Her Choice, Her Problem: How Having a Choice Diminishes Family Solidarity

International Journal of the Jurisprudence of the Family, Forthcoming

Valparaiso University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 11-12

39 Pages Posted: 18 Aug 2011 Last revised: 26 Apr 2012

See all articles by Richard Stith

Richard Stith

Valparaiso University School of Law

Date Written: August 18, 2011

Abstract

This Article explores a little-noticed dimension of abortion and assisted suicide (or voluntary euthanasia): how choosing to reject those options can have a negative impact on the legally authorized choosers. Women who refuse abortion may be blamed for their choice by boyfriends, neighbors, employers, and others. Similarly, infirm or dying persons may find family and other caregivers upset by their refusal to agree to assisted suicide when voluntary death seems the sensible option. Finally, the author questions whether a life chosen as an option can ever have the dignity of a life simply accepted, i.e., whether the child a mother once chose not to abort suffers from her having been able to choose otherwise, and whether the severely disabled but suicide-rejecting person suffers from having to justify her continued existence.

Keywords: abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, voluntary euthanasia, choice, freedom of choice, right to choose, anti-choice, solidarity, family, family unity, parenting, alienation, sympathy

Suggested Citation

Stith, Richard T., Her Choice, Her Problem: How Having a Choice Diminishes Family Solidarity (August 18, 2011). International Journal of the Jurisprudence of the Family, Forthcoming, Valparaiso University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 11-12, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1911917

Richard T. Stith (Contact Author)

Valparaiso University School of Law ( email )

656 S. Greenwich St.
Valparaiso, IN 46383-6493
United States

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