Components of reproductive citizenship: narratives from a restrictive abortion landscape

The global political trend of restricting reproductive rights produces fragmented landscapes and embodied experiences for women navigating shifting terrain. This raises questions concerning the conceptualisation of reproductive citizenship. We develop a theoretical framework inspired by the concept of embodied citizenship with which we analyse the sensing, management and negotiation of reproductive citizenship. We find that women relationally, bodily and geographically (re)negotiate their reproductive citizenship when considering and securing access to abortion.

In the context of the Faroe Islands, we highlight the emotional tension and ambivalence in women’s narratives as expressions of the constrained reproductive citizenship constructions and the interrelational experiences of threatened belonging in society. This analytical framework may prove useful for researchers wishing to examine the turbulent global reproductive landscape, and the geographic, bodily and relational means through which women seeking care negotiate their citizenship.