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My Body, Their Battlefield
- Danielle Robinson
- Oct 29
- 4 min read
A global map of autonomy in flux
Around the world, we’re witnessing history move in two directions at once. In some places, fetters are being loosened; in others, new chains are being forged. The struggle over reproductive rights isn’t isolated to one country or culture — it’s a shared global battleground. And at its centre lies a simple question: Who gets to decide what happens to a body — and who doesn’t?
The Global Terrain: Reform, Regression, Resilience
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services — including safe abortion care — is recognised as a human right.
The data however tell a mixed story. Over the past few decades, many countries moved toward legalising abortion under broader grounds; yet, as recent events show, gains are neither linear nor guaranteed.
In France, for example, abortion rights have been elevated into the constitutional realm — a bold affirmation of bodily sovereignty.
In Mexico, the national Supreme Court declared that penalising abortion violated equality and public-health norms.
Yet in Poland, laws remain among the most restrictive in Europe — and in the United States the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision shattered half a century of precedent, sending millions of women across state lines or underground to access care.
These are not merely legal changes. They are coordinates on a global map of control.
What Drives the Backlash?
Why, at a time when medical science is more advanced than ever, is the body still so fiercely contested? The drivers are multiple, but three stand out:
Political populism & national identity. In many nations, reproductive laws are being reshaped not just in the name of health but in the name of nationhood, “family values,” or moral conformity.
Religious conservatism. Faith communities, and political partners thereof, remain influential actors in shaping policy and public opinion around reproduction.
Digital surveillance and regulatory retrenchment. In the wake of legal losses or gains, access is increasingly influenced by data, travel, telemedicine — and the infrastructure of visibility.
The Human Cost
Legal restrictions on abortion — or barriers to safe, timely access — don’t only impact rights; they cost lives. Unsafe abortions remain a leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide. And even where abortion is technically legal, social, geographic, economic, and regulatory barriers often leave it out of reach.
For instance, while the U.S. overall abortion rate was estimated at 15.9 abortions per 1,000 women in 2023, access varies wildly by state. In parts of the Global South, over-restrictive laws paired with weak healthcare systems leave women vulnerable to clandestine care and its complications.
In short: the body is not only under legal siege — it is under structural strain.
Resistance and Reform
But this is not only a tale of rollback and repression. Around the world, activists, lawyers, health professionals and ordinary women are pushing back — reframing abortion access not as favour but as justice.
For example, the Center for Reproductive Rights’ Pathways to Change report chronicles successful legal reforms across 13 countries, offering practical strategies from alliance-building to litigation. The Global Fund for Women emphasises that reproductive rights are inseparable from economic, racial and climate justice.
These efforts reveal a key insight: access to abortion isn’t simply a medical or legal question — it is a reflection of how society values autonomy.
Beyond Legislation: Autonomy as Infrastructure
If we step back, the broader vision becomes clear: reproductive autonomy is infrastructure. It is not an optional extra. It is the foundation on which education, employment, dignity and democracy are built.
When a woman cannot access safe abortion or contraception, when her body is subject to criminalisation or stigma, the entire architecture of equality falters. The WHO emphasises this when it states that sexual and reproductive health services are a necessary ingredient for gender equality and social participation.
Thus, the battle for abortion rights is a proxy for the broader battle over who gets to belong, who gets to decide, and who remains excluded.
What Must Happen Next
Given the stakes, what are the key components of progress?
Legal clarity and constitutional protection. Countries like France show one model: embedding abortion rights into the highest legal tier helps shield them from political volatility.
Removing structural barriers. It isn’t enough to legalise; there must be actual access: clinics, trained providers, affordable care, safe travel.
Normalize autonomy across borders. When barriers emerge in one country, women cross borders, seek pills online, or rely on clandestine networks. That underscores that reproductive rights are regional, not solely national.
Link access to justice dialogues. Reproductive care must be linked to human rights, racial justice, disability access, climate resilience. Fragmentation weakens the cause.
Monitor and adapt for the digital era. As telemedicine, pills by mail, and data-driven medicine expand, regulation must protect privacy, guard against prosecution, and ensure safe access.
Sustain political will. Reform doesn’t end when a law is passed. Policy, funding, education and public culture must evolve alongside.
Conclusion: The Body Remembers
The headlines tell us the story of law and reform; yet the body tells another story — of memory, of loss, of survival. It remembers the clinic that closed, the stigma that lingered, the sister who travelled across borders. It also remembers the protest march, the clinic opened, the pill by mail. It holds both despair and hope in its cells.
Because this is not just an ideological battle. It is about the right to inhabit one’s own self without permission or apology. It is about autonomy not as an abstraction, but as everyday life — walking down the street, planning a future, making decisions that matter.
Around the world, history is being written in real time — in parliaments, courts, clinics, scripts, and bodies. And though the journey is far from over, the direction is unmistakable: toward self-determination, equity and recognition.
In the end, the body remembers.
And from that memory springs the new generation of freedom.
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