Unexpecting: abortion, informed consent and transformative experiences

Area of Science:

• Philosophy of Medicine
• Bioethics

Background:

• Scholars are examining transformative experiences, which impart new knowledge and alter personal identity.
• The concept of transformative experiences is being applied to moral debates surrounding abortion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze Sanne Elisa van der Marck's argument that pregnancy is a transformative experience and its implications for abortion debates.
• To critically evaluate whether viewing pregnancy as transformative strengthens or weakens autonomy-based pro-choice arguments.

Main Methods:

• Philosophical analysis of the concept of transformative experiences.
• Examination of van der Marck's argument and its logical consequences for informed consent and reproductive autonomy.

Main Results:

• The argument that pregnancy is a transformative experience, while seemingly supporting pro-choice stances, may undermine them.
• If pregnancy is transformative, gaining the necessary "what it's like" knowledge for informed abortion consent becomes problematic.

Conclusions:

• Viewing pregnancy as a transformative experience leads to a counterintuitive conclusion: it may restrict, rather than enhance, reproductive autonomy.
• The subjective nature of pregnancy's transformative aspect poses challenges for autonomy-based arguments in abortion ethics.