I am using this debate on abortion in my intro to philosophy class, in the section on ethics. The debate is between Prof. David Boonin (Affirmative), of U. Colorado-Boulder, and Prof. Peter Kreeft (Negative), of Boston College. If you know which of these men I greatly admire, you know who I'm agreeing with in this debate.Check out the debate in either video or audio, held at Yale University. Note that this debate is over 90 minutes long--not for someone looking to kill a few minutes on the internet!
Just for kicks, I was going to post my five-page outline of the debate that I prepared for my students, but I don't see how I can do that on blogger. If you want a copy, let me know in the comments.
1 comment:
Interesting topic!
As to praxis, it would also be a service to the US public to debate the question "Is abortion preventable in a free society?"
So many have been enraptured by the idea of overturning Roe, that the Right seems to have lost awareness that doing so might only reduce abortions in the USA by 10%. Once states were permitted to pass abortion prohibitions, perhaps 15 or 20 would do so; all needed for an abortion would be a trip to the next state.
Meanwhile, those nations that have the lowest abortion rates in the world are those who have excellent care for pregnant women, in terms of economic stability, healthcare availability, and job security.
Abortions could be vastly reduced in the USA - perhaps by as much as 50 or 60%. Overturning Roe, however, if it ever happens, won't help much - I suspect it is a carrot dangled just out of reach before pro-lifers to keep them safely voting for Republicans (who have held the majority on the Supreme Court since before the Roe decision).
Yet abortions under Republican administrations either increase or slow their rate of decrease, compared to periods of Democratic leadership.
Time to re-think public policy.
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