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Abortion In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

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The stigma associated with having an abortion has been a significant problem for women considering getting one because it is a contentious and emotive subject. It has caused mass debates, arguments, and even legality issues over the subject. Although abortion is legal in many nations, social and cultural attitudes toward it have led to prejudice and discrimination against those who choose to have it. The topic of abortion is something that is so widely recognized, that almost everyone has an opinion on it. These views are often very black and white, meaning they are either for or against abortion. This also means that once people choose a side, it is not often that they change their mind on the subject. That is why trying to have a neutral …show more content…

This has caused many to draw connections between the current political state of Abortion and the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood. The fundamental theme of Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel is the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States. The Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian and theocratic nation where women have been deprived of their rights and are made to play subordinate roles, is the setting for the book. In this society, women are compelled to carry children for wealthy men, and the state regulates reproductive rights. The work serves as a warning tale of what can occur if reproductive rights are curtailed or eliminated totally. The connections to the real-life political fight over abortion rights eerily depict that of the novel. The significance of safeguarding reproductive rights and resisting efforts to restrict access is emphasized throughout Atwood's …show more content…

It is an emotionally charged subject, making it challenging to maintain objectivity. Despite the fact that abortion is legal in many nations, social and cultural beliefs about it might result in prejudice towards those who choose to have one. Many states are terrified that they may now outlaw safe abortions as a result of the recent Roe v. Wade decision. The Handmaid's story by Margaret Atwood serves as a cautionary story of what can happen if reproductive rights are restricted or abolished entirely. Last but not least, as shown by the case study conducted in Romania, the decision to have an abortion is influenced by a range of factors, including social, economic, legal, ethical, moral, and religious dimensions. As a result, it's crucial to approach conversations about abortion with compassion, openness, and knowledge of the various concerns and points of view that surround the

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Research Paper on The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, creates a dystopia of the near future in which a conventional fundamentalist group rules what is left of the United States, which has now become “Gilead.” The Republic of Gilead has subdued women and reduced Handmaids like Offred, the main character, to sexual slavery. Offred yearns for happiness and freedom, and discovers herself struggling against the totalitarian boundaries of her civilization. The Republic of Gilead is a totalitarian state formed by a religious cult centered on ideas of bigotry and inequality, especially in relation to gender.

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Before Roe v. wade the number of deaths from illegal abortions was around 5000 and in the 50s and 60s the number of illegal abortions ranged from 200,000 to 1.2 million per year. These illegal abortions pose major health risks to the life of the woman including damage to the bladder, intestines as well as rupturing of the uterus. The choice to become a mother must be given to the woman most importantly because it’s her body, her health, and she will be taking on a great responsibility. A woman’s choice to choose abortion should not be restricted by anyone; there are multiple reasons why abortion will be the more sensible decision for the female.

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On the night of January 27, 1973, women across America celebrated their right to choose. and on the night of June 24, 2022, women across the world were devastated when their right to choose was taken away. Roe V. Wade was passed in the 70s as a right to an abortion and the right to privacy and in 2022 it was overturned and made it a state choice, instead of a woman’s. This article covers The passing of Roe V. Wade, the impact it had on women, and the overturning of Roe V. Wade Abortion was illegal in most states in the 1960s, often with no exceptions for cases of rape or threat to life.

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In January 1973, the United States government ruled that the Constitution protects the right of any woman to get an abortion. In June 2022, almost fifty years later, that rule was overturned. In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the topic of abortion is not clearly discussed, however, the concept of reproductive rights is central to that society. As a dystopian society, the government has complete control over citizens’ lives and bodies, restricting any woman from getting pregnant; if a woman does become pregnant, she is required to get an abortion. In the real world today, a nearly identical scenario is taking place where the government is restricting women’s rights.

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Abortion is not only a fluctuating concept in our society, but an ethical and emotional debate, as well. The image I have chosen presents concepts from a cultural and historical background, as well as presents an ethical, emotional, and logical appeal to the audience. The debate about abortion has simply been overblown and exhausted. The truth of the matter is, abortion is murder. Ending a life, whether innocent or guilty, is murder.

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The norm of women being able to choose if they want children or not may seem to be a luxury in the United States. But, as the United States population begins to die out, will the leader of the country force fertile woman to have children even if that's not the lifestyle they choose? The Handmaid’s Tale was written in 1985 by Margaret Atwood as a demonstration of manipulating power and it’s domino effects on many aspects of life. The Handmaid’s tale takes place in the Republic of Gilead.

