Rebecca Steinfeld presents her paper looking at the historical and contemporary struggles that have led to the gap between the restrictions on, and availability of, abortion in Israel. It attributes this gap to the compromise necessitated by conflicts amongst competing policymakers, motivated by opposing viewpoints and interests, over the objectives and substance of abortion policies. Opposition to abortion stems primarily from demographic anxiety relating to both the Holocaust and the Muslim Arab-Jewish fertility differential in Israel/ Palestine. Support for access to abortion emanates from countervailing concerns about the implications of unrestrained fertility for women’s health, family welfare, and social stability, as well as “qualitative” interests in reproducing healthy children. Some feminists have also resisted attempts to render women’s wombs national vessels. Rebecca's paper explores the evolution of these struggles over four distinct historical periods, and assesses their impact on women’s reproductive experiences and rights.
Her paper will be circulated in advance of the event to those registered.
Event Details
Speaker: Dr Rebecca Steinfeld, Goldsmiths, University of London
Chair: Professor Avi Shlaim, University of Oxford
Date: Tuesday 07 June 2016
Time: 16:30-18:00
Event Hashtag: #LSESteinfeld
Location: Room 9.04, Tower 2, Clement's Inn, LSE
Attendance: Registration for this event has now closed.
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Speaker
Dr Rebecca Steinfeld is a political scientist researching the politics of reproduction and genital alteration. She is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre of the Body at Goldsmiths, University of London and was a Visiting Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre in 2015-2016.