An Intergenerational Look at Abortion, the 1970s vs Now: Reflections on Papers by Isheh Beck and Naomi Snider

Abstract

The papers of Beck and Snider (this issue) grapple with the place of abortion in our psychoanalytic thought and practice, locating abortion within the larger cultural and political world. At the heart of much of the difficulty surrounding a thoughtful consideration of abortion is the accompanying dissociative pressure arising from the binaries of life and death, of maternal versus fetal well-being, and the confounding of socio-cultural and personal decision making. I offer an intergenerational lens juxtaposing the polarized present with the open and accessible abortion landscape of the late 1970s. In both eras, examples are discussed where the political and cultural zeitgeist exerts dissociative pressure on patient and therapist alike, leaving little room for psychoanalytic exploration. The role of both partners in any conception is also discussed.

Keywords:

• abortion
• intergenerational
• abortion in the 1970s
• abortion dissociation
• abortion generativity
• abortion as a couple decision

Notes

1 American Psychological Association (APA), Division 39 Spring Meeting: Reckoning/Foresight, March 2021.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kathy Bacon-Greenberg

Kathy Bacon-Greenberg, Ph.D. is a graduate of the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, Supervising Analyst at the National Institute for the Psychotherapies (NIP), Clinical Adjunct Professor at the Gordon Derner School of Professional Psychology, Adelphi University, and Faculty, Stephen Mitchell Relational Study Center. Her interests lie in the socio-political and cultural influences affecting reproductive and fertility discussions in and out of the consulting room.