Thank you for writing this. It was the effective altruism which (unintentionally, I guess) got me into abortion research (as my main area of research) and anti-abortion advocacy in the first place, for these kinds of reasons. I’ll probably upload my own thoughts on an EA case for anti-abortion advocacy in the relatively near future.
One major research gap which is particularly relevant to your emphasis on voluntary abortion reduction is: we have very little idea of what it would take, in practice, for women seeking abortion to change their minds. We know that most women seeking abortion do want another child in the future, and we know the broad reasons women cite for having abortions. But we have almost no research about what it would concretely take for them to choose otherwise (as an illustration of the point, we know that a large minority—in some countries a majority—of women cite financial concerns. But a) most of those women cite multiple reasons, so helping financially may not help that much; and b) there is some evidence that many such women do not want to know what financial support might be available). So that seems like a fruitful area for future primary research by EAs. Part of the problem is that the relevant population can usually only be accessed by abortion providers, who are less inclined to do this research.
I myself would go further and support involuntary abortion reduction (for reasons briefly explained here: https://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2022/11/15/jme-2022-108572). But of course voluntary abortion reduction is even better to the extent that it can be achieved. I know that it is not always pleasant to talk about this topic in public, so thanks for your courage.
It was the effective altruism which (unintentionally, I guess) got me into abortion research (as my main area of research) and anti-abortion advocacy in the first place, for these kinds of reasons. I’ll probably upload my own thoughts on an EA case for anti-abortion advocacy in the relatively near future.
That’s a fascinating and deeply unusual story. I’d love to read a post from you about it, and I think your case would add significant value to the forum. For my part, I was raised as an Orthodox Jew, and Orthodox Jews are typically quite anti-abortion but allow it early in the pregnancy. As a teenager, I couldn’t come up with a coherent deontological schema which could make abortion permissible, so I became completely anti-abortion. EA helped draw me to the scale of the issue, and longtermist principles seemed to make an even stronger case against abortion than the deontological arguments I had previously considered.
we have very little idea of what it would take, in practice, for women seeking abortion to change their minds.
I like this idea and would encourage this research as well. It would also help inform policymakers about what parents need in order to raise thriving children.
Restricting this post’s scope to voluntary abortion reduction seemed to me like an effective way to promote a much-needed conversation and find interventions which people across the aisle can pragmatically support in good conscience.
I know that it is not always pleasant to talk about this topic in public, so thanks for your courage.
Thank you, Ariel. I was raised as a liberal Christian for whom pretty much anything broadly deemed progressive (including abortion) was permissible, but changed my convictions at medical school :-)
I don’t blame you for sticking to voluntary abortion reduction—I think it is a perfectly worthy topic of discussion in itself!
I will do my best to write something up after all. I’ve always found EA people to be more open-minded and thoughtful than most in philosophy, and I’ve been encouraged to see the thoughtful and cordial comments among even those who disagree here.
Thank you for writing this. It was the effective altruism which (unintentionally, I guess) got me into abortion research (as my main area of research) and anti-abortion advocacy in the first place, for these kinds of reasons. I’ll probably upload my own thoughts on an EA case for anti-abortion advocacy in the relatively near future.
One major research gap which is particularly relevant to your emphasis on voluntary abortion reduction is: we have very little idea of what it would take, in practice, for women seeking abortion to change their minds. We know that most women seeking abortion do want another child in the future, and we know the broad reasons women cite for having abortions. But we have almost no research about what it would concretely take for them to choose otherwise (as an illustration of the point, we know that a large minority—in some countries a majority—of women cite financial concerns. But a) most of those women cite multiple reasons, so helping financially may not help that much; and b) there is some evidence that many such women do not want to know what financial support might be available). So that seems like a fruitful area for future primary research by EAs. Part of the problem is that the relevant population can usually only be accessed by abortion providers, who are less inclined to do this research.
I myself would go further and support involuntary abortion reduction (for reasons briefly explained here: https://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2022/11/15/jme-2022-108572 ). But of course voluntary abortion reduction is even better to the extent that it can be achieved. I know that it is not always pleasant to talk about this topic in public, so thanks for your courage.
Of course, Calum!
That’s a fascinating and deeply unusual story. I’d love to read a post from you about it, and I think your case would add significant value to the forum. For my part, I was raised as an Orthodox Jew, and Orthodox Jews are typically quite anti-abortion but allow it early in the pregnancy. As a teenager, I couldn’t come up with a coherent deontological schema which could make abortion permissible, so I became completely anti-abortion. EA helped draw me to the scale of the issue, and longtermist principles seemed to make an even stronger case against abortion than the deontological arguments I had previously considered.
I like this idea and would encourage this research as well. It would also help inform policymakers about what parents need in order to raise thriving children.
Restricting this post’s scope to voluntary abortion reduction seemed to me like an effective way to promote a much-needed conversation and find interventions which people across the aisle can pragmatically support in good conscience.
(Source)
Thank you, Ariel. I was raised as a liberal Christian for whom pretty much anything broadly deemed progressive (including abortion) was permissible, but changed my convictions at medical school :-)
I don’t blame you for sticking to voluntary abortion reduction—I think it is a perfectly worthy topic of discussion in itself!
I will do my best to write something up after all. I’ve always found EA people to be more open-minded and thoughtful than most in philosophy, and I’ve been encouraged to see the thoughtful and cordial comments among even those who disagree here.