%0 Journal Article
%T The Moral Aesthetics of Compulsory Ultrasound Viewing and the Theological Future of Abortion
%A Craig Hovey
%J Studies in Christian Ethics
%@ 1745-5235
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0953946818761245
%X By law, women seeking abortions in some US states must undergo compulsory ultrasound viewing. This article examines the moral significance of this practice, especially as understood by pro-life religious groups, in light of Foucault¡¯s recently published lectures on ¡®The Will to Know¡¯ and the place of the aesthetic. How does the larger abortion-debate strategy of ¡®showing¡¯ and ¡®seeing¡¯ images¡ªwhether of living or dead fetuses¡ªwork as an aesthetic form of argument that intends to evoke a moral response in the absence of reason-giving? The article draws on recent, parallel debates regarding disgust before concluding with a theological response to the priority of will over knowledge and vision over action as commentary on the future of abortion debate and law, especially in the United States
%K Abortion
%K moral aesthetics
%K disgust
%K Foucault
%K MacIntyre
%K visual bioethics
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0953946818761245