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Nationalism, Pronatalism, and the Guild of Gynecology : The Complex Legacy of Abortion Regulation in Hungary
Title / Series / Name
Publication Volume
Publication Issue
Pages
Authors
Editors
Keywords
Hungary
abortion
gynecology
reproductive rights
wartime sexual violence
History
SDG 5 - Gender Equality
SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
abortion
gynecology
reproductive rights
wartime sexual violence
History
SDG 5 - Gender Equality
SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14018/26481
Abstract
By tracing the history of abortion politics in Hungary since World War I, this article covers a century of conflict with particular attention to gynecologists’ self-serving professional jockeying and lobbying under very different political regimes. It suggests that nationalism has been a pivotal element of the abortion debates that both government actors and gynecologists have shaped over the last hundred years and argues that abortion rights were differently recognized in eastern and western Europe during the Cold War because of the legacy of mass wartime rapes committed by the Soviet troops in Hungary, among other countries, which determined those countries’ postwar legislation on abortion and reproductive rights. The article introduces the rarely researched contribution of the gynecologist lobby to the debates by examining how they could represent their own interests independently of political regime. Today, Hungary’s illiberal regime questions the legitimacy of abortion by normalizing US fundamentalist-Christian discourse because anti-abortion policy fits into its nation-building course.
Topic
Publisher
Place of Publication
Type
Journal article
Date
2024-04-02
Language
ISBN
Identifiers
10.1017/S0008938924000037