Abortion Policies in a Polarizing World Society,1970 to 2020

Abstract

This article examines how global contention over reproductive rights influenced national abortion polices over the past half-century. I glean four models of normative contestation in world society and its consequences for diffusion and institutionalization, arguing that a theory of polarization best accounts for developments in norms and policies on abortion. Fixed-effects regression analyses of up to 160 countries between 1970 and 2020 test the empirical implications of this argument. Several noteworthy findings emerge. First, country linkages to international nongovernmental organization (INGOs) predict abortion liberalization, but memberships in “illiberal” international organizations and alliances are associated with more restrictive abortion policies. Second, these relationships are conditioned by a shifting global context: in recent years, the association between illiberal affiliations and policy restrictions strengthened, while the liberalizing effect of INGOs weakened. And third, illiberal affiliations disrupt or “spoil” the effect of INGO linkages on policy expansions, illustrating the consequences of mutual engagement between rival transnational networks. Similar patterns characterize the effects of women’s and pro-family INGOs on abortion policies in the post–Cold War period. These findings point to growing polarization between liberal and illiberal forces in world society and suggest the incipient institutionalization of rival norms on abortion.