Abortion Beyond the Law Building a Global Feminist Movement for Self-Managed Abortion

How feminists across Latin America, Africa, and Europe are making self-managed abortion available to all–and the strong transnational feminist movement they have built along the way

The feminists across Latin America, Africa, and Europe making self-managed abortion available to all - and the transnational movement they have built along the way

Drawing on years of research with activists around the world, sociologist Naomi Braine describes the strategies, politics, and tactics of direct action feminists bringing abortion pills, information, and support to people seeking to end unwanted pregnancies. From combatting the legal strictures of Bolsonaro's Brazil, to navigating the NGO-dominated landscape of Kenya and Nigeria, feminist activists are making safe, accessible abortion care available against the odds.

Even more important, these women are building a robust transnational feminist network. Tactics developed in the Global South - hotlines, practices of accompaniment and peer-to-peer care, and scientific information - are now being shared with activists in Europe and North America, building a new model for international feminist solidarity.

Naomi Braine is a professor of sociology at Brooklyn College, CUNY. Prior to joining the faculty at Brooklyn, she worked in the nonprofit research sector on issues of drug use and HIV and consulted for community-based organizations and the New York State Department of Health. Her political and intellectual work addresses gender, sexuality, reproductive justice, wars on drugs and terror, and health and collective action, from an intersectional perspective.

Introduction

1. Abortion Is Unstoppable: The Emergence of a Transnational Movement
2. We Are Everywhere: The Shape of the Global Movement for SMA
3. An Act of Solidarity between Women: Strategies to Share Information and Enable Safe Abortions
4. Being an Activist Is Not Easy: Managing Security and Sharing the Risks
5. We Have Become the Experts: Scientific Research, Medical Protocols, and Movement Knowledge
6. We All Work Together: Building Activist Networks from the Local to the Global
7. In It for the Long Term: The Lives of Committed Activists

Conclusion: Moving Forward

Acknowledgments
Notes
Index