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This heightened feminist fears as many of their traditional principles set the gains made by women back decades. The novel discloses what would happen if the rights of women were actually taken away. This is shown after a group of conservative religious extremists (The Republic of Gilead) takes power and uses it to make women powerless and subservient. Gilead is a society that is built on

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Atwood's novel challenges readers not to be complacent about the gains made in the feminist movement for fear of losing all that has been fought for. By setting the narrative in a speculative future, Atwood represents people in Gilead society as a rigid hierarchy where conformity is enforced through fear and people are valued according to their function and contribution to the state. Contextually, the rigorous tyrannies and lost freedoms to extreme conservatism as a corrective response to an age of extreme liberalism characterised by deterioration of morality and rampant sexuality is censored within the Gilleard regime. Thus, individual privileges such as abortion, "old sex", "mini-skirts", and agency become a distant memory, by which the regime reduces the self as a figure of the collective, mimetic in the loss of self with 'few mirrors'. Atwood compares the clothing worn by the Handmaids, "Everything except the wings around my face is red," with "the colour of blood", symbolising childbirth and fertility, to present the way clothing is used to "define us" as merely what people can offer.

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Rachel Roth begins this article by examining the historical components of reproductive rights and fetal rights in this country. She then explains that the history of the two have created the now issue that women face in around the topic of abortion. She explains that the long struggles of abortion have led to fetal rights. “This idea has served to punish women in nontraditional behavior than to protect their children, while reinforcing the idea that women’s bodies are and should be public property” (Roth, 322). Meaning, the concept of fetal rights has begun to take its own course of action, which in the process has decreased the rights of the woman.

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Before the Supreme Court case that changed lives forever, there were many women that went back behind their husbands or their parents to have an abortion on the account of rape or incest. They gave abortions in an interesting way long with the risk of being disowned forever and tried for a cause of illegal abortions. In the 1960’s women were not allowed to walk into an abortion clinic or doctor’s office and get an abortion. “There was no federal law regulating abortions, and many states had banned the practice entirely, except when the life of the mother was endangered.”

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Atwood’s efforts to bridge the reader’s mind from the novel to their own life to deepen their understanding is shown with the legacy The Handmaid’s Tale left, with a significant example being, “The handmaid protest costume embodies the complex interplay between Utopia and dystopia that has been unfolding in recent years (Birkin).” The social commentary prominent within the novel allowed for movements based on the handmaid's symbolism. As expressed, responses to political happenings such as The Cold War and the rise of fundamentalism in the west allowed for the further development of feminist themes within the

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The story of “The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood is about the story of the instability of society, how easy it is to be brought down, and how little effort is need to change our society into a oppressive society. The book is showing us that our society is fragile and that anything especially fear can be a motivating factor that leads to bad actions that can harm society. The belief that even a modern society such as ours could fall by the simple emotion of fear that people would have too much power this can be seen in many real life scenarios such the Cold War the spread of communism led the U.S into taking bad actions for the people replacing many elected leaders from other countries because they seem to spread communism and who would replace them with dictators backed by the U.S this idea is one that has existed since the earliest societies. Fear is a very strong emotion that can change a person 's mind and could influence how they act to the world around them. In the book this is shown in great detail as their modern society also falls to the fear that women are getting too much power which leads the men to take control slowly changing everything and in the end taking the freedom of all from both men and women but mostly women.

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“Her body, her choice”, have you ever heard of that phrase? In America, the problem of Abortions is caused by those who are against getting abortions and think that it is wrong to abort, even though women have their own personal reasoning. Society reacts to this problem by protesting for women’s rights which creates awareness and leads to solutions such as making abortions legal again for all states. It is their body and their decision when it comes to having an abortion, Women should not have to explain themselves on why the want one neither should others have opinions on it. Society is against Abortions.

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This new realisation on Gilad has brought her to write a critical piece on the modern society and Atwood’s novel, the Handmaid’s Tale has already come true – just not for white western women. This title already shows the path and point she is making. ‘The handmaid’s tale has already come true’ however many don’t live these lives, most don’t know the little choices socially

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In the 1980s, United States was experiencing the rise of conservatism. Under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, conservative religious groups were gaining popularity. In response to the social and political landscape, Canadian author Margaret Atwood published a fictional novel The Handmaid’s Tale in 1986; a genre of dystopian novels. The storyline projects an imaginary futuristic world where society lives under oppression and illusion of a utopian society maintained through totalitarian control. Dystopian novels often focus on current social government trends and show an exaggeration of what happens if the trends are taken too far.

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