'Gendercide,' Abortion Policy, and the Disciplining of Prenatal Sex-selection in Neoliberal Europe

Purewal, Navtej; Eklund, Lisa

Abstract

This article examines the contours of how sex-selective abortion (SSA) and ‘gendercide’ have been problematically combined within contemporary debates on abortion in Europe. Analysing the development of policies on the topic, we identify three ‘turns’ which have become integral to the biopolitics of SSA in Europe: the biomedical turn, the ‘gendercide’ turn, and the Asian demographic turn. Recent attempts to discipline SSA in the UK and Sweden are examined as a means of showing how the neoliberal state in Europe is becoming increasingly open to manoeuvres to undermine the right to abortion, even where firm laws exist.

Citation

Purewal, N., & Eklund, L. (2017). 'Gendercide,' Abortion Policy, and the Disciplining of Prenatal Sex-selection in Neoliberal Europe. Global Public Health, 13(6), 724-741. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2017.1289230

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 28, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Feb 17, 2017
• Publication Date: Feb 17, 2017
• Deposit Date: Feb 6, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 6, 2017
• Journal: Global Public Health
• Print ISSN: 1744-1692
• Electronic ISSN: 1744-1706
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 724-741
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2017.1289230