Debate on abortion set at UD Sept. 15

3:28 p.m., Aug. 19, 2005--Two pre-eminent scholars will debate whether abortion should be re-criminalized at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 15, in Mitchell Hall.

Eileen McDonagh, professor of political science at Northeastern University, will argue against the re-criminalization of abortion, taking a position that goes beyond the legal basis of Roe v. Wade (right to privacy) to advocate a right to consent. McDonagh, who recently served as a visiting fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, is the author of Breaking the Abortion Deadlock: From Choice to Consent.

Katherin Rogers, UD associate professor of philosophy, will argue in favor of the re-criminalization of abortion. Rogers is the author of Perfect Being Theology.

The debate, “Should Abortion Be Re-criminalized?” is part of the Great Debate Series, sponsored by the Delaware Interdisciplinary Ethics Program. A reception will follow the debate, which is free and open to the public.

“The possible re-criminalization of abortion is an enormously difficult ethical issue,” Frederick Adams, chairperson of the Delaware Interdisciplinary Ethics Program and of UD’s Department of Philosophy, said. “We believe that presenting a solidly reasoned debate by two pre-eminent scholars will provide useful insights for both students and members of the community.”

Students from all Delaware colleges are invited to further analyze the issues raised in the debate through an essay contest with $1,200 in prize money. Contestants should defend an informed point of view on the debate topic in a typed, double-spaced essay, up to 10 pages in length. Contest entry forms will be available at the debate.

The program is cosponsored by the Class of 1955 Ethics Endowment; the philosophy department; Catholic Scholars of Delaware; UD’s Departments of Political Science and International Relations and Sociology and Criminal Justice; the Women’s Studies and Legal Studies programs, Office of Women’s Affairs; Delaware Family Foundation; Student Pro-life Vanguard; Delaware Right to Life; Delaware Physicians for Life; Intervarsity Christian Fellowship; and Church and Campus Connection.

For more information, visit [www.dbi.udel.edu/ethics].

E-mail this article

To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here.