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Abortion: The Myths, the Realities, and the Arguments Because Grisez researched and wrote this book during 1966–69 and published it before Roe v. Wade, much of its content is out of date. That is true with regard not only to developments in respect to abortion but also to chapter six’s statement of his own moral theory, which he formulated more adequately in The Way of the Lord Jesus and other more recent works. Moreover, many other fine works defending the right to life of unborn people have appeared since this work appeared. However, some parts of this book remain relevant and sound, and careful readers may find them useful. Grisez publishes the work here, copyright © 2009, and reserves the right to make and distribute copies for sale. But he hereby grants everyone the right to print out and distribute without charge copies of the entire work or part of it provided the source is identified and this copyright information included. Because the PDF file of the whole book is very large, bringing it up will take some time. Open Chapter 1: How Life Begins (PDF) Open Chapter 2: A Sociological View (PDF) Open Chapter 3: A Medical View (PDF) Open Chapter 4: Religious Views of Abortion (PDF) Open Chapter 5: The State of the Legal Question (PDF) Open Chapter 6: Ethical Arguments (PDF) Open Chapter 7: Toward a Sound Public Policy (PDF) “Toward a Consistent Natural-Law Ethics of Killing” After completing work on the book, Abortion, in September 1969, Grisez developed and restated some parts of his treatment in that work for publication as this article. In it, he attempted to distinguish between what is intended and what is accepted as a side effect by someone making a choice, and in doing so he mistakenly appealed to the indivisibility of the performance that carries out the choice. Thus, his analysis of action in this article was confused. He clarified that matter in later works, beginning with his 1977 essay: “Suicide and Euthanasia,” and definitively in the coauthored 2001 essay: “‘Direct’ and ‘Indirect’: A Reply to Critics of Our Action Theory,” with John Finnis and Joseph Boyle. The key to that later development was to regard human action from the perspective of the acting person and to focus on the proposal that the acting person adopts by choice. Still, other elements of the 1970 article remain interesting, including Grisez’s criticism of Aquinas’s arguments for the acceptability of capital punishment. The article is copyright © University of Notre Dame 1970, all rights reserved. “When Do People Begin?” Having been elected President of the American Philosophical Association, Joseph Boyle invited Grisez to present a plenary-session paper on a prolife topic at the spring 1989 convention. Grisez chose to revisit the issue, already dealt with at length in his book on abortion: when does a new human individual begin? Not only had fresh philosophical arguments been presented on that issue, but Grisez was no longer entirely satisfied with his earlier treatment. Yet a full-scale treatment was impossible within the limits of a paper. So, Grisez wrote the paper as a plan or outline for the full treatment he could not undertake. The paper was published in the Association’s Proceedings and is copyright © American Catholic Philosophical Association 1989, all rights reserved. The best realization of Grisez’s plan is the work of two of his colleagues, Robert P. George and Christopher Tollefsen: Embryo: A Defense of Human Life (New York: Doubleday, 2008). |