Unwanted Pregnancy, Abortion, and Maternal Authority: A Prochoice Theological Argument
This essay offers a theological answer to the question: How should we speak of a pregnant woman's identity such that she is recognizable as uniquely entitled to make the gestational choice to end fetal life? Some prochoice thinkers carve out ethical space for a pregnant woman to reject a fetus...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
[2018]
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| In: |
Journal of feminist studies in religion
Year: 2018, Volume: 34, Issue: 2, Pages: 41-57 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Luke
/ Pregnant woman
/ Self-determination
/ Motherhood
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| IxTheo Classification: | FD Contextual theology HC New Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
Theology
B Abortion B maternal authority |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | This essay offers a theological answer to the question: How should we speak of a pregnant woman's identity such that she is recognizable as uniquely entitled to make the gestational choice to end fetal life? Some prochoice thinkers carve out ethical space for a pregnant woman to reject a fetus with which she has not yet self-consciously entered into a mothering relationship. In contrast, the author argues that pregnancy automatically places serious mothering responsibilities on a woman and that ending a life in utero is a unique decision that a gestating mother should have the primary moral authority to make. Since discourses of mothering in Christianized cultures are arguably influenced by the Virgin Mary, this essay offers a reading of the Annunciation in Luke's gospel and discusses one medieval mystic's transgressive practices of imitatio Mariae as resources for Christian women's reproductive choice about unwanted pregnancy today. |
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| ISSN: | 1553-3913 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of feminist studies in religion
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