Culture, Community and Responsibilities: Abortion in Ireland

The defence of abortion from individualistic rights-based arguments understates social context and ostracises communities that draw on the language of collective responsibilities. In trying to understand restrictive abortion legislation in Ireland, I argue for a more constructive, less oppositional debate. As the basis for dialogue, I focus on the common ground of women's experiences, their changing social roles and general commitment to nurture others. The defence of abortion from responsibility-based arguments reconceptualises abortion from an individual woman's private dilemma, to a social conflict of care that requires culturally sensitive and morally responsible choices.