While the legalization of abortion is most often debated in moral terms, this special issue of L’Homme & la Société sets out to examine abortion as a political issue: What political effects does the decriminalization of abortion produce? Democracies are witnessing paradoxical developments: while some are restricting access to abortion, others recognize it as a fundamental right (more precisely, the French Constitution recognizes only a “liberté” and not a right). Yet can we still speak of democracy when abortion is restricted, or even banned? Is abortion not, in fact, a necessary institution of democracy? More broadly, what connections can be drawn between democracy and gender equality? How are women organizing to counter opposition to abortion? This last question leads us to consider a matter of importance: what has the decriminalization of abortion done to feminism?

Submission guidelines
Abstracts (up to 3000 characters) should be submitted via soumission.homme.societe@proton.me by November 16, 2026. Selection of the abstracts will be made by the end of November. Papers, of no more than 60,000 characters in length, including spaces, should be submitted by March 15, 2027. The editorial committee reviews article submissions in English, French or Spanish. However, L’Homme & la Société publishes articles only in French; authors of accepted papers will thus be responsible for providing a French translation of the final version of their paper.