Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In today’s era of mighty courts, people opt increasingly to pursue the judicial route to social change, eschewing the more traditional avenues of politics, such as legislation. Many such plaintiffs view courts as neutral and their tools—the law—inherently fair, which raises the judicial branch above the realm of mere politics and powerful entrenched interest. In reality, however, courts are not as insulated as is commonly perceived. But if courts are susceptible to many of the same pressures as the other branches, what conditions lend themselves to the courts being successful arbiters of social change? Abortion, a controversial issue on the global stage and not least in the Latin American countries examined in this paper, provides an apt case study for examining the contextual factors that shape the social and political responses to legal decision-making. Four factors—issue salience, political context, ideological affinity, and judicialization approach—combine to determine when and how far the courts can push the social envelope and with what results.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Taiwanese women have enjoyed their “abortion on demand” in every level of health providers since the legalization of abortion in 1985. The public attitude toward abortion is generally permissive and it is estimated that the number of abortions performed in Taiwan has reached 300,000 per year. While this number struck some religious leaders as a symbol of moral decay and disrespect for life, it was not until the year of 2006 that the religious groups allied as a coalition, “the Respect for Life Coalition”, against abortion.

The Coalition has gathered over 1,200 groups from almost every Taiwanese denomination including groups of Buddhists, Taoists, Christians, and Catholics. Through political lobbying and successful mobilization, the Coalition is pushing the Administrative and Legislative to amend the current abortion law by narrowing down its permissive rules on access to abortion.

This paper purports to examine the abortion discourses in Taiwan spanning more than two decades from the legalization of abortion in 1985 to the recent abortion debate. I will argue that the pragmatic rhetoric advocated by feminist groups during the legislative process for legalization in 1985 under the authoritarian KMT regime can no longer provide a solid consensus in the post-authoritarian democracy. The pragmatic discourses which feminists advanced, such as claiming that illegal abortions harm women’s health, although helped to eschew “the clash of absolutes,” has eventually backfired. I will propose that the Taiwanese feminists need to advocate a women’s right rhetoric when the religious antiabortion groups are advancing the fetus life rhetoric.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This study tests the hypothesis that state abortion rates are influenced by state restrictions on abortion. Earlier studies have shown mixed results. I develop a model of abortion rates for the time period from 1988 through 1996. I hypothesize that the adoption of abortion restrictions requiring parental involvement for minors, abortion specific informed consent, and waiting periods prior to the procedure, leads to lower state abortion rates. I further hypothesize that individual four year models of the period before and after the Casey decision will demonstrate that this effect was strongest in the time period after the Casey decision. Analysis of the data confirms the first hypothesis that restrictions have a significant impact on abortion rates while controlling for other factors that influence the abortion rate. The second hypothesis is not confirmed, as the effect is significant prior to the Casey decision.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: ABSTRACT
Context. Though individuals, organizations and political bodies disagree on the legality of abortion, in contemporary American society there is a shared construction of abortion as an undesirable end to a pregnancy. Many women who share this construction of abortion have abortions anyway. In this paper, we examine the attitudes of these women toward abortion and toward the dominant construction of abortion in their social world.
Methods. We recruited 20 participants from three clinics located in two states in the US South and Midwest. In semi-structured interviews, women’s characterized the attitudes of their family, friends and community toward abortion. They also reflected on their own opinions of abortion both before and after their abortion appointment.
Results. Women in our sample acknowledged that the dominant construction of abortion in their community was negative and many women held negative attitudes toward abortion and believed it to be wrong prior to their own abortion experience. After their abortion experiences, women in our study articulated a spectrum of attitudes between accepting the dominant construct and rejecting the dominant construct. The five main attitudes were “judging others,” “feeling ashamed,” “remaining neutral,” “balancing both sides,” and “resisting and replacing.”
Conclusions. Many women who shared the dominant construct prior to their abortion experience moved along the spectrum toward rejecting this construct after their abortion experience. Expressing the range of their abortion attitudes may support women’s emotional well-being after their abortion.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Many academic and policy studies provide evidence that state level restrictions on abortion, including public funding restrictions, parental involvement laws, and informed consent laws, reduce the number of abortions that take place within the boundaries of a given state. However, it is possible that women are circumventing these laws by seeking abortions in states where the laws are less restrictive. In this study, I will make use of a comprehensive time series cross sectional dataset of state abortion rates. This will allow me to analyze the extent to which these in-state abortion declines are offset by abortion increases in neighboring states.