TY - JOUR
T1 - The Ethics of Access
T2 - Reframing the Need for Abortion Care as a Health Disparity
AU - Watson, Katie
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - The majority of U.S. abortion patients are poor women, and Black and Hispanic women. Therefore, this article encourages bioethicists and equity advocates to consider whether the need for abortion care should be considered a health disparity, and if yes, whether framing it this way would increase the ability of poor women and women of color to get the medical care they need. In order to engage with these critical questions, bioethicists must avoid abortion exceptionalism and respect patients as moral agents. Centering the conscience of pregnant people shifts our analysis away from the ethics of the act of abortion, and toward the ethics of access to abortion care. Because the Supreme Court is on the brink of shifting the question of abortion’s legality to state legislatures, this is the moment for all bioethicists to clarify and strengthen their thinking, writing, and teaching in abortion ethics.
AB - The majority of U.S. abortion patients are poor women, and Black and Hispanic women. Therefore, this article encourages bioethicists and equity advocates to consider whether the need for abortion care should be considered a health disparity, and if yes, whether framing it this way would increase the ability of poor women and women of color to get the medical care they need. In order to engage with these critical questions, bioethicists must avoid abortion exceptionalism and respect patients as moral agents. Centering the conscience of pregnant people shifts our analysis away from the ethics of the act of abortion, and toward the ethics of access to abortion care. Because the Supreme Court is on the brink of shifting the question of abortion’s legality to state legislatures, this is the moment for all bioethicists to clarify and strengthen their thinking, writing, and teaching in abortion ethics.
KW - Abortion
KW - children and families
KW - contraception
KW - cultural studies
KW - health equity
KW - justice
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131204840&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1080/15265161.2022.2075976
DO - 10.1080/15265161.2022.2075976
M3 - Article
C2 - 35621314
AN - SCOPUS:85131204840
SN - 1526-5161
VL - 22
SP - 22
EP - 30
JO - American Journal of Bioethics
JF - American Journal of Bioethics
IS - 8
ER -