Overview

When Henry Morgentaler, Canada’s best-known abortion rights advocate, died in 2013, activists and scholars began to reassess the state of abortion in this country. In Abortion, some of the foremost researchers in Canada challenge current thinking by revealing the discrepancy between what people are experiencing on the ground and what people believe the law to be after the 1988 Morgentaler decision. Grouped into four themes – History, Experience, Politics, and Reproductive Justice – these essays showcase new theoretical frameworks and approaches from law, history, medicine, women’s studies, and political science as they document the diversity of abortion experiences across the country, from those of Indigenous women in the pre-Morgentaler era to a lack of access in the age of so-called decriminalization. Together, the contributors make a case for shifting the debate from abortion rights to reproductive justice and caution against focusing on “choice” or medicalization without understanding the broader context of why and when people seek out abortions.

Full Product Details

Author:   Shannon Stettner ,  Kristin Burnett ,  Travis Hay
Publisher:   University of British Columbia Press
Imprint:   University of British Columbia Press
Weight:   0.560kg
ISBN:  

9780774835749

ISBN 10:   0774835745
Pages:   384
Publication Date:   01 July 2018
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introduction / Shannon Stettner, Kristin Burnett, and Travis Hay Part 1: History 1 Different Histories: Reproduction, Colonialism, and Treaty 7 Communities in Southern Alberta, 1880–1940 / Kristin Burnett 2 Not Guilty but Guilty? Race, Rumour, and Respectability in the 1882 Abortion Trial of Letitia Munson / Rebecca Beausaert 3 Abortion and Birth Control on the Canadian Prairies: Feminists, Catholics, and Family Values in the 1970s / Erika Dyck Part 2: Experience 4 He Is Still Unwanted: Women’s Assertions of Authority over Abortion in Letters to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada / Shannon Stettner 5 Abortion on Trial: Abortion Tribunals in the 1970s and 1980s / Beth Palmer 6 The Dark, Well-Kept Secret: Abortion Experiences in the Maritime Provinces / Katrina Ackerman 7 When Research Is Personal and Political: Researchers Reflect on the Study of Abortion / Marion Doull, Christabelle Sethna, Evelyne Morrissette, and Caitlin Scott Part 3: Politics 8 Functionally Inaccessible: Historical Conflicts in Legal and Medical Access to Abortion / Frances E. Chapman and Tracy Penny Light 9 Morgentaler and the Technological Production of Embodiment / Jen Rinaldi 10 Between a Woman and Her Doctor? The Medicalization of Abortion Politics in Canada / Rachael Johnstone 11 Subverting the Constitution: Anti-abortion Policies and Activism in the United States and Canada / Lori Brown, J. Shoshanna Ehrlich, and Colleen MacQuarrie Part 4: Discourse and Reproductive Justice 12 The Future of Pro-choice Discourse in Canada / Kelly Gordon and Paul Saurette 13 Reproductive Justice in Canada: Exploring Immigrant Women’s Experiences / Laura Salamanca 14 Toxic Matters: Vital and Material Struggles for Environmental Reproductive Justice / Sarah Marie Wiebe Conclusion / Kristin Burnett and Shannon Stettner

Reviews

Abortion is unique in that it ties together the perspectives of scholars in history, politics, and law, as opposed to other compilations that focus on works from one particular field, echoing the intersectionality of modern day reproductive justice framework. -- Megan Siu, Community Developer & Educational Specialist Centre, CPLEA * Canadian Law Library Review * [...][i]n 2019 it is ever more evident that a broader concept of reproductive justice is one that encompasses not only our reproductive health but legal, social and economic justice as well. This book helps move us in that direction. -- Amanda Le Rougetel * Herizons *

Abortion is unique in that it ties together the perspectives of scholars in history, politics, and law, as opposed to other compilations that focus on works from one particular field, echoing the intersectionality of modern day reproductive justice framework. -- Megan Siu, Community Developer & Educational Specialist Centre, CPLEA * Canadian Law Library Review *

Author Information

Shannon Stettner teaches in the Department of Women’s Studies at the University of Waterloo. Kristin Burnett is an associate professor in the Department of Indigenous Learning and coordinator of the new graduate program in Social Justice Studies at Lakehead University. Travis Hay is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History at York University. Contributors: Katrina Rose Ackerman, Rebecca Beausaert, Lori A. Brown, Frances E. Chapman, Marion Doull, Erika Dyck, Shoshanna Ehrlich, Kelly Gordon, Rachael Johnstone, Tracy Penny Light, Colleen MacQuarrie, Evelyne Morrissette, Beth Palmer, Jen Rinaldi, Laura Salamanca, Paul Saurette, Christabelle Sethna, Caitlin Scott, and Sarah Wiebe.

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