Victory and Beyond: A Historical Comparative Analysis of the Outcomes of the Abortion Movements in Sweden and the United States.

What decides the paths of social policy and movement activity after movements “succeed”? This study compares the policy trajectories in Sweden and the United States after the decriminalization victories regarding abortion in the 1970s, considering unintended and unwanted outcomes as well as movement goals. Divergent institutional, cultural, and political environments, predating the rise of abortion movements in the 1960s, steered future developments, including the organization of abortion services, public understandings, and sociopolitical conflict, in different directions. By linking insights from social movement and social policy approaches, we better understand how environmental opportunities and constraints shape such trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]