Social science perspectives on the abortion conflict in the United States
Winter 2009 class

Class format | Class requirements | Topics

Students who are already registered for this class can log in here to the class site.

Dr. Carole JoffeThis new online eight-week course is being offered by the Fellowship in Family Planning and the Charlotte Ellertson Social Science Postdoctoral Fellowship in Abortion and Reproductive Health and is open to Fellows in those programs. The course is being taught by ANSIRH’s Dr. Carole Joffe.

Each class consists of two hours of lecture and discussion in a virtual classroom. Students phone into the class and are able to watch PowerPoint presentations on their personal computers. The interactive classroom allows students to provide constant feedback and ask questions.

The virtual classroom also makes it possible to include compelling and important guest speakers at low cost. Guest lecturers for the class will include ANSIRH’s director Tracy Weitz, PhD, MPA; Talcott Camp, JD, from the Reproductive Freedom Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); Carol Mason, author of Killing for Life and the featured abortion provider in the acclaimed PBS documentary, The Last Abortion Clinic.

The course will cover a variety of abortion topics, from its history and legal status to its portrayal in the media and popular culture.

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Class format. Class will “meet” from 4-6, PST, on Tuesdays (starting January 13, 2009), using both a conference call format, as well as software that allows a shared computer screen. Classes will include both lecture and (hopefully, lively!) discussion. In view of the significant time constraints on many of those taking this course, each week’s assigned reading will be e-mailed to participants and will be no more than 50 pages or so—sometimes less. Additional readings will be posted on a course website as suggestions for those with the time/inclination to read more.


Class requirements. As this is a non-credit course, the only requirements are regular attendance and participation in class discussion about the reading. Those participants who are enrolled in an MPH or other masters program, and who wish to draw on the materials of this course for credit in such programs, should discuss this with Professor Joffe.

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Topics

January 13 | January 20 | January 27 | February 3 | February 10 | February 17 | February 24 | March 3 | March 10


January 13—1st class:
Abortion and the medical profession in historical perspective.
Reading:

  1. C. Joffe, “U.S. medicine and the marginalization of abortion” (Chap. 2, in Joffe, Doctors of Conscience: The Struggle to Provide Abortion before and after Roe v Wade)
  2. C. Joffe, T. Weitz and C. Stacey, “Uneasy allies: Prochoice physicians, feminist health activists and the struggle for abortion rights”
  3. A. Foster, J. Van Dis, and J. Steinauer, “Educational and legislative initiatives affecting residency training in abortion”


January 20th—No class meeting: Watch or go to the Inauguration!


January 27th—2nd class:
Key legal cases.
Guest faculty: Talcott Camp, Associate Director, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.
Readings:

  1. T. Weitz and S. Yanow, “Implications of the Federal Abortion Ban for Women’s Health in the United States”
  2. C. Joffe, “The abortion procedure ban: Bush’s gift to his base”
  3. T. Camp, “ ‘Partial-birth abortion’ ban: Health care in the shadow of criminality”


February 3—3rd class:
The rise of the antiabortion movement.
Guest faculty: Carol Mason, Associate Professor, Oklahoma State University.
Reading:

  1. C. Mason, Killing for Life: the apocalyptic narrative of pro-life politics, pp. 10-45
  2. L. Gordon, The Moral Property of Women: a history of birth control politics in America, pp. 302-320.


February 10—4th class:
The demographics of abortion: “The Two Americas.”
Reading:

  1. H. Boonstra et al, “Abortion in Women’s Lives,” Guttmacher Institute, 2006
  2. Issues 4 Life Foundation press release, May 2008
  3. Washington Times, Editorial: “Planned Parenthood Targets Blacks”
  4. W. McGurn, “The NAACP and Black Abortions”
  5. R. Jones et al, “ ‘I would want to give my child like everything in the world’: How issues of motherhood influence women who have abortions”
  6. M. Gilliam, “Health care inequality is key in abortion rates”


February 17—5th class:
Abortion provision in challenging environments.
Guest faculty: Robin Rothrock.
Reading:

  1. For this session, participants should watch “The Last Abortion Clinic,” available on PBS website
  2. L. Freedman, U. Landy, and J. Steinauer, “When there’s a heartbeat: Miscarriage management in Catholic-owned hospitals”
  3. C. Joffe, “The doctor in the sauna”
  4. Guttmacher Institute, material on abortion restrictions


February 24—6th class:
Abortion and popular culture.
Guest faculty: Tracy Weitz, ANSIRH Director, UC San Francisco.
Reading:

  1. C. Condit, Decoding abortion rhetoric: communicating social change, pp.22-42
  2. M. Isern, et al., “Vera Drake (2004) and the Cider House Rules (1999): the abortion in the cinema and its use in teaching”
  3. T Weitz and A. Hunter, “Six Feet Under brings abortion to the surface.”


March 3—7th class:
Abortion and mental health.
Reading:

  1. Selections from Koop: A memoir
  2. August 2008 report of American Psychological Association task force on “Post abortion syndrome”
  3. Various materials from Elliot Institute article on PAS


March 10—8th class:
The spread of abortion politics to other areas.
Reading:

  1. D. Dimauro and C. Joffe, “The Religious Right and the reshaping of sexual policy: An examination of reproductive rights and sexuality education”
  2. R. Shorto, “Contra-contraception”
  3. Various short pieces on recent HHS regulations on “health workers’ refusals”

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This course will be offered again in the fall of 2009 and spring of 2010. Exact dates and enrollment requirements to be determined. For more information, please contact Michaela Ferrari.