Scholars have been quick to try to assess the consequences of the U.S. Supreme Court’s monumental ruling abrogating abortion rights in the U.S. ( Dobbs ), with several studies showing that the decision seems to have ushered in a new era of significantly diminished support for the Court. But important issues remain unresolved. Perhaps most important, how have racial minorities, especially African Americans, been affected by the Court’s ruling? Based on an unusually large and representative subsample of African Americans, I discover that a substantial proportion of Black people extend remarkably little legitimacy to the U.S. Supreme Court after Dobbs . Some of the difference between Black and White people seems to be associated with the abortion ruling (as I carefully document), but another portion has to do with much lower levels of support of the Court before Dobbs , and with weaker attachments to legitimacy-enhancing democratic values. I conclude that studies of the attitudes and values of minorities, while important in and of themselves, can also help researchers understand more general processes by which citizens update their institutional attitudes.

ABSTRACT This article explores the first five years of the Irish young people’s anti-abortion group Youth Defence. Using newspaper articles and archival sources, I illustrate how the group effectively mobilised the category of ‘youth’ in their activism. ‘Youth’ was used to excuse their militant activities and any violence associated with the group. I also argue here that while the group’s activism was profoundly influenced by American campaigners, their rhetoric and activism also embodied nationalist and Catholic tropes. The establishment of Youth Defence also marked a turning point in the anti-abortion movement in Ireland. As older strategies appeared to be losing momentum, the young activists used very imaginative ways of operating but also built on older activists’ methods such as the engagement with transnational connections. I show how the activism of these young people, while focused on the abortion issue, also represented a reaction against broader social and cultural change in Irish society. In subsequent sections, I focus on the activities of Youth Defence and show how their activism, which attracted significant media attention, represented a new wave of more militant anti-abortion activity in Ireland, which provoked tensions both among the public and within the wider anti-abortion movement. Fundamentally, the article aims to show that while the anti-abortion cause was the main reason for activists joining Youth Defence, it also enabled them to channel wider anxieties around young people’s experiences, national identity and changes in Irish society, into protest. In exploring the history of Youth Defence, this article contributes to the history of conservative activism in Ireland and the wider history of the anti-abortion movement.

Abortion is a deeply controversial public health issue, evoking diverse opinions regardless of legal context. Yet policymaking often relies on generalised opinion surveys that lack contextual nuance. We examined public opinions of abortion in Kenya in relation to circumstances of rape, foetal anomaly, and maternal health risk. We used a nationally representative sample of 8,942 adults in Kenya, drawn from a database of 12 million phone users. Using a two-stage sampling approach with random-digit dialling, the sample was stratified by location, sex, and age to ensure proportional representation. A vignette-based questionnaire described three scenarios involving foetal anomaly, threats to the woman's life or health, and rape. It included 14 opinion statements per vignette, each with six response options indicating degrees of agreement or disagreement, and three questions to ascertain levels of support for abortion rights in these circumstances. Trained interviewers administered the questionnaire via telephone between October and November 2022. Multivariable-adjusted linear regression was used to assess factors influencing abortion opinions. Most respondents (> 61%) favoured abortion when pregnancies threaten women's life or health, while only 29% and 44%, respectively, supported it in cases of rape or foetal anomaly. There was significant support for abortion to be performed by the public health system, yet lower support for the idea of abortion as a woman's right. Liberal constructs had higher mean scores than conservative ones, with women's reproductive autonomy scoring highest (3.44 ± 1.07), indicating widespread agreement that abortion decisions should rest solely with the pregnant woman. Among conservative constructs, the sanctity of life had the highest mean score (2.40 ± 0.89), reflecting a strong belief in the value of life among abortion opponents. Abortion opinions varied depending on circumstance, with notable support for legal abortion across contexts. It is recommended that public policy reflect these nuanced views and address key barriers to support, particularly in framing abortion as a matter of public health, gender equality, and human rights.

