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