Abortion against State and Church: Refusing Reproduction in a Legally Restricted Context

Abstract

In the last decade, Poland has witnessed the rapid rise of an abortion liberation movement formed in response to the Catholic nationalist far right and its efforts to restrict reproductive rights. The movement began with mass street protests against Catholic nationalism and evolved into an ecology of organisations centred around Abortion Support Groups (ASGs) that help Polish women to obtain abortions through extra-legal means.

Advancing critical feminist scholarship and inspired by Gramscian theories of power, this thesis investigates the possibilities of social change in a context where formal political channels of reform are blocked. It argues that the emergent abortion liberation movement has brought about profound change in the area of informal politics, even though it has so far failed to affect restrictive abortion laws or prevent their further tightening. The movement's counterhegemonic project challenges the longstanding alliance between the Polish state and the Catholic Church and has successfully shifted the stigmatising views of abortion that had permeated the Polish public sphere since the 1990s. This, it is argued, has led to the effective social decriminalisation of abortion even while anti-abortion laws remain in place. In advancing this argument, the thesis engages in critical discussion with Marxist and Left Accelerationist thinkers who claim that contemporary social movements against capitalism have largely failed in their attempts to effect lasting change. The thesis questions why these theorists routinely omit discussion of abortion liberation movements and argues that the omission reflects a serious oversight in their understanding of both capitalism and the possibilities of anti-capitalist resistance. By insisting on the inclusion of the sphere of reproduction in the understanding of what constitutes capitalism, this thesis approaches struggles over reproductive rights as profoundly connected to anti-capitalist resistance.

This thesis employs qualitative research methods, drawing upon three sources, i) in-depth interviews with ASG activists and women who have used their services, ii) ASG websites and social media profiles, and iii) media and non-governmental reports on anti-Church protests.

By investigating the possibilities of informal political power, the thesis contributes to recent debates about resistance on the left and to critical feminist work on abortion, social movements and reproductive justice. Show more