Abortion: Law, Choice, and Morality

by Daniel Callahan

Book by Callahan, Daniel J.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Fabio · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first books written on the topic, still one of the best to this day. Surely the most comprehensive in terms of analysing the topic from different fields: sociology, pshycology, law and ethics. Maybe a little lacking on the philosophical side but still, the author considers what the best positions were on the topic at the time and draws his balanced, even if maybe not necessarily embraceable, conclusions. He criticises the standard prolife, the liberal and the feminist positions, while aknowledging when they say something right. He basically adopts a gradualistic view of the personhood of the fetus and, despite considering abortion morally wrong in many cases, he thinks that women should be allowed to have an abortion almost on request. This is a very simplified way to express his position so I suggest reading the book, which, as I said, still stands the test of time and is very informative.