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Private Bleeding: Self-Induced Abortion in the Twenty-First Century United States

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Abstract

Although not common, self-induced abortion continues to exist in the contemporary United States, where women are being criminalized for the practice. This paper analyzes the reasons that women have for inducing their own abortions given the existence of legal alternatives. It argues that changes in medical technologies and information technologies have made self-abortions safer and more accessible, while structural and cultural barriers have limited access to legal abortions. While some feminists and reproductive rights advocates have problematized the practice of self-aborting itself as dangerous and indicative of the deterioration of the rights guaranteed under Roe v Wade, this paper suggests that feminists must turn their attentions to changing the terms under which abortion is treated under the law.

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Notes

  1. (Original Spanish: Cuando me tome la pastillas 3 tomada y 2 bagina y despues de 6 oras aborte a mi ija de 4 meses leugo eran la 6 de la manana y le able ala senora para que fuera ayudarme).

  2. For a thorough discussion of the era of abortion illegality in the United States, see Reagan [25].

  3. Misoprostol has in fact been endorsed by feminist organizations such as “Women on Waves,” dedicated to providing women in countries with repressive abortion laws with access to safe abortions and information. “Women on Waves” posts instructions and information about misoprostol on its website www.womenonwaves.org. Doctors in the United States have also emphasized the safety of misoprostol compared with other “folk” abortion methods. See the Gynuity study published on www.ibis.com. Also, see Arilha [1].

  4. The deaths associated with RU-486 were in fact caused by the practice at certain Planned Parenthood locations of instructing women to insert some of the pills vaginally rather than taking them all orally over a more extended period of time. This was done to expedite the process for women, but resulted in uterine infections from the bacteria Clostridium. Planned Parenthood stopped this practice after the deaths came to light.

  5. For a more complete discussion, see: (Gordon [12], Chap. 13); (Reagan [25], Chap. 7–8).

  6. There are hundreds of articles about the Rhodes case. See, for example: “College Athlete Accused of Killing Her Own Newborn,” from “The Nancy Grace Show [31].

  7. For example, Thornburgh v American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Pennsylvania (1986) found that the informed consent provisions interfered with the physician’s discretion and was meant to dissuade women from aborting. On the other hand, Planned Parenthood v Casey (1992) overturned much of the previous decision and did not find state-mandated information about fetal development to be unconstitutional. For more, see (Rose [26]).

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  1. New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Tiana Bakić Hayden

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Hayden, T.B. Private Bleeding: Self-Induced Abortion in the Twenty-First Century United States. Gend. Issues 28, 209–225 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-011-9105-4

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