Social realities, biological realities: The 24-week foetus in contemporary English abortion activism

Abstract

The 24-week foetus occupies a prominent position in contemporary English reproductive politics. It sits on the upper border of the abortion time limit (after which terminations can only be performed for medical reasons) and the lower border of foetal viability (whereby a premature infant has a reasonable chance of survival). As such, the 24-week foetus emerges as a locus for diverse ontologies and orientations. Based on ethnographic research conducted in London and Birmingham, UK, with self-described “pro-life” and “pro-choice” activists, I explore the social, material, and interpretive strategies through which campaigners with opposing views on abortion construct multiple types of 24-week foetuses. My analysis examines how abortion activists discursively frame these foetal figures, differentially foregrounding the biological and the social in their definitions of foetal “reality”. In so doing, I argue that these foetuses can be seen as products not only of diverse ideologies, but also of diverse interpretations of, and responses to, ambiguity, subjectivity, and contingency.