Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2017

Department

Communication

Abstract

This article analyzes texts circulated in the 2014 debate over Colorado’s Amendment 67, the so-called Personhood Amendment, to demonstrate that value claims within the abortion debate are subordinated in favor of discussing the potential legal and philosophical implications of granting fetuses personhood. Using prudence, Robert Hariman’s (1991) framework for understanding political action, as a theoretical lens, I argue the personhood debate offers scholars an opportunity to identify and evaluate competing value claims of and in relation to potential impacts of the amendment. Prudence offers a compelling area for political communication and rhetorical scholars to expand and develop in light of policy failures in the abortion debate, and other key areas.

Comments

This is the accepted version of the article that was published in Western Journal of Communication, volume 81, issue 3, in 2017.

Full article: Murder, Miscarriage, and Women’s Choice: Prudence in the Colorado Personhood Debate (tandfonline.com)

Original Publication Information

Coker, C. R. "Murder, Miscarriage, and Women’s Choice: Prudence in the Colorado Personhood Debate." 2017. Western Journal of Communication, 81(3): 300-319.

DOI

10.1080/10570314.2016.1245439

ORCID

0000-0001-6767-3398

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