Ektrosi as amvlosi and the silent procedure of curettage for the technical termination of pregnancy
Evangelia Chordaki
Abstract
The present essay is based on the different concepts and the related division in Greek concerning the technical termination of an unwanted pregnancy-abortion. I analyze those concepts from a historical perspective to situate them in specific social and historical conditions. I start from amvlosi –the term that indicates a criminal act and is distinguished from the legal, medical procedure of ektrosi and move forward to the use of curettage that replaces the term ektrosi in surgical boards. I aim to follow those concepts when moving into different social realms and historical periods and explore them in relation to the different social groups and political agendas they are linked with. Focusing on the Greek feminist birth control movement, I discuss the continuous gendered social conflicts that are embodied in those differentiated concepts while trying to raise concerns over identification of their content today.