IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v321y2023ics027795362300117x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“The first difficulty is time”: The impact of gestational age limits on reproductive health and justice in the context of cross-border travel for abortion care in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • De Zordo, Silvia
  • Mishtal, Joanna
  • Zanini, Giulia
  • Gerdts, Caitlin

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • De Zordo, Silvia & Mishtal, Joanna & Zanini, Giulia & Gerdts, Caitlin, 2023. "“The first difficulty is time”: The impact of gestational age limits on reproductive health and justice in the context of cross-border travel for abortion care in Europe," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:321:y:2023:i:c:s027795362300117x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115760
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795362300117X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115760?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Levels, Mark & Sluiter, Roderick & Need, Ariana, 2014. "A review of abortion laws in Western-European countries. A cross-national comparison of legal developments between 1960 and 2010," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(1), pages 95-104.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bojovic, Neva & Stanisljevic, Jovana & Giunti, Guido, 2021. "The impact of COVID-19 on abortion access: Insights from the European Union and the United Kingdom," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(7), pages 841-858.
    2. Sarah C.M. Roberts, 2019. "The Presence and Consequences of Abortion Aversion in Scientific Research Related to Alcohol Use during Pregnancy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-10, August.
    3. Judith C. Koops & Aart C. Liefbroer & Anne H. Gauthier, 2017. "The Influence of Parental Educational Attainment on the Partnership Context at First Birth in 16 Western Societies," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(4), pages 533-557, October.
    4. Jill Barr-Walker & Ruvani T Jayaweera & Ana Maria Ramirez & Caitlin Gerdts, 2019. "Experiences of women who travel for abortion: A mixed methods systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-26, April.
    5. Amada Pellico-López & María Paz-Zulueta & Jimena B. Manjón-Rodríguez & Mar Sánchez Movellán & Purificación Ajo Bolado & José García-Vázquez & Joaquín Cayón-De las Cuevas & Laura Ruiz-Azcona, 2022. "Evolution of Legislation and the Incidence of Elective Abortion in Spain: A Retrospective Observational Study (2011–2020)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-11, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:321:y:2023:i:c:s027795362300117x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.