Abortion from a crosscultural perspective: An introduction

Abstract

This article introduces a collection of papers which provides an anthropological perspective upon abortion from various parts of the world. The countries considered Greece Turkey China Nigeria Jamaica and Romania vary in their policies and laws as well as the historical context concerning abortion in the extent to which the state supports or restricts access to abortion and contraceptives and in prevailing cultural ideologies concerning these and related issues of sexuality fertility family and gender roles. In each of these countries however women are concerned about unplanned pregnancies and how they affect their social and familial roles economic resources and work the welfare of their children their social relationships and their social status. Women act upon those concerns by regulating their fertility through various means including either legal or illegal abortion. This article places the various papers in the collection into a broader context by presenting a brief selective overview of past research on abortion from a crosscultural perspective.