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Rebecca Selberg

Rebecca Selberg

Docent | Senior lecturer

Rebecca Selberg

The midwife case and conscientious objection: new ways of framing abortion in Sweden

Author

  • Rebecca Selberg

Summary, in English

By examining the arguments presented in courts and in print media to support and oppose the introduction of conscientious objection for healthcare workers in Sweden, this article illustrates the ways in which interest groups may take advantage of expanding opportunity structures in the wake of internationalization, all the while framing their arguments in ways that create resonance with national and nationalist discourses. Focusing on the case of a midwife who sued a county for refusing to hire her after having learned she would not participate in abortions, the article analyzes how both anti- and pro-abortion groups frame the issue of conscientious objection as aligned with “Swedish exceptionalism” in terms of worker co-determination and adherence to international conventions. The article thus strengthens the feminist contention that the issue of abortion, regardless of how precisely it is framed, tends to mobilize nationalist discourses, but also highlights how anti-abortion movements can “think global, act local.”

Department/s

  • Department of Gender Studies

Publishing year

2020

Language

English

Pages

312-334

Publication/Series

International Feminist Journal of Politics

Volume

22

Issue

3

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Gender Studies

Keywords

  • Abortion
  • Conscientious objection
  • Sweden
  • Opportunity structures

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1461-6742