Chapter 10: Conclusion

Bringing together the fields of the sociology of reproductive health and the sociology of religion, the aim of this book has been to understand the motivations and practices of anti-abortion activists who utilise public spaces to promote their activism. Whilst there is a globalising trend within anti-abortion groups, the local and national context is an important element within the discursive framings. It is only by examining closely the specific contexts that we can fully understand the complexity of anti-abortion activism. We have argued that to understand the motivations and actions of United Kingdom (UK) anti-abortion activism, we need to consider the interrelationship between lived religion, gendered ideologies and the societal context of religion and public views on abortion (Reilly & Scriver, 2014). Indeed, because of the differing way religion is situated, the UK positioning of anti-abortion activism is different from the activism encountered in other locations such as the United States (US). This concluding chapter considers the main conceptual points our sociological project offers: