How Did You Get in There and Make the Law Work?’ Feminist Activism, Doctors and Abortion Law
The Occupation of an Hospital
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6451715 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elena Caruso (0000-0002-8133-3821, University of Waterloo, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 143-167 |
| Publication date | 2024-05-21 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social & Legal Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0964-6639 • E-ISSN: 1461-7390 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/09646639241254359 |
| OpenAlex | W4398217556 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 42 |
In this article, I examine the aftermath of Italy's 1978 abortion law (Law 194/1978) and the following feminist occupation of a Rome hospital, revealing a little-known chapter in feminist history. The legislation marked a pivotal moment by partly legalising abortion access, overturning draconian laws from the Fascist era. The focus on the 3-month occupation illuminates how social movements actively shaped, and were shaped by, the implementation of the law. Drawing on overlooked archival materials and original interviews with feminist abortion campaigners, I uncover unique dynamics between feminist activists, medical professionals, and abortion law. I contend that this historical event not only diversifies our understanding of social movements’ roles in legal changes but also highlights the exceptional case of a public hospital serving as a platform for transmitting feminist practices and knowledge to medical professionals. Ultimately, I argue for the crucial role of feminist history in advancing socio–legal scholarship
Abortion · Abortion law · Family planning · Political activism · Political science · Politics · Population · Pregnancy · Research methodology · Sociology · Work (physics · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Engineering · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Gender Studies · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law
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Chronotopes of Law
“Get up, Stand up”
The Politics of Morality
Reframing Human Rights in a Turbulent Era
Women and the Reinvention of the Political
Law and Social Movements
Transformative Illegality
Legal Struggles
Revisiting Polish Abortion Law
Abortion Law and Professional Boundaries
Conceptualizing Legal Mobilization
The Social Movement Turn in Law
Feminism, the state, and the centrality of reproduction
The politics of preservation
Designs of devices
Democracy and disorder
The boundaries of property
Doctors of conscience
Understandings of self-managed abortion as health inequity, harm reduction and social change
Anti-Abortion Clinic Activism, Civil Inattention and the Problem of Gendered Harassment
Embodied health movements
Uneasy allies
| Highly cited | No |
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