Transformations (Week 13) Abortion Transformations (Week 13)

Outline Facts and figures History UK abortion law US abortion law “The right to choose” “Foetal rights” Population control / eugenics Disability 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 abortions Less than 1% of abortions in the UK are after 22 weeks 90% of all abortions taken place in the first 12 weeks 10% of UK GPs refuse to grant women access to abortion 76% of the UK population are pro-choice 1:3 women has an abortion in her lifetime

History of abortion in the UK From 13th c, abortion acceptable until quickening 19th and early 20th century – succession of laws limiting access to legal abortion Significant 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 abortion 1967: The Abortion Act 1975: National Abortion Campaign (NAC) formed 1990: Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill

Mike Leigh film starring Imelda Staunton as 1950s Vera Drake, devoted wife and mother working to help working class women facing unwanted pregnancies by inducing miscarriages. She sees her activities as help, the law and those around her as murder and when a woman dies in her care she’s put on trial and things fall apart.

UK abortion law Abortion 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 Law Allowed after 24 weeks if: Risk to woman’s life Evidence of severe abnormality Risk of grave physical / mental injury to the woman.

UK Abortion Law Abortion must be: Agreed by two doctors (one in an emergency) Carried out by a doctor Carried out in a government-approved hospital or clinic

US Abortion Law 1973: Roe v Wade decision by US Supreme Court recognised woman’s ‘right to privacy’ Attempt to balance rights of women and state protection of foetus US women have absolute right up to 12 weeks After 12 weeks subject to state regulation Abortion 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 methods Medical abortions (drugs) Surgical procedures Induced labour

Abortion Rates in England & Wales Questions: What can we learn about abortion rates from this map? How might the map be explained?

“the right to choose” Rallying cry for feminists / pro-choice activists Discourse of rights Privacy (Wade vs Roe in US) The problem of “choice”

Foetal rights Foetal rights v women’s rights Contradiction: 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 globally Global gag rule Population control Sex selection Eugenics

Disability and abortion A 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.

Conclusion A very contested issue The 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