Book | Finland

English title: Abortion
Keyword(s): reproductive rights | contraception | personal narratives | abortions | legislation | experiences | birth control | family planning | history
Languages(s): Finnish
Manifest: view document: Abortti
Copyright:

© Copyright Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Summary:
The Finnish abortion law was reformed in 1970 after a heated public debate. At this time the association Sexpo (Association of sexual politics) collected women’s personal narratives and views of abortion. The book is based on this collection of written accounts and documented phone calls. The editor combined the personal stories with quotations and analysis of the public debate and previous research data. The main goal was to give visibility to women’s experiences and thus create better understanding of their situation among politicians, authorities and doctors.
The themes of the book are illegal and legal abortions, unwanted children and miscarriages, the old and new abortion laws in Finland, women’s health and economical situations, sterilisation, contraception and the consequences of abortion.
The 1970 law gave doctors new possibilities to provide abortion: so called social reasons now became a legal ground for abortion. The book raises questions about the possible new medical practices and gives suggestions for legal reforms. These suggestions consider access to contraception and information about it, abortion counselling and the economical position of families with children. The concluding demand is free choice for women: abortion should not be denied, if the woman herself prefers this solution.