University of Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, Departament d'Antropologia Social, c. Montalegre 6-8, 08001 Barcelona, Spain.
University of Central Florida, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2023 Mar;321:115760. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115760. Epub 2023 Feb 3.
Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected during a 5-year multi-disciplinary European research project, in this article we show how restrictions on access to legal abortion, and particularly gestational age (GA) limits at the end of the first trimester of pregnancy, negatively affect women and pregnant people living in European countries where abortion is legal on request or on broad grounds. First, we examine why most European legislations establish GA limits, and illustrate how abortion is framed in national laws and in the current national and international legal and political debates on abortion rights. We then show, based on research data we collected during our 5-year project and contextualized with existing data and statistics, how these restrictions force thousands of people to travel across borders from European countries where abortion is legal, delaying access to care, and increasing pregnant people's health risks. Finally, we explore, from an anthropological perspective, how pregnant people who travel across borders for abortion care conceptualize abortion access, and the relationship between the right to abortion care and the GA restrictions that limit this right. Our study participants criticize the time restrictions established by the laws in their countries of residence as failing to meet pregnant people's needs, highlight the crucial importance of easy, timely access to abortion care even beyond the first trimester of pregnancy, and suggest a more relational approach to the right to access safe, legal abortion. Abortion travel is also a matter of reproductive justice because access to care depends on specific resources including finances, information, support, citizenship status, and social networks. Our work contributes to scholarly and public debates about reproductive governance and justice, by shifting the locus of attention to GA limits and its impact on women and pregnant people, particularly in geopolotical settings where abortion laws are deemed liberal.
本文利用在一个为期五年的多学科欧洲研究项目中收集的定性和定量数据，展示了限制合法堕胎的机会，尤其是在妊娠早期结束时的妊娠周数限制，是如何对生活在欧洲国家的妇女和孕妇造成负面影响的。这些国家允许基于请求或广泛理由进行堕胎。首先，我们考察了大多数欧洲立法规定妊娠周数限制的原因，并举例说明了堕胎在各国法律中的定义，以及在当前关于堕胎权利的国家和国际法律和政治辩论中是如何被定义的。然后，我们根据我们在五年项目中收集的研究数据，并结合现有数据和统计数据，展示了这些限制是如何迫使数千人从堕胎合法的欧洲国家跨境旅行，从而延迟了获得护理的机会，并增加了孕妇的健康风险。最后，我们从人类学的角度探讨了跨境寻求堕胎护理的孕妇如何理解堕胎机会，以及堕胎护理权与限制这一权利的妊娠周数限制之间的关系。我们的研究参与者批评了他们居住国法律规定的时间限制，认为这些限制不符合孕妇的需求，强调了即使在妊娠早期之后，也需要容易和及时地获得堕胎护理的重要性，并提出了一种更具关系性的方法来对待获得安全、合法堕胎的权利。堕胎旅行也是生殖公正的问题，因为获得护理的机会取决于包括财务、信息、支持、公民身份和社交网络在内的具体资源。我们的工作通过将关注点转移到妊娠周数限制及其对妇女和孕妇的影响上，为生殖治理和公正的学术和公共辩论做出了贡献，特别是在那些被认为是自由堕胎法律的地缘政治背景下。
