Who Gets to End the World? Trans, Abortion, and the Possibility of Natality

In this article the violence surrounding reproductive issues, by example of forced sterilisation of trans people and abortion access, is used to ask fundamental questions about the role of institutions. New right-wing laws that aim to block access to abortion and trans healthcare are reviewed to highlight the link between gender and the state. It is argued that the weaponisation of law is used to individualise people and hinder access to care, disrupt choice, and minimise agency. Instead of presenting liberalism as an alternative to protect an individualised choice-model that safeguards people’s needs, the case is made that the idea of autonomy enables violence by institutions to more marginalised members of democracies. By drawing on a wide range of insights, the argument is made that institutional functioning is the source of significant violence to those not empowered by institutions and interrupts people giving direction to their lives. Instead of institutional power, Hannah Arendt’s concept of natality is understood as a condition of life, indicating how social movements can birth new collective directions as a form of abolition.