Exploring justice for girls: Girlism and abortion in childhood
By Garima Chahal and Reyam Jamaleddine, February 16 2025—
On Jan. 17th, the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Calgary hosted Dr. Kimberley Brownlee as part of its Philosophical Speaker Series. Brownlee, a distinguished scholar in ethics, political, and social philosophy, holds the Canada Research Chair in Ethics and Political and Social Philosophy at the University of British Columbia. Her talk, titled Justice for Girls: On Pregnancy and Abortion in Childhood, explored the ethical implications of abortion restrictions for girls, particularly in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Brownlee’s lecture emphasized that abortion is often framed as a “women’s issue,” overlooking the distinct vulnerabilities of girls. She introduced the concept of “girlism,” which she co-developed with her project and research partners Alyssa Izatt and Ashley Lindsley-Kim to highlight injustices faced by female children due to their unique position at the intersection of youth and female embodiment. Dr. Brownlee highlighted the risks associated with child pregnancy, including higher rates of maternal complications, adverse mental health outcomes, and diminished social and educational opportunities.
The lecture raises important questions about how these issues unfold in different legal and social contexts. These concerns prompt Canadian students and Canadians as a whole to preemptively analyze the current landscape with the intent of protecting reproductive rights in their entirety but more specifically for young girls.
“Canadian students have an interest in paying attention to what happens in the US for a few reasons, one is that the US is the elephant that we sleep next to, and what happens there ripples outward, culturally and socially, if not legally…if the US is shifting away from science protections, Canada’s going to have to hold very tightly to its recognition that this is a human right to have security of the person to have control over your own body, to make personal choices and not just to have privacy, but to have public support,” said Brownlee in an interview with the Gauntlet.
Brownlee’s work calls for an ethical re-examination of how society approaches abortion in childhood, advocating for the recognition of girls’ distinct rights and needs. Her thought-provoking lecture emphasized the importance of creating frameworks that protect childhood as a unique and essential stage of life.
“Pregnancy is a risky undertaking. It’s striking how risky it is to become pregnant, even in Western democracies, there are surprisingly high rates of maternal mortality of adult women and of neonatal mortality, the deaths of the baby once born,” explained Dr. Brownlee.
Institutions such as universities operate by regulating women’s issues and ensuring that resources are available to aid and prevent issues from arising. However, the same regulations and services are not available to young girls even after matters such as pregnancy have already occurred.
“Universities need to have very good systems to respect recording of sexual assault. They need to have very good medical care systems that ensure students can access the care they need quickly,” said Brownlee.
During her talk, Brownlee also addressed potential objections, such as respecting a child’s preferences to continue a pregnancy. She argued that, in medical contexts, children are often provided care against their expressed wishes when their best interests are at stake. In the case of child pregnancy, caregivers and physicians must prioritize the long-term physical and psychological well-being of the child over immediate preferences.
“That’s another feature of someone being impregnated when they’re a child or becoming pregnant when they’re a young adult, is that they tend not to realize it as quickly. So someone who’s very young and doesn’t know how pregnancy happens, may be pregnant and not realize it, and the longer pregnancy goes on, the harder it is to make certain choices. So universities and student leadership bodies have duties to ensure their female students are safe and they are as well-informed and well-supported as they can be,” said Brownlee.
During her talk, Dr. Brownlee also addressed potential objections, such as respecting a child’s preferences to continue a pregnancy. She argued that, in medical contexts, children are often provided care against their expressed wishes when their best interests are at stake. In the case of child pregnancy, caregivers and physicians must prioritize the long-term physical and psychological well-being of the child over immediate preferences.
Although university students are not directly impacted by reproductive issues that the youth face, they play a crucial role in advocating for comprehensive sexual education. Students can engage in discussions that challenge the neglect of young girls in abortion and reproductive debates. Initiating and fostering environments that are founded on empathy and awareness, whether they are student-led movements or simple academic inquiries, can help to reshape the narrative about reproductive rights for women and young girls alike.
“One thing students might do is if they take a course on gender studies or course on feminist philosophy, and they hear their instructor say women and girls in one breath, they might raise their hand and ask the instructor whether they would want to disambiguate those two demographics. One small thing to do, just to bring this more into the conversation about how we treat all-female-bodied people, all femininely presenting people in a way that’s respectful of them at all stages of life” said Brownlee.
These insights urge for a societal shift to advocate for policies and legal frameworks that protect and recognize young girls who are marginally vulnerable.
This article is a part of our Voices section and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gauntlet editorial board.
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