The Challenges of Abortion and Assisted Reproductive Technologies Policies in Europe

Abstract

Most European countries face regulatory challenges in the reproduction field that were triggered by feminist claims for reproductive rights and by the technological development of assisted reproductive technologies ( ART). State responses to these reproductive challenges differ strongly in terms of regulatory scope and content. By reviewing the explanations offered in the literature, this paper concludes that if institutional arrangements at the national level do not tend to exert a clear systematic and direct impact on abortion and ART policy outputs, strong coherence within the medical community does explain a great deal of the variation among policies. However, it shows that physicians, confronted to strong public controversy, have been forced to accept compromise with their challengers by forging alliances either with women's movements or with pro-life actors. Comparative European Politics (2009) 7, 56-74. doi:10.1057/cep.2008.36