Abortion Rights in International Perspective

In the next two units, we will rethink the future of reproduction and the law in the United States by looking abroad. We will begin by looking at other judicial interventions in the area of abortion rights--in Canada, South Korea, Kenya, and Poland. What do these cases suggest about possible foundations for abortion rights? The value of judicial intervention? The relationship between law and politics?

We will then look beyond the courts to changes made in South Africa, China, Argentina, and Ireland. We will consider the role played by social movements and physicians. We will consider the trajectory of democratic and autocratic regimes. We will evaluate arguments framed around human rights and storytelling. And we will consider what lessons, if any, these stories offer for the future of struggles around reproduction, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation in the United States.

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