Feminist Approaches on Abortion. Evolution and Significance
Feminist Approaches on Abortion. Evolution and Significance

Summary/Abstract: As we try to find out which is the most appropriate way to deal with abortion, it is very important to analyse the feminist perspective on this issue. This is because feminism has been, since its birth, the extreme expression of women’s rights and needs. And abortion is necessarily linked to women’s status. The feminist view on abortion has known a developing process. In the second half of the 19th century, feminists tended to reject abortion. They considered that abortion was a way to deny the specific feminine feature of motherhood. Going on through the 20th century, feminist view on abortion shifted in a dramatic way, reaching the opposite position. Thus, the feminists embraced a pro-abortion attitude. The explanation is that, trying to gain equality with men, women saw motherhood as an important obstacle in their emancipation. Women with children had to stay home and raise them, instead of trying to make a professional accomplishment. This is why abortion was largely sustained. In the last three decades, there has been another shift in the feminist view on abortion. Now, it is believed that, trying to be equal to men, women must freely express their nature, including their biological features. As motherhood is considered the most important feminine characteristic, women must be free to have children, if they want this. Thus, the feminists consider that, in order for women to achieve full accomplishment, they don’t need to change or to deny their nature. Instead, it is the society who has to change and to offer them the conditions to manifest their womanhood.

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