In this story I shifted my attention to the young woman –a nurse or a volunteer– who sat beside me and held my hand throughout abortion.
My essay tells my life story in relation to a specific moment in the history of American women’s access to abortion and reproductive justice.
The process of seeking pregnancy alone (by necessity, not choice) showed me how limited reproductive rights in the U.S. truly are—even before the recent loss of Roe vs. Wade, that policy that had so shaped my generation’s belief in our bodily autonomy.
"In this autoethnodrama, a woman terminates a pregnancy without telling her husband."
"I write at length about my experiences surviving rape and abuse as a Western woman in Japan. I was lucky to get out alive."
"The AutoEthnographer announces a new call for submissions for a late 2022 special issue, 'Bodily Autonomy Rights (Abortion, Circumcision, Contraception).'"
Catherine Berresheim·
All ContentAutoethnographic Literary NonfictionAutoethnographic WritingBodily Autonomy Special Issue, 2022-23
··14 min readLEARN MORE “Bodily Autonomy: A Fetus for a Fetus” explores the cultural issues of what it means to be a...
"Then comes that special brand of rage and dejection that the patriarchy inspires by attempting to steal away with my bodily autonomy."
"If abortion can be banned, largely due to Christian beliefs, what is to stop an overturning of the legalization of gay marriage or the disestablishment of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?” If The Handmaid’s Tale taught me anything, it is to never believe that I am truly safe, untouchable."
