Reproductive Biopolitics, Demographic Anxieties, and Access to Safe Abortion: National Security and Pronatalism in the ‘Family Protection and Youthful Population’ Law in Iran
This paper examines the historical relationship between Shi’i jurisprudence and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s reproductive biopolitics. Using archival methods, the paper looks into the similarities and differences between religious interpretations and Iranian law. It then analyzes the implications...
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MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/3/188 |
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| author | Ladan Rahbari |
| author_facet | Ladan Rahbari |
| author_sort | Ladan Rahbari |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper examines the historical relationship between Shi’i jurisprudence and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s reproductive biopolitics. Using archival methods, the paper looks into the similarities and differences between religious interpretations and Iranian law. It then analyzes the implications of the recent ‘Family Protection and Youthful Population’ law, enacted in 2021 in response to fears of a looming ‘population crisis,’ and how it further restricts women’s access to abortion (care). The paper argues that reproductive policies are influenced not only by religious authorities and pronatalist patriarchal rationales but also by specific anxieties about a population crisis and decline considered a threat to the country’s national security. Reproductive policies exist within a moral framework at the intersection of demographic anxieties, biopolitics, and religious discourses that push women toward unpaid maternal labor and traditional gender roles. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ff6863bd10a8453eb49dbba543473249 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-ff6863bd10a8453eb49dbba5434732492025-08-20T02:43:07ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602025-03-0114318810.3390/socsci14030188Reproductive Biopolitics, Demographic Anxieties, and Access to Safe Abortion: National Security and Pronatalism in the ‘Family Protection and Youthful Population’ Law in IranLadan Rahbari0Department of Sociology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WV Amsterdam, The NetherlandsThis paper examines the historical relationship between Shi’i jurisprudence and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s reproductive biopolitics. Using archival methods, the paper looks into the similarities and differences between religious interpretations and Iranian law. It then analyzes the implications of the recent ‘Family Protection and Youthful Population’ law, enacted in 2021 in response to fears of a looming ‘population crisis,’ and how it further restricts women’s access to abortion (care). The paper argues that reproductive policies are influenced not only by religious authorities and pronatalist patriarchal rationales but also by specific anxieties about a population crisis and decline considered a threat to the country’s national security. Reproductive policies exist within a moral framework at the intersection of demographic anxieties, biopolitics, and religious discourses that push women toward unpaid maternal labor and traditional gender roles.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/3/188abortionIranlawpronatalismreproductive biopoliticsnational security |
| spellingShingle | Ladan Rahbari Reproductive Biopolitics, Demographic Anxieties, and Access to Safe Abortion: National Security and Pronatalism in the ‘Family Protection and Youthful Population’ Law in Iran Social Sciences abortion Iran law pronatalism reproductive biopolitics national security |
| title | Reproductive Biopolitics, Demographic Anxieties, and Access to Safe Abortion: National Security and Pronatalism in the ‘Family Protection and Youthful Population’ Law in Iran |
| title_full | Reproductive Biopolitics, Demographic Anxieties, and Access to Safe Abortion: National Security and Pronatalism in the ‘Family Protection and Youthful Population’ Law in Iran |
| title_fullStr | Reproductive Biopolitics, Demographic Anxieties, and Access to Safe Abortion: National Security and Pronatalism in the ‘Family Protection and Youthful Population’ Law in Iran |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reproductive Biopolitics, Demographic Anxieties, and Access to Safe Abortion: National Security and Pronatalism in the ‘Family Protection and Youthful Population’ Law in Iran |
| title_short | Reproductive Biopolitics, Demographic Anxieties, and Access to Safe Abortion: National Security and Pronatalism in the ‘Family Protection and Youthful Population’ Law in Iran |
| title_sort | reproductive biopolitics demographic anxieties and access to safe abortion national security and pronatalism in the family protection and youthful population law in iran |
| topic | abortion Iran law pronatalism reproductive biopolitics national security |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/3/188 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ladanrahbari reproductivebiopoliticsdemographicanxietiesandaccesstosafeabortionnationalsecurityandpronatalisminthefamilyprotectionandyouthfulpopulationlawiniran |