian Ethics: Beyond Polarization and For Love of Animals: Christian Ethics, Consistent Action, which was featured on The Dish and in The New York Times.

Table of Contents

Foreword Melinda Henneberger viii

Preface and Acknowledgments xii

Introduction: Is There Anything Left to Say? 1

1 Shifting Abortion Politics 16

2 Who or What Is the Fetus? 41

3 Aiming at Death or Ceasing to Aid? 59

4 The Challenge of Public Policy 85

5 Abortion and Women 110

6 A Way Forward 130

Conclusion: Beyond Polarization 159

Notes 168

Bibliography 191

Index 204

Editorial Reviews

Ron Rolheiser, OMI
--theologian, teacher, columnist, award-winning author
"An important book that will healthily shake up both Pro-Life and Pro-Choice readers by showing that, not only are we closer to each other than we thought, but there is a way, together, to walk out of the present political, social, religious, and legal stalemate within which we find ourselves."

Sidney Callahan
--Hastings Center Distinguished Scholar
"This accessible work may well transform the American abortion debate. Camosy gives full weight to both pro-choice feminist concerns and pro-life feminism."

Rev. Wm. Michael Mulvey, STL, DD
--Bishop of Corpus Christi
"Courageously pointing the way toward a renewed respect and love for all human life, Camosy's proposal promises to foster greater unity and communion on a large scale."

William Saletan
--National Correspondent at Slate.com
"Many of us who support the right to abortion have challenged pro-lifers to put their money where their mouth is--on equal pay, pregnancy discrimination, parental leave, health care, and child care. Camosy here does all that and more."

Library Journal
"Readers interested in bioethics and public policy will find this a valuable source of information and arguments on abortion."

The Gospel Coalition
"Wrestles not only with the morality of abortion but also with the social structures that make abortion so common."

The Living Church
"A remarkable study. It is illuminating, fascinating, well written, and well argued."

From the Publisher

04/01/2015
Camosy (theology, Fordham Univ.; For Love of Animals) argues that the polarization between pro-choice and pro-life positions on abortion can be overcome. The trend in popular thinking, he suggests, has moved away from abortion on demand, but by no means do most people favor a total ban on the procedure. Camosy maintains that philosophical arguments support what he takes to be the emerging dominant view: the fetus has a right to existence because it has a natural potential to human life. As such, direct killing of the fetus is, in general, morally wrong. (However, a pregnancy owing to sexual assault or one in which the mother's life is at stake are exceptions.) Camosy favors a broad program of aid to women through government programs in order to alleviate the burden a pregnancy often imposes. He contends that the plan he favors (restrictions on abortion combined with aid to women) will do more to help women than unlimited access to abortion and provocatively suggests that it is men, not women, who benefit from liberal policies. VERDICT Readers interested in bioethics and public policy will find this a valuable source of information and arguments on abortion; it compares favorably with Christopher Kaczor's The Ethics of Abortion and is likely to be viewed, though, as an intervention on the pro-life side rather than as the compromise the author presents it as being.—David Gordon, Bowling Green State Univ., OH

Library Journal