Topic > Article by Sidney Callahan: Legalizing Abortion?

The pro-life feminist believes that the autonomy of one's body does not generalize if a fetus is present. In the case study of Bob and Linda Thompson, a married couple with two children who became pregnant after a failed IUD, the pro-life husband is thrilled with the news and informs their children, while the wife wants an immediate abortion of their child. the four-month-old fetus to continue his career. Callahan would agree with her husband and believe that Linda should continue the pregnancy since the right to control her body does not give her the right to control her child's body. This fetus is immature and helpless, and although it is not yet a person, it is developing to become one. Callahan believes that “women will never be able to achieve feminist goals in a society permissive of abortion” (Callahan 161) and disagrees with the views of philosophers Harrison and Petchesky. Furthermore, although Linda believes it is her body and that she has control over what she does with it, Callahan disagrees as another body will result from this 266 day pregnancy and the process is genetically ordained. Abortion of the fetus is not like organ donation since the development of the fetus is a continuous process and Callahan finds it difficult to distinguish the point after conception where immature life