Title: The pro-choice movement: organization and activism in the abortion conflict.

POPLINE Document Number: 077834

Author(s):

Staggenborg S

Source citation:

New York, New York, Oxford University Press, 1991. xiv, 229 p.

Abstract:

The development, maintenance, and impact of the pro-choice movement is examined by looking at 13 major movement organizations, 6 national and 7 local to Chicago and Illinois. Newsletters and organizational papers supplied the documentation of activities beginning in the 1980s; interviews with past and present activists also provided documentation. Organizations were of several types (single issue, population, and women's movement) and included the following: the National Abortion Rights Action League and state affiliate, the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights and state affiliate, Zero Population Growth and Chicago affiliate, the National Organization for Women and Chicago affiliate, the National Women's Health Network, and the Reproductive Rights National Network. Additional state and city organizations were Illinois Citizens for the Medical Control of Abortion, the Abortion Rights Association of Illinois, the Chicago Women's Liberation Union, the Chicago Women's Health Task Force, and Women Organized for Reproductive Choice. Discussion of the origins of the abortion rights movement begins with the development before legalization in 1973. The movement was organized from within established institutions, among grassroots groups, and by influential individuals with skills and experience in political persuasion. The protest movements of the 1960s gave political opportunity to direct institutionalized and direct action strategies. How the forms of collection action lead to legalization is explained. The discussion of the impact of the 1973 decision in Roe vs. Wade is concerned with the maintenance of movement energy rather than a demobilization following victory. The dynamics of internal organization are explained in addition to the changes in the political environment which included the growth of the anti-abortion countermovement. Established organizations began to increase their support, for example. The effects on other strategies employed by movement organizations is revealed. The growth of the movement occurring after 1976 is presented. Theories about the role of organizations and the refinement and narrow focus of strategies used are also discussed. Movement survival during the 1980s and the obstacles encountered are accounted for. The implications theories of social movements are explained.

Keywords:

United States
Historical Review
Abortion Law
Pro-Choice Groups
Abortion
Organizations
Social Change
Social Networks
Women's Groups
North America
Americas
Developed Countries
Fertility Control, Postconception
Family Planning
Interest Groups
Political Factors
Friends and Relatives
Family and Household