0522 Reproductive manoeuvring: An ethnographic study about Faroese women's abortion and other reproductive experiences

In the study I explore Faroese women's experiences with induced abortion but also other reproductive experiences and choices. The study finds its relevance in a time where locally the abortion law is heavily discussed in the media, in political platforms, and in the everyday life in the society. This is primarily propelled by a political overtake of the abortion law from Danish authorities, in 2018, which opened up for the discussion of whether it was a wish from the public and politicians to reevaluate the law as it was written in 1956. However, the study also finds its relevance in a global political arena, that experiences a lot of drastic changes in abortion laws (if we think about the recent overturn of Roe vs. Wade in the U.S., Poland's near total abortion ban, and Italian's threatening access to abortion care. On the other side we also have Mexico's recent decriminalisation of abortion and Ireland's referendum in 2018). One thing is certain, abortion politics are again a burning platform as it once was in many of the Western societies in the 1970's.
I have had 19 interviews with women in the Faroe Islands who have either experienced an induced abortion or other reproductive issues. I have also interviewed and had several conversations with an obstetrical gynaecologist throughout the course of the study (2017-2022).
Throughout the study I have learnt about women's struggles in a reproductive landscape, with a restrictive abortion law, and how they make sense of their experiences, choices, struggles, hopes, and desires, in their everyday lives. It is thus a study of women's reproductive narratives.