Beyond Pro-life and Pro-choice: The Changing Politics of Abortion in Britain

Tracing the evolution of political discourse on abortion from the 1960s to today, this interdisciplinary book argues that in order to understand the changing pluralities of contemporary abortion debate, it is necessary to move beyond an understanding of abortion politics as characterised by “pro-choice’ and "pro-life’.

Examining the changing pluralities of contemporary abortion debate in the UK, this interdisciplinary book proves it necessary to move beyond an understanding of abortion politics as characterised in binary terms by ‘pro-choice’ versus ‘pro-life’. Amery traces the evolution of political and parliamentary discourses from the passage of the Abortion Act in the 1960’s to the present day, arguing that the current provision of abortion in the UK rests assumptions about medical authority over women’s reproductive decision-making which are unsustainable.

She considers new arguments around sex-selective abortion, disability rights, pre-abortion counselling and the push for decriminalisation and radically reconceptualises the debate to account for these new battlegrounds in abortion politics.