"Abortion Beyond Bounds: Self-Management and the Circulations of Knowledge, Technology and Care"

When: October 11th-12th, free and open to the public

To register: https://www.abortionbeyondbounds.com/events/abortion-beyond-bounds

To mark the 30th anniversary of the decriminalization of abortion in Canada, this bilingualtwo-day conference organized by theMcGillInstitute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies (IGSF) and the Centre for Research on Gender, Health, and Medicinewill focus on "self-management" in order to assess contemporary questions, research, and activism around abortion both locally and globally.

The very recent legalization of the abortion pill (mifepristone) in 2016, with distribution being rolled out as of 2017, raises new issues and opportunities surrounding access, autonomy, and experience of abortion in Canada. The 45th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade in the United States, and the restrictions on abortion access in the U.S.,resulting from Donald Trump's presidencyand global fights, recently especially notable in Ireland and Argentina, also influence ourdebates, culture, and politics of abortion at this moment.However, these constraints and politics are also emerging alongside novel conditions for the global circulation of information, knowledge, and resources through new (and old) technologies of the internet (e.g., telemedicine), media (e.g., smartphones), and modes of drug delivery (e.g., drones). These conditions have already and will continue to give rise to new forms of activism, extra-clinical abortion care providers, and abortion provision in multiple settings and contexts.For moreon the history of Canadian abortion rights view our brieftimeline.Thirty years after the legalizationof abortion in Canada, how should we reassess what women need from abortion legislation, technology, care, access, and reproductive justice while respecting the specific conditions and contexts within which abortion is sought? What kinds of needs are made invisible or neglected by current standards, and what are the creative means, often born out of necessity, that women have deployed access to abortion for themselves or others? Organized by Jennifer Fishman, Kelly Gordon, Rebekah Lewis and Alanna Thain.