Making Women the Subjects of the Abortion Debate: A Class Exercise that Moves Beyond "Pro-Choice" and "Pro-Life"

In this article, the authors describe a classroom exercise designed to put women (and children and men) back at the center of the abortion debate, avoiding the standard rhetoric and engaging reflection on how everyone might find common political goals among the so-called pro-life and pro-choice sides. The exercise the authors offer in this article works toward common ground, while attempting to avoid alienating any student by using trite rhetoric common among political advocacy groups. Before introducing the exercise, the authors provide a brief history of the current public debate and a discussion about some problems that arise from a binary, polarizing debate. (Contains 2 notes.)