This article introduces feminist and women's rights arguments concerning abortion and finds that the feminist case can be argued very well both for and against abortion.
Women's rights
Women's rights
All of women's aspirations--whether for education, work, or any form of self-determination--ultimately rest on their ability to decide whether and when to bear children.
Susan Faludi
Denying women the right to abortion makes women bear all the hardship and blame for unwanted pregnancies, ignoring the fact that men bear responsibility too, and that many unwanted pregnancies result from unwanted intercourse.
Betsy Hartmann
To use a woman's body, against her free will and choice, as a receptacle for unwanted pregnancy has got to be seen as a kind of 'legalized rape' that must be as morally repugnant as 'foeticide' to those perpetrating it.
Howard Moody
I think it's a step that had to be taken as we go down the road toward the full emancipation of women.
Justice Harry A. Blackmun, speaking of the reaffirmation of Roe v. Wade
Although feminists are often portrayed as being supporters of the right to abortion, you'll find that the feminist case can be argued very well on both sides of the issue.
In the context of women's rights the issue is often presented not as an moral issue but as a political issue - not so much as "is abortion ethically wrong?", but as "should women be prevented from having abortions if they want them?"
There is also a second political issue - women cannot choose freely whether or not to abort a pregnancy unless they also have the right to the necessary support if they are to continue a pregnancy. (To put it another way: women should have the right not to be pushed towards abortion because of poverty or lack of family support.)
The 'women's rights' arguments for abortion involve not only placing an appropriate value on the lives and freedom of women but also accepting that it may sometimes be permissible to sacrifice the life of a foetus.
Many of the 'women's rights' arguments against abortion claim that abortion does not improve women's overall position in society, or that abortion provides an excuse not to solve other problems faced by pregnant women.
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