Abstract This study examines the challenges involved in automatically identifying disinformation about abortion on Twitter. We collected 166,180 tweets posted on X (January–December 2022) about the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade to train large language models (LLMs) and machine learning systems to recognize disinformation about abortion. For this purpose, we created a pilot corpus of 8,309 tweets. Surprisingly, only 0.08 % of the pilot corpus contained medical disinformation. We thus questioned whether the planned machine learning could be carried out, given that semantic ambiguity regarding what is fake in the abortion debate poses significant hurdles. We observed that tweets expressing extreme viewpoints were often labelled as “fake”, highlighting the subjective nature of such categorizations. These findings, strongly influenced by personal ideological views on the topic in question, emphasize the complexity of using LLMs and machine learning systems to navigate emotionally charged topics. They also emphasize the importance of considering different perspectives to reduce bias in analyses, advise caution against relying solely on these technologies, and warn of the problems of potential bias and “cherry-picking” in data interpretation, especially when researching social media debates which are full of implicit content, presuppositions, and implicatures, as well as fallacious argumentation.

This study explored integrated policy alternatives to simultaneously protect fetal right to life and enhance women's dignity, based on a personalist bioethics perspective, amidst the legislative vacuum following the 2019 Constitutional Court decision on abortion. Systems thinking and causal loop diagram(CLD) analysis identified the complex structure of the abortion issue, proposing a virtuous cycle prioritizing prevention of unwanted pregnancies as the key leverage point. Findings confirmed that fetal right to life and women's self-determination can be transformed into a complementary relationship rather than an opposing one. Key policy alternatives derived include comprehensive sex education, strengthened socioeconomic support, guaranteed conscientious objection rights for healthcare professionals, and the establishment of state-provided alternative service systems. This study offers a foundation for a systemic approach rooted in the principle of human dignity in personalist bioethics, harmoniously realizing both life protection and respect for women.

The central issue in the abortion debate concerns the moral status of the fetus, where pro-life views assert human life and full personhood from fertilisation, as its unique genome marks the beginning of human existence. Conversely, pro-choice arguments emphasise a woman's right to self-determination and deny fetal personhood without cognitive capacities like consciousness or reasoning, considering any potential life subordinate to the woman's autonomy. These positions highlight a conflict between two core principles: the sanctity of life and bodily autonomy. Moderate developmental perspectives acknowledge genetic individuality at conception but suggest that further maturation, such as viability or sentience, is necessary for the development of personhood. This paper analyses the development of historical opposition to abortion from ancient Hindu texts viewing feticide as disrupting karma and dharma, to Greek philosophers debating ensoulment, and modern rulings like Roe v. Wade (overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson). The paper aims to demonstrate that terminating a pregnancy is morally wrong by investigating whether the fetus has characteristics justifying moral value and a right to life. Even if the fetus falls short of strict personhood criteria like sentience or self-awareness, it still demands moral consideration as a human life at all. This paper of mine examines the moral and ontological status of the fetus within abortion ethics and critiques key philosophical arguments to oppose induced abortion.

The HCI community has advanced the capabilities and availability of technology to support people's understanding of their health and to connect with others for health support. Weaponization of sensitive health data, however, necessitates greater emphasis on how this information might be used to create harm and how people navigate the associated risks. We examine how people in the United States altered their period-tracking and other technology use after the 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade. Through interviews with 22 participants from nine states, we found that most did not significantly change their period tracking despite privacy concerns—a pattern we explain through participants’ complex risk calculus, in which abstract legal threats competed with concrete benefits, switching costs, and the paradoxical role of tracking as both risk and protection against unwanted pregnancy. Uncertainty about legal implications and inaccessible privacy policies further complicated decision-making. While tracking practices remained largely unchanged, the overturn affected how participants made decisions regarding data privacy across technologies and spurred broader life changes. Many learned about the implications of the overrule from news articles and social media, highlighting the importance of journalism and timely, accurate, and comprehensive science communication.

Libertarian scholars Kinsella and Armoutidis criticize the libertarian theory of evictionism. This is a principled compromise between the pro-life and the pro-choice positions. Its conclusion overlaps with the former in the last trimester of pregnancy and with the latter in the first two trimesters. That is, the pregnant mother may expel the fetus from her body whenever she wishes but may not ever kill this pre-born baby. This theory is predicated upon the notion that the unwanted fetus is a trespasser; an innocent one, to be sure. Thus, he may be expelled from her body, her private property, but not treated as a criminal, since he is innocent of any crime. Evictionism stands or falls on this one claim. If the fetus is not a trespasser, this solution to the abortion controversy is a failure. Kinsella (2023) and Armoutidis (2024) maintain, to the contrary, that trespassing is a human action, and that the fertilized egg, the beginning of human life, is capable of nothing such thing. This essay aims to refute their position.

