Navigating the Controversy: Abortion Rights and Reproductive Futures in Europe

A Symposium on Reproductive Rights in Europe

Reproductive rights (contraception, egg freezing, MPA, abortion right, …) have been expanding with different timing within the European Union. They remain a contentious subject of discussion, sparking intense debates and policy changes. The European political landscape exhibits a significant disparity in reproductive policies not only in terms of regulation, effective access but also in terms of social acceptance and practice by women. Regarding abortion rights, in Malta and Andorra it is completely prohibited, while in France it is currently discussed to be constitutionalised. This disparity is even more compounded by recent policy changes in Poland and Hungary, increasingly restricting access to abortion.

On Friday December 1, 2023, Sciences Po's Gender Studies Programme convenes prominent researchers from Europe and beyond to discuss abortion rights and reproductive futures with the aim to navigate the controversy created around these issues through academic and scientific inquiry. Based on the state of the art of academic knowledge that exists on these topics, Sciences Po's Pluridisciplinary Symposium on Reproductive Rights in Europe will raise a road map for future research.

The Symposium consists of two sessions

• A morning session on Abortion Rights, Politics and Activism, opened by keynote speaker economist Martha Bailey (UCLA, USA). Several presentations will follow including political scientist Hazal Atay (Sciences Po, France), jurist Elena Caruso (University of Waterloo, Canada), Selma Hajri (Medical Doctor, Tunisia) and Elena Brodeala (University of Zurich, Switzerland). Register for the morning session.
• An afternoon session on Imagining Reproductive Futures: Towards Reproductive Autonomy and Justice, including Rebecca Gomperts (Medical Doctor, the Netherlands), Lucy van de Wiel (King’s College London, UK), Riikka Homanen (Tampere University, Finland), Magali Mazuy (Ined, France) and Annabel Sowemimo (King’s College London, UK). Register for the afternoon session.