(Re)Producing Cyborgs: Biomedicalizing Abortion through the Congressional Debate over Fetal Pain

Science, Technology, and Human Values 44 (1):74-96 (2019)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The scientific and political debate over whether a fetus can experience pain highlights a vital and controversial boundary for governance—the boundary of human life. I use the 2012 and 2013 US federal debates over twenty-week abortion bans to investigate how personhood is constructed in a society transformed by biomedical science and technology in the United States. Although those who support and oppose the bill take different stances on abortion regulation, each relies on biomedical knowledge and risk assessment to substantiate claims. Through content analysis of congressional documents, I find that members of Congress strategically draw on biomedical discourse to manage the boundaries of bodies and construct a universal “at-risk” political subject in need of governmental protection. These findings bring scholarly debates about personhood into the era of biomedicalization by emphasizing the latent process of creating a hybridized subjectivity that I call cybernetic personhood.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Legislating Pain Capability: Sentience and the Abortion Debate.E. M. Dadlez & William L. Andrews - 2018 - In David Boonin, Katrina L. Sifferd, Tyler K. Fagan, Valerie Gray Hardcastle, Michael Huemer, Daniel Wodak, Derk Pereboom, Stephen J. Morse, Sarah Tyson, Mark Zelcer, Garrett VanPelt, Devin Casey, Philip E. Devine, David K. Chan, Maarten Boudry, Christopher Freiman, Hrishikesh Joshi, Shelley Wilcox, Jason Brennan, Eric Wiland, Ryan Muldoon, Mark Alfano, Philip Robichaud, Kevin Timpe, David Livingstone Smith, Francis J. Beckwith, Dan Hooley, Russell Blackford, John Corvino, Corey McCall, Dan Demetriou, Ajume Wingo, Michael Shermer, Ole Martin Moen, Aksel Braanen Sterri, Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, Jeppe von Platz, John Thrasher, Mary Hawkesworth, William MacAskill, Daniel Halliday, Janine O’Flynn, Yoaav Isaacs, Jason Iuliano, Claire Pickard, Arvin M. Gouw, Tina Rulli, Justin Caouette, Allen Habib, Brian D. Earp, Andrew Vierra, Subrena E. Smith, Danielle M. Wenner, Lisa Diependaele, Sigrid Sterckx, G. Owen Schaefer, Markus K. Labude, Harisan Unais Nasir, Udo Schuklenk, Benjamin Zolf & Woolwine (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Philosophy and Public Policy. Springer Verlag. pp. 661-675.
The Relevance (and Irrelevance) of Questions of Personhood (and Mindedness) to the Abortion Debate.David Kyle Johnson - 2019 - Socio-Historical Examination of Religion and Ministry 1 (2):121‒53.
Reconsidering fetal pain.Stuart W. G. Derbyshire & John C. Bockmann - 2020 - Journal of Medical Ethics Recent Issues 46 (1):3-6.
Fetal Pain, Abortion, Viability, and the Constitution.I. Glenn Cohen & Sadath Sayeed - 2011 - Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 39 (2):235-242.
The Silent Scream.Joan C. Callahan - 1985 - Philosophy Research Archives 11:181-195.
The Silent Scream.Joan C. Callahan - 1985 - Philosophy Research Archives 11:181-195.
Personhood, Vagueness and Abortion.Justin Mcbrayer - 2007 - Australian Journal of Professional and Applied Ethics 9 (1).
Fetal Sentience and Women's Rights.Bonnie Steinbock - 2011 - Hastings Center Report 41 (6):49-49.
Abjection and mourning in the struggle over fetal remains.Brittany R. Leach - 2021 - Contemporary Political Theory 20 (1):141-164.

Analytics

Added to PP
2020-11-24

Downloads
4 (#1,426,245)

6 months
3 (#445,838)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?