ABSTRACT The gender backlash intensified by reactionary politics and the heteronormative pronatalism resulting from fertility decline have posed increased challenges to reproductive justice, particularly threatening abortion rights. This study draws on the care literature and years of fieldwork on abortion in China and introduces the concept of ‘abortion caringscapes’ – the multidimensional terrain of care activities across time and space, in which women obtain, practice, and reciprocate informal care – to envision alternative abortion-related care in the pursuit of bodily autonomy. It focuses on non-kin female homosocial bonds, often-neglected care relations in the abortion context, in enhancing women’s reproductive autonomy and well-being. The findings illustrate this concept in three contexts: a non-profit clinic, peer groups, and virtual communities, where women proactively cultivated homosocial care relations during their abortion journeys. Theoretically, the study contributes to the abortion literature by conceptualizing informal care activities among non-kin networks across time and space. Practically, it highlights the practice of abortion-related care beyond bureaucratic institutions at interpersonal and collective levels, identifying pivotal sites of care and resistance under state biopolitical governance.

Testimonies of abortion experiences are largely silenced in many contexts around the world, including Poland, and stigma affects how abortion is represented. Pro-choice initiatives, which support abortion rights, aim to challenge stigma through the sharing of personal abortion experiences (i.e. abortion storytelling). However, these initiatives may simultaneously construct normative hierarchies of abortion and stigmatise abortion stories which do not fit context-specific, politicised norms. This study draws on data purposefully sampled from a pro-choice abortion storytelling initiative in Poland, conducted between 2020 and 2021, and organised by the Abortion Dream Team (ADT; Aborcyjny Dream Team), an influential Polish organisation campaigning for abortion access and rights. By conducting a qualitative document analysis of 73 first-person abortion stories shared in this initiative, I explored how abortion was represented, and whether, and how, these representations challenged abortion stigma and its manifestation in normative hierarchies of abortion. Using reflexive thematic analysis, I identified four main themes. My findings show that abortion is represented as a valid decision, both a positive and challenging experience, and an embodied process. The stories shared in the ADT storytelling initiative challenge stigma and deconstruct normative hierarchies of abortion by representing abortion as a complex experience imbued with multiple, and often contradictory, meanings. This study highlights the existence of positive and non-stigmatising representations of abortion in Poland and shows that abortion storytelling can challenge dominant narratives around abortion. These findings therefore have broader significance, as they suggest that abortion storytelling may serve as an effective tool to destigmatise abortion and advance abortion rights. DOI:10.1080/26410397.2025.2535835

Beatriz v. El Salvador is an international judgment issued in December 2024 by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights involving a claim against El Salvador’s abortion ban. The Inter-American Court is an international tribunal with jurisdiction over most Latin American and Caribbean countries including El Salvador that oversees enforcement of the American Convention on Human Rights. The treaty contains a unique provision that establishes a “right [to life of every person to] be protected by law and, in general, from the moment of conception”. That provision has been repeatedly challenged in cases against Costa Rica and El Salvador. Beatriz is the latest judgment in that line of cases. Poised to become the regional court’s first abortion ruling, Beatriz v. El Salvador challenged El Salvador’s full ban on induced, elective abortion, similar to that of eight other Latin American and Caribbean states parties to the Convention. The case was litigated by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in conjunction with abortion advocacy organizations for more than a decade, leading to a mixed decision by the Inter-American Court that endorsed a progressive interpretation of the right to health and the concept of obstetric violence, but stopped short of creating abortion rights in the American Convention.

BACKGROUND: Social workers play a critical role in helping people obtain information and resources needed to make important life decisions, including those about abortion. Recent social work scholarship has positioned abortion rights as essential for reducing health inequalities. AIM: In Aotearoa New Zealand, where abortion has recently been decriminalised, our study aimed to explore social workers’ knowledge and beliefs about the legislative change and their personal and professional responses to supporting people considering abortion. METHOD: 120 participants completed an online qualitative survey, generating 14,000 words of open responses on the thoughts, beliefs, and meaning-making social workers engage in when considering abortion in professional practice. These data were analysed using thematic analysis within a theoretical framework of reproductive justice. ANALYSIS: We generated three main themes based on practitioner positions on abortion: in essence, pro-abortion (it’s healthcare), ostensibly neutral (it’s complicated), and anti-choice (it’s evil). Abortion exceptionalism was detected across all these positions. However, regardless of their stated personal positions, most participants referred to ethical principles such as self-determination, neutrality and being non-judgemental to reconcile tensions. We also noted how these positions, along with evidence of misinformation, linked to social workers reporting minimal opportunities for social workers, in both their qualifying and continuing professional education, to develop their knowledge. CONCLUSION: Learning opportunities are required to help social workers develop their understanding of reproductive justice and position abortion as healthcare. We provide brief guidance that social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand can use to assist clients in a factual, empathic, and ethical manner.

