The aim of this thesis is to analyse and examine the debate on prenatal testing in Western countries, with a special focus on my own country, Sweden. In the near future it might be possible for a pregnant woman to profile the DNA of her foetus with a simple blood test early in pregnancy. This method of prenatal testing – Non Invasive Prenatal Diagnosis (NIPD) – could potentially detect the genetic causes of almost every disease. I will argue that prenatal testing should be offered by society to all pregnant women, not only to those at highest risk of giving birth to children with severe conditions. I will do that from a perspective of reproductive freedom. Furthermore, I will argue that offering prenatal testing for some conditions (such as Downs’s syndrome) and not for others, is conflicting with the autonomous choice of the pregnant woman.

Beginning with eight women’s experiences in accessing emergency contraception from a pharmacist, this research brings into view the undocumented “sexual health work” of obtaining the drug in northern Ontario. Between 2005 and 2008, emergency contraception was deregulated to behind-the-counter, forcing women to submit to mandatory counselling and screening about sex, menstruation and contraception at the pharmacy. Situating unwanted pregnancy as harmful in this context, an institutional ethnographic analysis explores the activities of health service delivery and identifies the different ideological practices that shaped women’s access like the steady creep of neoliberalism, professional specialization and clinical power. Ideological discourses construct an ideal contraceptive user, who is patient, compliant and appears “responsible”, contributing to the stigmatization of women. Findings suggest that an inaccurate government definition of emergency contraception contributes to ignorance and misperceptions about function; this, along with an empty federal policy vacuum for women’s health contributes to its problematic status in women’s contraceptive options.

A more conservative supreme court will likely have the chance to overrule Roe v. Wade. Many states have passed heartbeat laws that will probably be taken all the way to the supreme court, these cases will ask the supreme court to affirm fetal personhood, giving fetuses a constitutionally recognized right to due process and making abortion illegal. In this thesis, I will defend an expansion of protections for pregnant peoples through a socialized right to abortion.

Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka förändringar och motiveringar inom aborträtten i Sverige från 1938 års abortlag till nutid samt undersöka på vilka sätt makt manifesterats inom dessa. Forskningsfrågan är att ta reda på hur förändringen och utformandet av makt över kvinnors kroppar ser ut i relation till aborträtten i Sverige. Detta undersöks genom en diskursanalys med teorier om biopolitik, biomedicin, feminism och en rättsociologisk diskussion om reproduktiv frihet. Studien avgränsar sig till abortfrågan inom Sverige utifrån Statliga offentliga Utredningar som primärkällor som behandlar aborträtten från Sveriges första abortlag 1938 till Sveriges nutid. Uppsatsens slutdiskussion klargör för vilka former av makt som manifesterats över kvinnors kroppar genom aborträtten. Uppsatsens slutsats visar därefter på en ständig reglering av kvinnors kroppar utifrån olika former av makt samt en väsentlig förändring i aborträtten av en makt som såg aborträtten som en befolkningsfråga till en makt som fokuserade alltmer på kvinnans självbestämmande. / The purpose of this essay is to examine changes and justifications within the abortion law in Sweden from the abortion law in 1938 to our present day as well as to investigate how different forms power has been manifested within these. The research question is to find out the change and forms of power over women’s bodies in relation to abortion rights in Sweden. The method used is a discourse analysis with theories of biopolitics, biomedicine, feminism and a legal sociological perspective regarding reproductive freedom. The delimitations are to focus on Sweden based on State Public Investigations as primary sources. The essay clarifies various forms of power that are manifested over women’s bodies. The conclusion of the essay demonstrates the constant regulation of women’s bodies as well as a significant change from abortion as a population issue to an increased focus on women’s self-determination.

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À partir de la notion de projet parental, nous souhaitons déconstruire, en droit, l'assignation des femmes aux questions reproductives. En effet, le corpus juridique relatif à la reproduction participe à la perpétuation des stéréotypes de genre et en particulier, ceux liés à la division sexuée du travail. Le projet parental est une notion qui a émergé avec les techniques reproductives. Pour autant, l'analyse du cadre relatif aux techniques de PMA montre de quelle manière celui-ci renforce les stéréotypes de genre. Les conditions d'accès aux méthodes de PMA sont empreintes de naturalisme et une comparaison entre le droit français et le droit suisse montre le caractère construit de ces références constantes à la nature. L'établissement du lien de la filiation renforce le cadre naturaliste : d'un côté, la filiation est établie pour les projets parentaux réalisés dans le cadre légal selon les règles du droit commun et renforce la différenciation des fondements à la filiation selon le sexe du parent ; de l'autre, les projets parentaux qui s'écartent du cadre naturaliste sont relégués aux marges du droit de la filiation, même s'ils doivent aujourd'hui être reconnus sous la pression du législateur en matière de PMA et de la CEDH concernant la GPA. En dépit de l'état actuel du droit, la notion de projet parental pourrait promouvoir au sein du droit de la reproduction l'égalité entre les sexes et la liberté reproductive. En prenant appui sur le principe d'égalité entre les sexes et la liberté reproductive nous proposons de faire évoluer le droit de la reproduction, afin qu'il y ait davantage d'autonomie et d'égalité, tant en matière de filiation que d'accès aux actes médicaux non thérapeutiques en matière de reproduction que sont l'IVG, la contraception, la stérilisation et la PMA. Nous préconisons en particulier de modifier le droit commun de la filiation en y intégrant les techniques de PMA et en faisant de la volonté le fondement principal de l'établissement de la filiation. La promotion de l'autonomie reproductive lors de la mise en œuvre des droits reproductifs se traduit par un renforcement des droits des usagers du système de santé en matière de reproduction. À travers l'exemple du droit de la reproduction, nous montrons in fine de quelle manière le droit peut contribuer à favoriser au sein de la société l'autonomie des individus et l'égalité entre les sexes. / Starting from the concept of "parental project", we aim to deconstruct the traditional roles of women in reproductive matters from a legal standpoint. Gender stereotypes, especially those related to gendered division of labour, are indeed sustained by the current reproductive legal framework. The parental project is a concept introduced by law regulating the new reproductive technologies and yet, the analysis of legal aspects of medically assisted reproduction (MAR) stresses how gender stereotypes are in fact strengthened. The legal criteria to access MAR methods are defined based on Nature and comparing French and Swiss legal frameworks shows there are no fixed rules and thus, that references to Nature are not unbiased. Moreover, when it comes to rules of filiation, the naturalistic framework is further reinforced: on the one hand, when the parental project is carried out within the legal framework, filiation is established based on general law, corroborating the gendered legal basis of filiation; on the other hand, parental projects outside of the naturalistic framework are marginalized, and if nowadays filiation should also be recognized for children born in such conditions, it is only because of legal and jurisprudential developments. In spite of this, we think that the concept of "parental project" should promote, within the legal framework of reproduction, both gender equality and reproductive autonomy. Based on the principle of sex-equality and reproductive autonomy, our proposals aim to change dispositions regarding filiation and reproductive medical acts so that they could improve gender equality and reproductive autonomy. In particular, MAR should be addressed by the general law of filiation in order to make of will the main basis of parentage. Likewise, promoting autonomy in reproductive medical acts cannot proceed without rights of the health care users. Finally this research in reproductive law could be seen as a striking example of how law could foster gender equality and individual autonomy in society.