Abortion

Subject Headings.

Representative subject headings for locating books in the Boston University online Catalog include the following:

Abortion
Abortion Government Policy United States
Abortion History
Abortion Law And Legislation
Abortion Law And Legislation United States
Abortion Moral And Ethical Aspects
Abortion Political Aspects United States
Abortion Psychological Aspects
Abortion Religious Aspects
Abortion Services
Abortion United States
Mifepristone
Pro Choice Movement
Pro Life Movement

Reference Works.


Abortion from the Religious and Moral Perspective: An Annotated Bibliography. 2003.: Topically arranged annotated bibliography on the intersection of abortion with religion and morality. Includes such topics as personhood and the status of the fetus, abortion in religious thought, and the Christian church and the abortion controversy. Contains citations to books, journal articles, book essays, dissertations, and materials on the World Wide Web. Mugar Ref. X Z6671.2 A2 J64 2003. Storage: Use Request Form
The Anti-abortion Movement: References and Resources. 1996.: Introductory essay on the anti-abortion movement from the 1800s to the present and annotated bibliography. Mugar Z7164 B5 B54 1996 Storage: Use Request Form.
Battleground: Women, Gender, and Sexuality. 2 vols. 2008.: From "abortion" to "work: paid versus unpaid," this work contains essays on "the ways in which gender and sexuality intersect in societal understandings of women's (and men's) lives." Mugar Ref. X HQ1115 B38 2008.
Encyclopedia of Abortion in the United States. 2002.: Includes entries on the political, legal, social, religious, and medical issues concerning abortion; summaries of U.S. Supreme Court cases, state abortion laws, and more. Topics include abortion violence, assisted reproductive technology, and embryonic and fetal stem cell research. Mugar Ref. X HQ 767.5 U5 P35 2002.
Encyclopedia of Bioethics. 3rd ed. 5 vols. 2004.: Includes entries on the moral and ethical issues surrounding such topics as abortion, fertility control and fetal tissue. Sci/Eng Ref. QH332 E52 2004.


Encyclopedia of Birth Control. 2000.: Contains 200+ entries from "abortifacient" to "yuzpe regimen." Includes graphs and photographs, a bibliography, and an index. Mugar HQ766 R442 2000.
Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice. 2nd ed. 4 vols. 2002.: Contains scholarly articles concerning the causes of crime, criminal behavior, criminal law, criminal procedure, criminal justice systems, and the prevention, punishment, and treatment of crime. Includes the topic of abortion. Mugar Ref. X HV6017 E52 2002.
Encyclopedia of Ethics. 3 vols. 2001.: Contains more than 500 articles on topics in ethics and ethical theory, perennial moral problems, and political, social, religious and legal theory, including the issue of abortion. Mugar Ref. X BJ63 E45 2001.
Encyclopedia of Rape. 2004.: "185 entries in an A-to-Z essay format covering the historical scope and magnitude of the issue in the United States and globally. Written by a host of scholars from diverse fields, it provides informed perspectives on the key dimensions of the topic, from concepts, social movements, offenders, high-profile cases, legislation, influential activists, landmark texts, and victimology to representations in literature and art." Mugar Ref. X HV6558 E53 2004.
Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century. 3 vols. 2001.: Arranged alphabetically with lengthy articles on all aspects of life in the U.S. in the nineteenth century. Use the table of contents in volume 1, or the sytematic outline of contents and detailed subject index in volume 3 to locate your topic. Relevant topics include "contraception and abortion." Mugar Ref. X E169.1 E626 2001.
Encyclopedia of Women and Gender: Sex Similarities and Differences and the Impact of Society on Gender. 2 vols. 2001.: Comprehensive coverage of topics covering current scholarship on the psychology of women and gender, including abortion and pregnancy, and reproductive technologies. Mugar Ref. X HQ1115 E52 2001.
Historical and Multicultural Encyclopedia of Women's Reproductive Rights in the United. States. 2002.: "Abortion and public assistance," "Hyde Amendment, "Operation Rescue," "Pro-life feminism," and "RU-486" are some of the topics covered in this volume, which begins with an introductory essay on reproductive rights. Mugar HQ766.5 U5 H57 2002.
Reproductive Issues in America: A Reference Handbook. 2003.: Contains an introductory essay, a chronology, biographical sketches, facts and statistics, a directory of organizations and agencies, a glossary, and an annotated list of print and nonprint resources. Examines issues such as abortion, assisted reproductive technologies, fetal and embryo research, and pregnancy and addiction. Mugar Ref. X RG 133.5 M47 2003.


Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women's Issues and Knowledge. 4 vols. 2000.: A-to-Z encyclopedia on women and women's concerns worldwide. Topics fall within thirteen thematic categories: arts and literature; culture and communication; ecology and the environment; economy and development; education; health, reproduction, and sexuality; history and philosophy of feminism; households and families; politics and the state; religion and spirituality; science and technology; violence and peace; and women's studies. Relevant entries include "abortion" and "contraception." Check the index in volume 4 for additional references to the topic. Mugar Ref. X HQ1115 R69 2000.
Women's Studies Encyclopedia. 3 vols. Revised and expanded ed. 1999.: Arranged alphabetically from "Abolitionism" to "Zhenotdel" (the women's section of the Soviet Communist Party), entries contain information about women from all disciplines of study. While many entries discuss women elsewhere in the world, the primary focus is on women in the U.S. Relevant entries include "abortion: definition and methods" and "abortion history." Consult the index in volume 3 for additional references to the topic. Mugar HQ1115 W645 1999.

Indexes, Abstracts and Full Text Sources.

America: History and Life. 1964 - . (BU-px).: Indexes and abstracts the periodical literature and dissertations on North American history and culture from prehistoric times to the present. A subject search on the term "abortion" yields more than 450 citations.
ATLA Religion Database. 1949 - . (BU-px).: Indexes religion periodicals, essays in books, and dissertations. Relevant subject headings include abortion, abortion law, fetus, pro choice movement, and pro life movement.
Bibliography of Bioethics. 1975 - .: Indexes and abstracts periodical articles, books, documents and AV sources in bioethics. To use this classified subject index, consult the contents for a listing of subjects, which include abortion , embryo and fetal research, and fetuses. Sci/Eng Reference Z6675 E8 B53.
BIOSIS. 1989 - . (BU-px): BIOSIS is the electronic version of Biological Abstracts (held at the Science-Engineering Library). It covers many science disciplines, including biochemistry, ecology, microbiology, neurosciences. Relevant keywords include abortion, mifepristone, and misoprostol.
Christian Periodical Index. 1976 - . (BU-px).: "Provides indexing for evangelical Christian journals providing both article and review indexing. Although religion, theology, biblical studies and pastoral theology are prominent subjects in the journals indexed, it also tries to provide journals in the disciplines of science, literature, medicine, music, philosophy, history, sociology and education which put forth a Christian worldview." Consult this index for the evangelical Christian perspective on abortion.
Contemporary Women's Issues. 1992 - . (ChRiv-px).: Full-text database, international in scope, covering such topics as health and reproductive issues, development, human rights, arts and media, customs, family life, violence, and legal issues. Includes journal articles, newsletters, fact sheets, proceedings, and the alternative press. Keyword searching in the full text documents may be combined with selecting "abortion" as a subject area. An Instruction Guide is available.

CQ Researcher. (ChRiv).: A full text resource offering basic background information on many contemporary issues of interest to Congress. An excellent starting point for research into major public issues, this source gives summary coverage to all sides of the issues along with extremely useful bibliographies.

FRANCIS. 1984 - . (ChRiv-px).: Multilingual, multidisciplinary index to journals in the humanities and social sciences. A keyword search for the term "abortion" yields more than 1,000 citations. Relevant subject terms include abortion, cross-national comparisons, and legality.
General Science Full Text. 1984 - . (ChRiv-px).: Subject index to periodical articles in the sciences, including biology, medicine and health, food and nutrition, environment, and genetics. Includes full text of selected periodicals. Relevant subjects include abortion, abortion laws and regulations, fetal tissue transplantation, mifepristone, and misoprostol.
HAPI: Hispanic American Periodicals Index. 1970 - . (ChRiv).: Subject/author index to articles, bibliographies, documents, literary works, and reviews on U.S. Hispanics and on Latin America. Useful for finding articles about abortion in Latin American countries.
Humanities Full Text. 1983 - . (ChRiv-px).: Indexes and abstracts periodical literature in the humanities. Includes full text of articles from nearly 250 journals as far back as 1995. Use this source to locate articles on such subjects as abortion-ethical aspects, abortion in literature, abortion-public opinion, abortion-religious aspects, fetal propitiatory rites, and partial birth abortion. For retrospective searching (1907-1984) use Humanities and Social Sciences Retrospective, which indexes nearly 1,200 periodicals as early as 1907.

