No Higher Court: Contemporary Feminism and the Right to Abortion

503 Pages·2005·1.48 MB·English

by  Germain Kopaczynski

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Page iii
NO HIGHER COURT
CONTEMPORARY FEMINISM AND THE RIGHT TO
ABORTION
Germain Kopaczynski, OFMConv.
SCRANTON: UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON PRESS
Page iv
© 1995 by University of Scranton Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kopaczynski, Germain.
No higher court: contemporary feminism and the right to abortion /
Germain Kopaczynski.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-940866-50-1 (hc).ISBN 0-940866-51-X (pbk.)
1. AbortionMoral and ethical aspects. 2. AbortionReligious
aspectsCatholic Church. 3. Pro-choice movement. 4. Feminism.
I. Title
HQ767. 15.K66 1995
363.4'6-dc20 95-40854
CIP
Marketing and Distribution
Fordham University Press
University Box L
Bronx NY 10458
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Page v
To My Mother
Who gave me birth and
Showed me faith.
Page vii
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xiii
PERMISSIONS xv
PREFACE xvii
The Power of Words
Abortion and "The Problem That Has No Name "
A Word About the Title
INTRODUCTION: " A FIGHT AGAINST THE WORK 1
OF GOD"
Setting the Stage
Preliminary Considerations
Abortion and the Different Waves of Feminism
Abortion and Religion
Abortion and Catholicism
Abortion, Technology, and Nature
Abortion and the Sexual Revolution
Abortion and the Worldviews
Abortion and the Four Feminists
An Overview
Transition to Simone de Beauvoir
CHAPTER ONE: SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR, 1908-1986 19
THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF ABORTION
The Mother of a Movement "
La Grande Sartreuse"
Beauvoir and Ethics
Beauvoir, Atheism, and Religion
The Writings of Simone de Beauvoir on Abortion
Two Early Fictional Accounts
When Things of the Spirit Come First, ca. 1937
The Blood of Others
Abortion in The Second Sex
Page viii
The Body as Problematic
The Lack of Maternal Instinct
The Passivity of Mothering
Beauvoir's Case for Abortion in The Second Sex
The Total Package of Reproductive Freedom
The Religious-Moral Argument Against Abortion
Abortion and the Question of Patriarchal Control
Abortion and Killing as the Key to the Whole Mystery
Summary of Abortion Arguments in The Second Sex
Abortion in the Autobiographical Volumes
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter
Force of Circumstance
The Shorter Pieces on Abortion
Commentary on Simone de Beauvoir
Transition to Mary Daly
CHAPTER TWO: MARY DALY, 1928- 61
THE METAPHYSICS OF ABORTION
Some Signposts for the Journey
Early Efforts
A Creature of the Sixties
Daly's Debt to Simone de Beauvoir
Daly and Abortion
Abortion in The Church and the Second Sex
Beyond God the Father
Abortion in Beyond God the Father
The Anti-Abortion Devices of Patriarchy
Abortion as an Issue of Power
Some Conclusions from Beyond God the Father
Abortion in Gyn/Ecology
Daly's Separatist Metaphysics
Abortion in Pure Lust
Daly Beyond Beauvoir
Page ix
Commentary on Mary Daly
Some Positive Points
Some Criticisms
Beauvoir and Daly
The Universal Patriarchy
The Hypocritical Ethic
Male Sadism
Is Nature Misogynist?
The Surprises of Christian Ethics
The Sex That Kills
Transition to Carol Gilligan
CHAPTER THREE: CAROL GILLIGAN, 1936- 101
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ABORTION
Abortion in a Different Voice
The Importance of Psychology
Gilligan's Critique of Kohlberg
In a Different Voice
The Shadow of Simone de Beauvoir
Gilligan's Moral Theory: Contextual Relativism
The Return of Complementarity
The Danger in Difference
Gilligan on Abortion
Religion in Gilligan's In a Different Voice
Two Catholic Women Tell Their Stories
The Violence in Abortion
Commentary on Carol Gilligan
Gilligan's Two Moral Ideologies
Summary and Conclusions
Transition to Beverly Wildung Harrison
CHAPTER FOUR: BEVERLY WILDUNG HARRISON, 137
1932-
THE THEOLOGY OF ABORTION
Harrison and the Catholic Ethical Tradition
Misogyny in the Christian Tradition
A Search for the High Moral Ground