ABSTRACT

Abortion has been alternately legalized and criminalized, tacitly approved of, and stigmatized, in various settings over time. The contours of its treatment are dependent on social and political contexts, including concern over women’s sexuality, but it is not clear that existing conceptual frameworks enable expansive examination of the relationship between abortion and sexuality. We conduct a critical interpretive synthesis review of the literature that jointly engages with sexuality and abortion, focusing on the U.S., to highlight the frameworks that authors use to understand the relationship between the two. We find two conceptual frameworks of abortion and sexuality in operation: one that treats the two as discrete, causal variables that operate at the individual level; and another that focuses on how beliefs about what constitutes (in)appropriate sexuality explain ideological positions on abortion. We identify limitations of both frameworks and propose a new conceptual framework – one that highlights sexual embodiment – to inspire future research in this area and generate opportunities for knowledge extension. Such an approach, we contend, can elucidate broader social forces that shape both abortion and sexuality and bring research on abortion into conversation with recent scholarship on the important role of sexuality in other sexual and reproductive domains.

摘要

随着时间的推移，堕胎在各种环境中交替被合法化和刑事化、默许和污名化。其处理的轮廓取决于社会和政治背景，包括对女性性行为的关注，但尚不清楚现有的概念框架是否能够对堕胎与性行为之间的关系进行广泛的研究。我们对与性和堕胎相关的文献进行了批判性的解释性综合审查，重点是美国，以突出作者用来理解两者之间关系的框架。我们发现了两种关于堕胎和性行为的概念框架：一种将两者视为在个体层面上运作的离散的因果变量；另一个关注关于什么构成（不）适当的性行为的信念如何解释关于堕胎的意识形态立场。我们确定了这两个框架的局限性，并提出了一个新的概念框架——一个强调性体现的框架——以激发该领域的未来研究并为知识扩展创造机会。我们认为，这种方法可以阐明影响堕胎和性行为的更广泛的社会力量，并将堕胎研究与最近关于性行为在其他性和生殖领域的重要作用的学术研究进行对话。我们确定了这两个框架的局限性，并提出了一个新的概念框架——一个强调性体现的框架——以激发该领域的未来研究并为知识扩展创造机会。我们认为，这种方法可以阐明影响堕胎和性行为的更广泛的社会力量，并将堕胎研究与最近关于性行为在其他性和生殖领域的重要作用的学术研究进行对话。我们确定了这两个框架的局限性，并提出了一个新的概念框架——一个强调性体现的框架——以激发该领域的未来研究并为知识扩展创造机会。我们认为，这种方法可以阐明影响堕胎和性行为的更广泛的社会力量，并将堕胎研究与最近关于性行为在其他性和生殖领域的重要作用的学术研究进行对话。