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The Politics of AbortionA NoteMarlene Fried is Professor of Philosophy, and Director, Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA 01002, USA. Worldwide, the abortion issue dominates reproductive and sexual politics primarily because opposition to abortion has been at the centre of the right-wing's broad conservative agenda. Under the George W. Bush presidencies, attacks on abortion and other aspects of reproductive freedom have escalated eroding rights and access. The most vulnerable women in society—women who are poor, young, and women of colour—are the most harmed. Their right to have children is undermined as well by policies which curtail health care and welfare benefits. Abortion politics are also part of the battle over the separation of church and state. Religious conservatives try to blur the line by basing policy decisions on everything from emergency contraception to stem cell research on ideology and religion rather than science. The article also looks critically at the ‘choice’ framework for reproductive rights, and the intersection of abortion and population control politics. These two major fault lines have divided US feminists, weakening their ability to resist the right. Finally, the article shows how women of colour activists are promoting an expansive reproductive justice agenda which brings reproductive rights together with social justice and human rights.
Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Vol. 13, No. 2,
229-245 (2006) |
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