Ethox Seminar - The Social Epistemology of Abortion
This talk explores the ethics and epistemology of unwanted pregnancy and abortion. I argue that the long-standing abortion debate relies upon an understanding of pregnancy and abortion that wrongs the pregnant person as a knower and as a moral agent.

First, drawing on the work of other scholars, I show that pregnancy is a form of labour and that the denial of abortion amounts to forced labour. I argue that the failure of the standard discourse to characterise pregnancy in this way produces a kind of epistemic injustice which affects those who become pregnant.

Second, according to UK law, an abortion is lawful only if two doctors deem the pregnancy to be a risk to the person’s mental or physical health. Abortion is therefore granted according to the views of doctors and a risk metric determined by law. I argue that doctors and legislators should defer to the moral judgement of the pregnant person in relation to abortion, especially given my contention that pregnancy is a form of labour.

This will be a hybrid seminar, in-person in the Lower Ground Seminar Room 0, Big Data Institute, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus, Oxford OX3 7LF, or on Zoom. If you will join online, please register at medsci.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwuduqpqj8pH93JWdF7ZIixKtyb54QB9EaH
Date: 1 June 2022, 14:30 (Wednesday, 6th week, Trinity 2022)
Venue: Big Data Institute, Old Road Campus OX3 7LF
Venue Details: Lower Ground Floor Seminar Room 0 or Zoom
Speaker: Dr Arianne Shahvisi (Brighton and Sussex Medical School)
Organising department: Ethox Centre
Organiser: Aileen Mooney (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: admin@ethox.ox.ac.uk
Part of: Ethox Centre Seminars
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Public
Editor: Aileen Mooney