Feminist Responses to Anti-Abortion Attacks. Building Democratic Innovations in Informal Fields

In recent years, feminist movements in Europe and beyond have encountered escalating challenges from anti-gender mobilizations seeking to restrict equality, including the right to abortion. In the context of growing de-democratization triggered by anti-abortion actors, this paper investigates feminist repertoires of action in the field of abortion rights in Slovenia and Italy, conceptualizing them as democratic innovations designed to enhance and revitalize the state of democracy. While the history of the opposition to abortion is “at the roots of the discourse on 'gender ideology’” (Paternotte & Kuhar, 2018, p. 9), attacks on the right to abortion have significantly increased during the last decade, strongly opposed by feminist mobilizations. In some cases, like in Poland or Spain, anti-abortion actors have directly challenged existing policies and laws protecting the right to abortion. In the cases of Slovenia and Italy, however, abortion remains legally protected. Specifically, in Slovenia, abortion is constitutionally protected, representing a strong legal safeguard for reproductive rights. In contrast, Italy’s Law 194 imposes conditions on abortion, requiring medical approval, thus creating potential barriers to access. However, anti-abortion attacks have been predominantly enacted through indirect means and through more or less successful attempts to create informal and indirect obstacles. This represents a strategic choice by anti-abortion actors, responding to the generally high consensus towards existing laws in both countries. Nevertheless, their ability to infiltrate healthcare institutions and influence public discourse on abortion has often succeeded in eroding the right to abortion from within. Drawing on 43 interviews with feminist activists in Slovenia and Italy, our comparative analysis reveals that feminist movements in both countries demonstrate democratic resilience not solely through policy advocacy but also by fostering informal and grassroots practices. These include initiatives such as mapping healthcare facilities where doctors practice conscientious objection and accompanying individuals seeking abortion care in Italy, as well as sharing information and producing grassroots knowledge as observed in Slovenia, to support access to abortion and address existing barriers. In examining feminist responses to threats by anti-abortion actors in the two countries, where abortion remains legally protected, our aim is to contribute to contemporary debates on gendering democratic resilience (Chiva 2023). In fact, we contend that grassroots repertoires adopted to maintain and expand the right to abortion, by granting access and providing care, represent forms of democratic resilience as well as democratic innovations that - going beyond the need of filling institutional gaps - enact a feminist approach to abortion, grounded upon self-determination and care. By shifting the attention from policy-oriented forms of democratic resilience, this paper centers its analysis on the relevance of direct social actions (Bosi & Zamponi, 2015) as forms of action that enact and embody a response to concrete needs. The research is part of the Horizon Project FIERCE – Feminist Movements Revitalizing Democracy in Europe.