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Paper short abstract

As the U.S. grapples with the Dobbs decision and expanded abortion bans, Looking Back, Learning Forward, an interdisciplinary oral history project, documents the efforts in Rhode Island on all sides of the issue, from Roe to the passage of legislation affirming the right to abortion in 2019.

Paper long abstract

Looking Back, Learning Forward is an interdisciplinary oral history project researching, documenting, and analyzing the efforts of activists and political leaders on all sides of the issue from Roe v. Wade in 1973 through 2019, when the U.S.’s smallest and most Catholic state passed legislation affirming the right to abortion. This period of recent Rhode Island history has never been thoroughly documented. Our research reveals the impact of both laws restricting or banning abortions and cultural norms that create de facto bans that can prevent abortion knowledge and access and limit the discussion of abortion in the public sphere. Now, as the U.S. grapples with the impact of the Dobbs decision, an increased number of state abortion bans, and the lack of federal protections for abortion, Looking Back, Learning Forward aims to provide insight into how activists and political leaders might think about addressing the web of different state laws and cultural norms across the U.S. that impact access to abortion care. In Rhode Island, as in much of the U.S., polling repeatedly showed support for Roe, yet enacting legislation required understanding the impact of laws, building campaigns, electing new representatives, and engaging in the democratic process. Similarly, the path to getting the message out required understanding social and cultural norms, including how they can both reinforce bans and provide grassroots activists multiple entry points to attempt to make change and destigmatize views around abortion.