Abortion in the European Union

A medical act with multiple social, psychological and emotional implications, abortion is a socio-political issue in its own right. Access to the right to abortion is subject to tension, opposition and conflict between different actors or ideas with sometimes extremely antagonistic positions.

While Europe is the continent where access to safe and legal abortion seems to be closest to international medical and health recommendations, authorities in several countries are challenging this access. In general, attempts to restrict access, whether successful or not, highlight the possible reversibility of the right to access abortion. As a result, the right to abortion remains a highly sensitive issue of public and political debate.

This book compares the legal regime of abortion in the different EU countries and the effectiveness of the right of access to abortion. Moreover, it traces the evolution of the political debate while drawing on the concrete example of Belgium. This examination highlights the extent to which the calls for the right to abortion and the institutional recognition of this right are shaped by various actors within national and international networks. The positions and framing of the issues by these ‘pro-choice’ and ‘pro-life’ actors, including the Holy See, are carefully analysed.

The book also examines the discrepancy between the citizenship approach adopted by research on sexual and reproductive rights and the language of human rights used by activists to legitimise themselves as interlocutors in political deliberation and to justify their claims.

This book provides a comparative look at the discourses and practices of abortion rights across Europe.

“It has taken decades to assert women’s right to self-determination and to secure it legally. As we have seen, it took very little for fundamentalists to undo these gains. Therefore, it is important to know how the enemies of freedom, progress and self-determination think, argue and act on the battlefield of women’s bodies in order to successfully fight against the backlash and guarantee the basic human rights of women. This book provides the relevant information to enable the cause of feminism and reproductive rights to succeed.”

— Petra Bayr MA, MLS, Member of the National Council and Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

“In addition to presenting a very enlightening overview of European legislation on abortion, Bérengère Marques-Pereira’s book is fascinating in that it literally takes us into the ways of thinking of the various actors in this scene. In so doing, it shows us how the right to abortion is a central ethical and socio-political issue in the struggle of women for their autonomy and for effective and equal access to their rights.”

— Guy Lebeer, honorary professor of sociology, Université libre de Bruxelles

“This book on abortion in the European Union shows in a clear and alarming way that the war on the bodily autonomy of women and girls and the denial of access to sexual and reproductive health and rights is as much a European issue as a global one. Bérengère Marques-Pereira takes stock of the chilling legal situation for women seeking abortion care in certain EU member states and provides an important case study on the discourse in Belgium.”

— Laura Kaun, Policy and Campaigns Director, European Women’s Lobby

“Abortion politics has never left the political arena. In recent years, in articulation with the rise of anti-gender campaigns and right-wing populism, it has even gained new centrality. Bérengère Marques-Pereira’s book is essential reading for practitioners, researchers and students. It offers a comprehensive overview of the current legal and political debates and gives a careful examination of the laws, discourses and actors that support or reject this fundamental right for women.”

— David Paternotte, sociologist and gender studies academic, associate professor of sociology, Université libre de Bruxelles

“This book is a tour de force. No one but Bérengère Marques-Pereira could have successfully carried out such an excellent analysis – one that gives us a historical perspective and a comparative overview and that provides a profound critical appreciation of the fragility of gender-based rights to health, safety and equality in the contemporary world.”

— Jane Jenson, professor emeritus of political science, Université de Montréal

Bérengère Marques-Pereira was a full professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles in political and social sciences until September 2011 and is currently a guest professor at the same university. She is also a member of the METICES research centre (Migrations, Spaces, Work, Institutions, Citizenship, Epistemology and Health) at the Institute of Sociology. Between 2000 and 2003 she was president of the ABSP (the Belgian Francophone Political Science Association), where she founded the gender and politics working group. Her publications focus on women’s social and political citizenship in Europe and Latin America, Latin American politics, and abortion rights.