LexisNexis Academic. (BU-px).: A full-text database that includes newspapers, wire services, transcripts of television and radio broadcasts, medical and health journals, trade journals, accounting literature, company financial reports, law reviews, statutory and case law, and public opinion polls. The database is international in scope, and includes newspapers in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, and German. Dates of coverage vary depending upon the publication.

Medline (PubMed). 1966 - . (BU-px).: Indexes and abstracts medical literature.
PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service). 1915 - . (BU-px).: Index to articles, books and documents in public affairs and public policy. A search of the online thesaurus under "abortion" leads to a very lengthy list of narrower subject terms. You may want to consult this list before constructing a search.
Philosopher's Index. 1940 - . (BU-px).: Indexes and abstracts philosophy books and journals. Relevant subject headings include abortion and fetus, but a keyword search brings up more citations to the topic.
PsycINFO. 1872 - . (BU-px).: "Contains nearly two million citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, dissertations and technical reports, all in the field of psychology." Relevant subject headings include abortion laws and induced abortion.

ScienceDirect. 1995/96 - . (BU-px).: A web-based information source for scientific, technical, and medical research offering access to more than 1100 full text electronic journals across 16 fields of science, including the social sciences.
Social Sciences Full Text. 1983 - . (ChRiv-px): Indexes and abstracts core journals in such fields as anthropology, criminal justice and criminology, gender studies, geography, gerontology, minority studies, social work, sociology, and urban studies. Includes full text of articles from 215+ journals as far back as 1995. For retrospective searching (1907-1984) use Humanities and Social Sciences Retrospective, which indexes nearly 1,200 periodicals as early as 1907.
Social Services Abstracts. 1979- . (BU-px).: Provides bibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development. The database abstracts and indexes over 1,500 serials publications and includes abstracts of journal articles and dissertations, and citations to book reviews.
Sociological Abstracts. 1952 - . (BU-px).: Indexes and abstracts periodical articles, conference papers, proceedings, dissertations, and book reviews in sociology and related fields. Relevant subjects include abortion, fetus, and unwanted pregnancy.
Studies on Women and Gender Abstracts. 1995 - . (ChRiv): Indexes and abstracts journal articles, chapters, and books on women. The focus is on "education, employment, women in the family and community, medicine and health, female sex and gender role socialisation, social policy, the social psychology of women, female culture, media treatment of women, biography, literary criticism, and historical studies." Formerly Studies on Women Abstracts (1983-1999), Mugar Z7962 S78. Storage: Use Request Form.
Women's Studies International. 1972 - . (BU-px).: Contains citations or citations/abstracts from ten women's studies databases. Because an index term search on the word "abortion" yields more than 22,000 citations, using a narrower search term will yield better results. Other relevant index terms include abortion rates, abortion rights, medical abortion, misoprostol, prochoice, ru 486, and unwanted pregnancy.

World News Connection. (BU-px).: Online news service offering full-text summaries in English of non-U.S. newspaper articles, conference proceedings, radio and television broadcasts, periodicals, and non-classified technical reports. Published by the National Technical Information Service, it continues, in part, the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS). Coverage includes social issues, science and technology, and health and environment. A free text search under the term "abortion" yields several hundred items.

Statistics.

