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AbortionTransformations (Week 13)
OutlineFacts and figuresHistoryUK abortion lawUS abortion law“The right to choose”“Foetal rights”Population control / eugenicsDisability and abortion
Facts and figures 1.25 billion women have either no access to legal
abortion, or only to save the woman’s life.Approximately 80,000 women die globally every
year from unsafe abortionsLess than 1% of abortions in the UK are after 22
weeks90% of all abortions taken place in the first 12
weeks10% of UK GPs refuse to grant women access to
abortion76% of the UK population are pro-choice1:3 women has an abortion in her lifetime
History of abortion in the UKFrom 13th c, abortion acceptable until quickening19th and early 20th century – succession of laws
limiting access to legal abortionSignificant loss of life due to unsafe abortion (c.
15% of all maternal deaths in 1920s and 30s). 1936: the Abortion Law Reform Association
(ALRA) established.1938: Dr Alex Bourne acquitted of performing
illegal abortion1967: The Abortion Act1975: National Abortion Campaign (NAC) formed1990: Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill
Mike Leigh film starring Imelda Staunton as 1950s Vera Drake, devoted wife andmother working to help working class women facing unwanted pregnancies by inducing miscarriages. She sees her activities as help, the law and those around heras murder and when a woman dies in her care she’s put on trial and things fall apart.
UK abortion lawAbortion allowed up to 24 weeks if the
pregnancy involves greater risk to:Physical / mental health of the woman
Physical / mental health of existing children
Allowed if the child would “suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped”
Allowed if woman’s life at risk
UK Abortion LawAllowed after 24 weeks if:
Risk to woman’s lifeEvidence of severe abnormality
Risk of grave physical / mental injury to the woman.
UK Abortion LawAbortion must be:
Agreed by two doctors (one in an emergency)
Carried out by a doctorCarried out in a government-approved hospital or clinic
US Abortion Law1973: Roe v Wade decision by US Supreme
Court recognised woman’s ‘right to privacy’Attempt to balance rights of women and state
protection of foetusUS women have absolute right up to 12
weeksAfter 12 weeks subject to state regulationAbortion can be banned in 3rd trimester
unless woman’s health or life medically certified as at risk
Highly contested issues in US Barriers to access
Safe abortion methodsMedical abortions (drugs)Surgical proceduresInduced labour
Questions:
What can we learn about abortion rates from this map?
How might the map be explained?
Abortion Rates in England& Wales
“the right to choose”Rallying cry for feminists / pro-choice activists
Discourse of rightsPrivacy (Wade vs Roe in US)The problem of “choice”
Foetal rightsFoetal rights v women’s rightsContradiction: foetus constructed as
autonomous and independent AND vulnerable and dependent
Foetal life as “innocent” and therefore as having greater rights than the woman
Rose and Hatfield (2007) – contingent citizenship
“This [abortion] is abuse of pre-born American children. This is violence against pre-born American babies. This is the torture and murder of future American patriots who deserve this Nation” (Rose and Hatfield, 2007, p. 15)
Right to bodily integrity (Smyth)
Foetal Images and Anti-Abortion Ultrasound scans and IVF contribute to
construction of foetus as autonomous
A question of scale
3D imaging and claims of babies smiling in the womb
Anti-abortion campaigning
Thinking globallyGlobal gag rulePopulation controlSex selectionEugenics
Disability and abortionA life worth living?Being a good mother….(Tom Shakespeare, in Sharpe and Earle
2002) decision to abort because of impairment is not always freely made and is therefore problematic (e.g. socio-economic factors; anti-disability culture)
But – if feminist principle is that women don’t need a socially justifiable reason to request abortion, then this is in tension with Shakespeare’s position.
ConclusionA very contested issueThe debate is frequently articulated in terms
of competing rights (woman / foetus)Abortion policy / practice tells us a lot about
normative ideas of what constitutes a “good mother” and the “right” kind of reproduction.
The right not to have to choose abortion is as significant as the right to choose
There is tension between feminists and disability activists over abortion