Cloth $113.00 ISBN: 9780226313429 Published November 2011
Paper $35.00 ISBN: 9780226313436 Published November 2011
E-book $7.00 to $30.00 About E-books ISBN: 9780226313443 Published July 2011

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Doctors and Demonstrators

How Political Institutions Shape Abortion Law in the United States, Britain, and Canada

Drew Halfmann

Doctors and Demonstrators
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Drew Halfmann

336 pages | 27 halftones | 6 x 9 | © 2011
Cloth $113.00 ISBN: 9780226313429 Published November 2011
Paper $35.00 ISBN: 9780226313436 Published November 2011
E-book $7.00 to $30.00 About E-books ISBN: 9780226313443 Published July 2011
Since Roe v. Wade, abortion has continued to be a divisive political issue in the United States. In contrast, it has remained primarily a medical issue in Britain and Canada despite the countries’ shared heritage. Doctors and Demonstrators looks beyond simplistic cultural or religious explanations to find out why abortion politics and policies differ so dramatically in these otherwise similar countries.
 
Drew Halfmann argues that political institutions are the key. In the United States, federalism, judicial review, and a private health care system contributed to the public definition of abortion as an individual right rather than a medical necessity. Meanwhile, Halfmann explains, the porous structure of American political parties gave pro-choice and pro-life groups the opportunity to move the issue onto the political agenda. A groundbreaking study of the complex legal and political factors behind the evolution of abortion policy, Doctors and Demonstrators will be vital for anyone trying to understand this contentious issue.

American Sociological Association: ASA-Charles Tilly Award for Best Book
Won

Pacific Sociological Association: Pacific Sociological Assoc. Distinguished Scholarship Award
Won

View Recent Awards page for more award winning books.
John Skrentny, University of California, San Diego

“Doctors and Demonstrators is an innovative, thorough, and expertly designed work of political analysis. There is much to admire here, but one of the most important elements is the use of a comparative historical approach to an issue of legal policy. Halfmann sets up an intriguing puzzle—why are abortion politics in the US, Britain, and Canada so different?—and provides a subtle yet clear and powerful explanation.”

Craig Calhoun, New York University

“Doctors and Demonstrators situates struggles over abortion in comparative context, showing the importance of different ways in which the medical profession, politics, and law affect each other. Drew Halfmann’s analysis is an important contribution to sociology and a source of timely insight that goes beyond the specifics of abortion issues to controversies over health care generally.”

Contents
List of Abbreviations
Acknowledgments

1        Introduction

Part One        Abortion Reforms of the Long 1960s
2        The Reforms and Their Roots
3        Medical Interests and Priorities

Part Two        After Reform
4        Abortion Services
5        The Politicization of Abortion
6        Policy Change after Reform
7        Political Institutions and Abortion Policy

References

Appendix 1        Statements on Abortion in American Party Platforms, 1972–2008
Appendix 2        U.S. Supreme Court Cases on Abortion
Appendix 3        Abortion Attitudes in the United States and Britain
Appendix 4        Abortion Funding and Provision in the United States, Britain, and Canada, 1970s–2000s
Appendix 5        Abortion Attitudes in the United States, Britain, and Canada, 1975–2004

Notes
Index
For more information, or to order this book, please visit http://www.press.uchicago.edu
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Political Science: Comparative Politics

Sociology: Social Change, Social Movements, Political Sociology

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