Abstract Recent years have seen a growing scholarly interest in youth activism (YA), a phenomenon often viewed as a positive development in response to declining civic and political engagement among young people. However, most of the research focuses on the activists themselves and gives less attention to how YA is perceived by the broader youth population. This article explores the shared and divergent perspectives of young activists and their peers who remain on the sidelines. The article focuses on Poland, a country in which YA is gaining traction. The research involved discussion groups with secondary school students and interviews with prominent young activists in Poland. The study found that activists and non‐activist students shared similar views on key issues like education reform, climate change, human rights and abortion rights. However, they differed in how they defined activism and what forms of activism they deemed acceptable. Activists tended to use a narrower definition, reserving the term for those deeply committed to social or political causes. In contrast, students embraced broader definitions, identifying even small acts of volunteering or awareness‐raising as activism. This difference is important, since how we define YA can shape our understanding and evaluation of youth participation. Additionally, while activists often supported radical tactics, students expressed disapproval of methods they saw as disruptive, like blocking traffic or defacing public spaces. These findings highlight how negative perceptions of YA can potentially discourage wider youth participation.

This article endeavors to make three distinct contributions. First, this article focuses specifically on the perspective of Taiwan. The meanings of abortion vary in deferring cultural systems, and the norms vary significantly between countries. Nonetheless, in Taiwan, most scholars have a tendency to scrutinize and denounce domestic law through the lens of Western law, overlooking the disparities in the social and cultural foundations on which these two ledgal systems are built. To prevent replication of the previous research pattern of viewing Taiwan through a Western perspective, the legal system must be reexamined by taking into account Taiwan's social and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, this article chooses to focus on the locality of Taiwan. Second, this article wishes to present Taiwan’s experience and ongoing approach to addressing abortion issues as a model for other nations in the international community. Due to statehood disputes, Taiwan has not been featured or discussed in any international reports or documents pertaining to the legal framework of abortion, rendering it a crucial missing piece in the worldwidejigsaw puzzle of abortion laws. This article strives to remedy this gap by sharing Taiwan’s experience and progress in this field. Finally, Taiwan’s uniqueness lies in its foundation of Confucian culture as a social norm, while also embracing a strong emphasis on freedom and human rights. Through the development of the concept of abortion rights by the Taiwanese government and society and the context of discourse surrounding it, Taiwan showcases the feasibility of integrating Eastern traditional values with Western contemporary liberalism, allowing for coexistence and harmony.

ABSTRACT We apply framing theory to investigate how the news media framed the issue of abortion after the 2022 Dobbs decision. We conducted a rigorous content analysis of 1607 local news stories in states with abortion bans or restrictions that went into effect in the first year post-Dobbs. Our results uncover several key findings. First, we found that local news relied on thematic frames far more frequently than episodic frames. Second, when local news articles used episodic frames the stories featured women with wanted pregnancies who needed an abortion as part of emergency medical care. Third, our study showed that women journalists were more likely than men journalists to use thematic frames, but women and men were just as likely to use episodic frames. Our results illustrate how public discussion via local news outlets unfolded in the first year after the Dobbs decision. Our results contribute to multiple literatures on news media influence, frames, as well as coverage of issues that disproportionately affect women.

The 2022 US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization rescinded the federal right to abortion in the United States, paving the way for an unprecedented wave of new state policies for restricting or criminalizing abortion care—or, conversely, for protecting or creating new state rights to abortion care. This transformed legal understanding has upended the politics of abortion in the United States, raising the question for policy and politics researchers of how to move forward in an increasingly authoritarian era. In this reflective article, the author begins with an overview of the reproductive justice framework, suggesting it as a new norm for reproductive health policy research. The author briefly reviews and summarizes pre-Dobbs research on state policies related to reproductive justice constructs: the right to be pregnant, the right to not be pregnant, and the right to parent in a supportive environment. Building on the foundation of this earlier research, the author discusses the role of federalism in abortion policy going forward and proposes a framework for future research. The author concludes that reproductive health policy research should include the study of the interaction of policies and systems to holistically consider the role of abortion policy in shaping health and social outcomes.

