The Ethics of Choice, Revisited

I wish I could be in New York next Tuesday for this talk. There are so many ways that disability studies, and more broadly my colleagues, friends and partners with disabilities, have blown my mind around issues like sexuality, gender, and embodiment. One of my earliest "aha" moments (which to be honest felt more like an "oh sh-t" moment) was hearing Pat Israel, a Canadian disability activist, talk about her struggle to identify as disabled, feminist and pro-choice. The position of so many feminist health organizations, that a woman's right to choose must be absolute and unquestioned, serves many important functions. But it also sends a clear message to people who live with disabilities (and those of us who can't imagine our lives without them in it); you're lives aren't worth the bother of having to question our beliefs, get on board or get lost.

I don't know either the person presenting or the discussant, but I'm glad to see it's happening under the auspices of the Columbia University Seminar on Disability Studies, and that it's at least in an accessible space with ASL interpretation provided. All these things suggest the organizers are welcoming as many people as can to come to the table to talk. From the flyer:

The Ethics of Choice, Revisited

Rachel Adams, Ph.D Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University
Discussant: Marsha Hurst, Narrative Medicine, Columbia University

This presentation is a response to an article by Rayna Rapp called "The Ethics of Choice," which was published in Ms. magazine in 1983. Rapp's article is about the difficult decision to have an abortion after learning that the fetus she was carrying had Down syndrome. This seminar will explore how questions about reproductive choice have become all the more complicated in light of more tolerant ideas about disability, as well as the development of genetic testing designed to detect and eliminate "defective" fetuses. Professor Adams argues that disability shows us the limits of reproductive choice. Women who chose not to undergo prenatal testing or to bear a child despite a prenatal diagnosis of a disease or disability are often subject to the disapproval and abuse of medical practitioners. Feminists fought hard for the right to reproductive freedom and now we must urge healthcare professionals to respect the choices made by all women, and not simply those they agree with.

Date: Tuesday November 10th
Time: 5-6:30pm
Location: Satow Room, Lerner Hall (5th Floor)
RSVP: dsseminar@gmail.com

Seminar is Free & Open to the Public

Wheelchair Accessible Venue and Sign Language Interpretation will be provided

To request parking, please contact Colleen Lewis 212.854.2388
If you require other disability accommodations, please contact Columbia's Office of Disability Services at 212 854 2388 at least one week in advance.