Abortion Clinic Violence 1982 - 1998.: Statistics on abortion clinic violence from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
CDC's Reproductive Health Information Source: Surveillance and Research: Abortion.: "Since 1969, CDC has documented the number and characteristics of abortions to monitor unintended pregnancies and to help identify preventable causes of complications and deaths associated with abortions." Full text reports on abortion surveillance and abortion reporting.
LexisNexis Statistical. (BU-px).: An online version of three indexes: American Statistics Index, covering 1973 to the present; Index to International Statistics, covering 1983 to the present; and Statistical Reference Index, covering 1980 to the present. The database indexes and abstracts social, demographic, and economic statistics published by the U.S. government, the U.N. and other international governmental organizations, as well as US state governments, and US private nonprofit and commercial associations and organizations. Most of these publications are available in the ASI, IIS, and SRI microfiche collections in Mugar Library. The PowerTables section of the database contains complete statistical tables, and may be searched separately.
The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World . 2009.: Contains maps, statistical data, and text pertaining to the status of women in the world. Topics include education, marriage, motherhood, domestic violence, lesbians, work, poverty, and sex. Explores similarities and differences. Consult Chapter 11, "Abortion." Mugar Ref. X HQ1154 S34 2009.
Statistical Record of Women Worldwide. 1995.: Compilation of statistical data on the lives and status of women worldwide. From a variety of sources. Data on abortion can be found in Chapter 1, "Attitudes and Opinions;" Chapter 3, "Health and Medical Care;" and Chapter 10, "Population and Vital Statistics." Mugar HQ1150 S73 1995.
TableBase. (ChRiv-px): Tablebase is a database of statistical data on companies, products, industries, markets, demographics and countries. Tabular data is drawn from statistical annuals, trade association reports, government agencies, international organizations, newsletters and journals. A keyword search for the term "abortion" yields statistical information on abortion in the U.S. and in other countries. Please note: When you are through using TableBase, please click on the Logout button at the very top of the TableBase home page before closing your browser. If you exit TableBase by closing the browser, without logging out, you will be unable to re-enter the site until it has timed out your session.
United Nations Abortion Policies: A Global Review.: Tables and graphs explaining what countries allow abortions and under what circumstances, as well as rates of abortion, childbirth, maternal mortality, etc. Includes explanatory notes.

Internet Sources.

Abortion Access: All Sides of the Issue.: Web site maintained by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, which promotes religious tolerance as a civil rights matter.
Alan Guttmacher Institute.: "The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) is a non-profit organization focused on reproductive health research, policy analysis and public education. The Institute's mission is to protect the reproductive choices of all women and men in the United States and throughout the world." See their section on Abortion for fact sheets, media kits, state policies, research and statistics.
American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project.: "The Reproductive Freedom Project protects everyone's right to make informed decisions -- free from government interference -- about whether and when to become a parent."
American Life League.: Organization that works to build "a society that respects and protects innocent human life from fertilization to natural death without compromise, without exception, without apology."
The Center for Reproductive Rights.: "A non-profit legal advocacy organization dedicated to promoting and defending women's reproductive rights worldwide." Offers fact sheets, articles, and briefing papers on abortion, contraception, and reproductive rights. Topics include world abortion laws, the Bush global gag rule, and more.
Ethics Update: Abortion.: Links to web resources (court decisions, legislation, basic documents, and news updates), a bibliography, and suggestions for research paper topics. Includes links to pro-life and pro-choice web pages.
Mass NARAL.: "Mass NARAL is the political arm of the pro-choice movement. Since 1972, Mass NARAL has led the way in protecting and advancing reproductive freedom for women and their families in Massachusetts."
The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL).: "For over thirty years, NARAL has been the political arm of the pro-choice movement and a strong advocate of reproductive freedom and choice. NARAL's mission is to protect and preserve the right to choose while promoting policies and programs that improve women's health and make abortion less necessary. NARAL works to educate Americans and officeholders about reproductive rights and health issues and elect pro-choice candidates at all levels of government."
National Abortion Federation.: "The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is the professional association of abortion providers in the United States and Canada. We believe that women should be trusted to make private medical decisions in consultation with their health care providers. NAF currently offers quality training and services to abortion providers and unbiased information and referral services to women."
National Right to Life Committee.: "NRLC is a national grass roots pro-life group committed to the protection of human life from abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. It works through public education, outreach, citizen action, and legislation to restore and maintain legal protection for the lives of all defenseless human beings."
NOW and Abortion Rights/Reproductive Issues.: "NOW supports access to safe and legal abortion, to effective birth control, to reproductive health and education. We oppose attempts to restrict these rights through legislation, regulation (like the gag rule) or Constitutional amendment."
Public Agenda Online.: "A nonpartisan, nonprofit public opinion research and citizen education organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1975 by social scientist and author Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance." See their issue guide on Abortion: "the Understanding the Issue section lays out the facts and policy alternatives, while the Public Opinion section offers a detailed profile of public thinking about the issue."

Research Guides