Abstract This paper critiques Peter Singer’s utilitarian defense of abortion, which hinges on the fetus’s lack of preference capacity, through the lens of African (Igbo) jurisprudence and ethics. Singer’s argument, grounded in self-autonomy and individual freedom, is examined for its cross-cultural applicability and ethical robustness. Engaging with this objective, the study employs philosophical analysis and critical hermeneutics. The study finds Singer’s position deficient in universal applicability, particularly lacking resonance with Igbo (African) legal and ethical traditions. Furthermore, his framework is deemed inadequate for informing inclusive public health policies. This work broadens bioethical discourse by incorporating African legal and ethical perspectives, emphasizing the necessity of cultural integration and social harmony in ethical decision-making. Additionally, it contributes to environmental ethics, supporting Singer’s climate change insights while advocating for a more integrative discourse connecting abortion ethics and environmental concerns. The paper underscores the importance of culturally sensitive bioethics for contextually relevant public health policies.

There are two traditional binary ends of the spectrum that exist within the polarized secular discussion surrounding the issue of abortion. On one end, there are proponents of the position that a woman has unrestricted authority to choose to terminate a pregnancy. Conversely, on the other end of the spectrum, there are proponents of the position that each and every child maintains a fundamental right to live, and consequently, the state has a vested interest in preserving this right. The goal of this manuscript is to attempt to examine secular as well as theological considerations of both ends of the spectrum on abortion, before seeking to offer a mutual consensus based in Christian ethics, as supported by scripture, through examination of the ethical considerations of the pro-choice argument, examination of the ethical considerations of the pro-life argument, and ultimately, positing a common-ground alternative to this contentious issue by seeking to transcend the binary nature of the argument, and rather, focus on the mutual interests found in an ecumenical theological approach.

BackgroundSexual and reproductive rights (SRRs) include the ability to make informed choices about family planning and reproductive health, free from discrimination, coercion, or violence. This study aimed to assess awareness and identify factors influencing perceptions of reproductive rights among women aged 15–35 years in Chandigarh.MethodsA concurrent mixed-method study was conducted among 116 women in Chandigarh using a pretested, semi-structured tool for quantitative analysis. A grounded theory approach was used to explore perceptions among 37 women through six focus group discussions (FGD), guided by a pretested FGD guide. Quantitative data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Trial Version 26.0, while thematic analysis of qualitative data was conducted manually. Data integration was performed at the interpretation stage.ResultsUrban residents had significantly higher awareness of SRRs and legal abortion rights [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 5.2, 95% CI = 1.5–17.5; AOR = 3.5, 95% CI = 1.28–9.55]. Unmarried women were more aware of abortion rights (AOR = 4.68, 95% CI = 1.83–11.06). Higher education was associated with greater awareness of family planning (AOR = 16.06, 95% CI = 2.8–91.6). Individual factors included differing priorities, hesitancy to discuss, and fear of abortion and contraceptive side effects. Family-related factors involved decision-making roles (in-laws and husbands). Societal factors included low autonomy and religious beliefs. The stigma surrounding reproductive health and sex education hindered women from exercising their rights.ConclusionSignificant gaps exist in SRR awareness, particularly among married, less educated, and slum-dwelling women. Family control, religious beliefs, and stigma hinder reproductive autonomy.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40834-025-00398-9.

This study discusses the role of Christian ethics in shaping attitudes towards abortion in Indonesia, which has led to moral, social, and legal debates. The main issues examined are how the biblical view and Christian ethical teachings assess the act of abortion and how the attitude of the church and believers in responding to this phenomenon. The aim of this study is to understand theologically and ethically the position of the Christian faith on abortion, while offering a compassionate pastoral approach to women facing such moral dilemmas. The research method used is descriptive qualitative method, by examining various theological, social, and legal sources to describe in depth the views of Christian ethics on abortion. The results showed that in the view of Christian ethics, human life is a holy gift of God from the womb, so abortion is considered contrary to his will. However, the church and believers are called not only to reject abortion in a normative way, but also to provide mentoring, moral education, and spiritual support for those affected. This study confirms the importance of balance between truth and love in dealing with the issue of abortion as a concrete manifestation of the application of Christian ethics in society.