![Sample our Humanities journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5939/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Humanities.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
The article focuses on the changing strategies of anti-abortion activists in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Firstly, it explores the interlinkage with the global conservative network and describes the shared strategies. Secondly, it focuses on the role of religion and church in the Czech Republic and Slovakia with an emphasis on abortion attitudes in both countries. Thirdly, by pointing out the expected public role of religion in each country, the text examines the specific nature of anti-abortion activism in the political, public, and service spheres of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Drawing upon comparative design, the article argues that, despite the mutual history of the two countries, the anti-abortion movements are driven to choose different strategies with which to promote their cause that reflects the ‘national’ cultural and religious ethos of the country. Whereas in the secularized Czech Republic, activists follow a model of downplaying religious background, the decentralized Slovak movements oscillate between appealing to traditional Catholic morality and engaging in more secularized strategies similar to those adopted by the Czech movements.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all the informants for sharing their thoughts and Zdeněk Nešpor and Kateřina Machovcová for feedback on the draft article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. The term ‘pro-life’ is often used by activists themselves as a particular umbrella term linked to the strong opposition toward abortion, stem cell research, and euthanasia and also as a counter-label to the pro-choice group. Due to the ideological background, in this article, I use this term only when the participants refer to their own activities with this word.
2. Among exceptions, “Catholics for Free Choice” and the “Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights” can be mentioned (Ferree et al. Citation2002). Of course, religion is not a necessary condition for developing anti-abortion action; a significant number of activists would not claim any religious affiliation (Mondo Citation2014, 139) or to have found their faith after becoming activists (Munson Citation2008, 156).
3. I am thankful to one of the reviewers of the Journal of Contemporary Religion for this point.
4. Specifically, 6 leaders, 1 project coordinator, 1 helpline consultant, 1 lecturer, 2 Roman Catholic priests active in the movements, 1 hospital chaplain, and 2 Roman Catholic gynecologists were interviewed.
5. Slovak anti-abortion activism has significant support at the academic level from the University of Trnava, which hosts the Centre for Bioethics, producing publications that legitimize anti-abortion stances on scientific grounds (cf. Kuhar Citation2015, 90).
6. I am thankful to one of the reviewers of the Journal of Contemporary Religion for this point.
7. These monuments mostly take the form of graves in public cemeteries or in front of church buildings and serve as places where church members gather to pray, especially on All Saints’ Day.
8. Saurette and Gordon (Citation2015, 244) see this strategy as a progressive kind of framing of anti-abortion activism, sending the message: “History was cruel and bloody, but we can do better!”
9. Abortions are carried out in some hospitals and such places are known to the public. However, activists standing in front of these buildings are not able to distinguish between women coming for abortions and other female patients of the hospital, so these women cannot be approached and spoken to directly.
10. The “Couple to Couple League” is a Slovak branch of an international Christian NGO for planned parenthood. “Donum Vitae” is a Slovak Catholic pro-life association focused on teaching about planned parenthood.
11. The Istanbul Convention is an international treaty which aims to prevent domestic violence against women. It is a breakthrough in terms of including gender, not only sex, when referring to individuals. This aspect has become the biggest controversy.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Andrea Beláňová
Andrea Beláňová is a sociologist of religion working in the Institute of Sociology at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague and researching on the current religious milieu of the Czech Republic. She focuses on faith-based activism, the institution of the chaplaincy, and religion and education. She spent a year at the University of Nevada in Reno, USA, as a Fulbright Visiting Researcher. CORRESPONDENCE: Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Jilská 1, Praha 1, 110 00, Czech Republic.