Single-Issue Social Movements after Success: The case of the Abortion Law Reform Association after the 1967 Abortion Act.

Abstract

In 1967 the United Kingdom’s House of Commons passed a law on abortion, known as the Abortion Act. This law made abortion legal up to 28 weeks when two medical professionals acting in good faith decided that the pregnancy was either a risk to the (mental)health of the mother, foetus or the existing children of the family. A major win for the Abortion Law Reform Association (ALRA), who had been lobbying for reform since its emergence in 1936. However, ALRA did not stop its activities after this success. This thesis attempts to explain why it is that ALRA wanted and could continue its efforts after a success. In order to do so, this thesis uses W. Gamson’s definition of social movement success and whether the 1967 Abortion Act can be considered as a success for ALRA. Additionally, this thesis builds on S. Staggenborg’s theory on how changes in ‘environment’ influence Social Movement Organisations (SMO) continuance and how the role of SMOs in the Social Movement Industry (SMI) determined the viability of the SMO. In order to test ALRA’s case to these categories this thesis used the extensive ALRA archives held by the Wellcome Collection in London. Using, for example, minutes of meetings, internal correspondence, newsletters and publications. This thesis tried to analyse ALRA’s actions along these categories to answer the question of what happens to single-issue SMOs after a success.