The debate on abortion has tended to avoid the psychological significance of an unwanted pregnancy, dominated instead by the strong emotions the subject excites. In this book Eva Pattis Zoja examines the thoughts and feelings that surround the decision to end a pregnancy, through the dreams, diary entries and reports of the women themselves.
"Abortion" proposes the controversial thesis that although contraception is so readily available that the occurrence of unwanted pregnancy should become nil, abortion has now become a rite of passage in womanhood. While acknowledging the painful nature of the subject, the author suggests that this decision to abort as a way to development is one beyond the explanation of modern, enlightened rationalism.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
INTRODUCTION 1 ABORTION: A NON-PLACE 2 A SLIP IN BIRTH CONTROL? 3 ANTHROPOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS 4 A COMPARISON 5 THE CHRONICS 6 THE GOALS OF AN ABORTION 7 UNCONSCIOUSLY DESIRED 8 INITIATION AND MATERNITY 9 INITIATION AND ABORTION 10 BEYOND THE MOTHER: ARTEMIS AND ATHENA 11 KILLING 12 TWO CHOICES 13 A SACRIFICE 14 THE GUILT OF BECOMING AN ADULT 15 AN ULTERIOR THRESHOLD 16 ABORTION AND THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT 17 THE NON-FATHER 18 THE ESCORTS
