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The geographies of abortion: Misoprostol & its possibilities for reproductive justice
Cordelia Freeman is a senior lecturer in geography at the University of Exeter, UK. Her research centres on abortion and reproductive justice in Latin America with a focus on the abortion pill misoprostol and the activist groups who facilitate access to it. Cordelia has led a range of creative engaged projects such as a documentary, investigative journalism podcasts, and graphic novels. She is the author of the book Magic Misoprostol: Reproductive Justice and Abortion Liberation in Latin America
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AbstracAbstract
Abstract
Misoprostol is a pharmaceutical product that was developed as a stomach ulcer medication in the 1970s. However, because of its stark warning – not to be used by pregnant women! – women in Brazil who were seeking ways to end their pregnancies began experimenting with it. Over time they developed an effective regimen and the pill, as well as knowledge of how to take it, spread across the region. Drawing on interviews with activists and healthcare providers across Latin America, this talk explores the biography of misoprostol from its initial ‘discovery’ as an abortifacient to its current standing as a widely used and accepted technology of abortion, primarily due to the activism of 'acompañantes'. This is a tale of scientific understanding that forces us to rethink our conceptions of ‘science’ and who takes part in (re)making knowledges of pharmaceuticals. These shifts in understanding misoprostol as well as the activism around it has resulted in the transformation of abortion geographies and the possibilities of reproductive justice.