-
7. Beyond Abortion: A Step into Darkness?
- The Catholic University of America Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Chapter 7 Beyond Abortion: a Step into Darkness? The major findings of this study are that the English abortion campaign was the fruit of eugenics and Malthusianism and that it has been sustained by these philosophies through the passage of the Abortion Act, up to the present day. Assumptions that the act was rooted in feminism and socialism stem from the fact that the history of abortion reform has been written by its pioneers, and rewritten by feminists gazing through the lens of abortion rights. Their teleological approach has influenced post1967 dramas, which have simultaneously popularized the myth of backstreet abortion as a gesture of sisterly solidarity and reinforced fears of a restriction of the law. Modern feminism—an outcome of the Abortion Act rather than the other way around—has been unwilling to challenge such myths; indeed, under the influence of eugenics, it has proved incapable of challenging issues of injustice against women, and the gravest of these have involved eugenics. Advocates of legalized abortion have seen it as one step in a long-term program of population control, along with phenomena as diverse as euthanasia and reproductive technology; it is possible to trace five phases of the campaign, beginning with the illegal one, in which abortion was portrayed as a dangerous and widespread problem among poor women, with legalization as the solution. This was followed by the legal phase, with abortion seen as so serious that only individual women could make the decision, supported by warnings against a “return to the backstreets.” The promotional phase saw abortion rights as essential to the autonomy and equality of modern woman. The reinvention phase promoted the view that abor357 tion was widespread among poor women pre-1967, a kind of proto-feminist bid for sexual autonomy. The (possibly penultimate) restoration phase has been characterized by pleas for at-home chemical abortion that would, by implication, restore that sexual autonomy to women’s lives. This interpretation might be usefully applied to a country where abortion campaigning has exhibited certain similarities touched on in this work: the United States, the origin of funds instrumental in achieving English abortion law reform, which in turn helped achieve changes in American abortion law. Throughout its many evolutions, the English abortion campaign, true to its philosophical origins, has placed eugenic concerns above all others, and to that end has shown political flexibility; it presented abortion reform as a liberal, progressive measure, but also emphasized its economic utility to political conservatives. Eugenicists of all political hues favored it as an instrument of race improvement, but their preferred method was sterilization ; when this became irremediably tainted by Nazism, abortion was the Trojan horse used to smuggle population control into democracies. Free of totalitarian connections and clothed with the mantle of feminism and egalitarianism , it has had dire consequences for women, the poor, and the disabled , but also for social cohesion, for human rights, and for democracy. This study has shown that the abortion campaign has played a pivotal role in twentieth-century history and exerts an increasingly baleful influence on public policy in the new century. Chemical abortion, now embedded in our health services, will no doubt be promoted in poor countries—ahead of health services—as a progressive measure. However, abortion reform has spelt the end of progress, both economic and cultural, because in a welfare state, the poor are expensive; crudely put, abortions are cheaper than births.1 Thus every innovation that improves human well-being is seen as a problem, increasing the strain on the strong and financially fit. In reality, however, the short-term benefits of population control that have so beguiled governments of Left and Right have in the long term impoverished society both culturally and economically. Family ties have been weakened, with poor communities in particular plagued with crime and disorder, as the young are taught to abandon patience, fidelity, and self-control. The emphasis on freedom in sexual matters has resulted in a 1. See chapter 6, note 246, for the government’s frank assessment of the costs of restricting abortion. 358 Beyond Abortion [54.81.157.133] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 23:37 GMT) surrender of autonomy to reproductive control advocates, whose claimed expertise in sexual health has led to epidemics once associated with prostitution and war. The elimination of the disabled before birth has encouraged a view of them as burdensome and undermined the case for protecting the vulnerable. The promotion of abortion as the solution to the problem...