Archive · 6 Sep 2026
Gloria Steinem’s Legacy Amid Feminist Gains and Backsliding
Gloria Steinem was a famous feminist activist who died at age 92.
Her own abortion experience helped her understand that many women face similar private struggles.
She also cared for her mother as a child, which influenced how she thought about motherhood and personal choice.
The article says women should be allowed to decide whether they want children.
It also says that becoming a mother should not erase a woman’s needs or identity.
Many women experience mental-health problems during pregnancy or after giving birth, but these problems are often missed.
A case in India showed how difficult it can be for a woman to receive an abortion when her mental health is at risk.
The article calls for regular mental-health screening and for doctors to take women’s reports about their minds seriously.
Gloria Steinem’s abortion experience and childhood caregiving helped shape her feminist understanding of personal struggles as political issues.
The 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade reversed federal constitutional protection for abortion, with 20 US states later banning or severely restricting access.
The article argues that reproductive choice includes the decision not to become a mother and the right to retain individual agency after becoming one.
Maternal mental-health needs remain widely overlooked, despite WHO estimates that one in five women experiences a condition during pregnancy or the year after birth.
An Indian Supreme Court case involving a woman with postpartum depression highlighted tensions between maternal autonomy, legal limits and foetal viability.
- Who
- Gloria Steinem, women seeking reproductive choices, and mothers experiencing mental-health conditions are central to the article.
- What
- The article examines Steinem’s feminist legacy, abortion rights, motherhood, and the neglect of maternal mental health.
- When
- Steinem died on September 2 at age 92; the article also discusses developments after the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade and a 2023 Indian court case.
- Where
- The discussion focuses on the United States and India, with references to Steinem’s abortion in London and her mother’s ambitions in New York City.
- Why
- The article argues that reproductive autonomy and maternal mental health require stronger legal protection, medical systems and public recognition.
Maternal Autonomy and Mental Health
Foetal Viability and Legal Limits
Abortion in the Indian case
Maternal Autonomy and Mental Health
The woman’s authority over her own body and mind, including the risk posed by continuing a pregnancy during postpartum depression, should be taken seriously.
Foetal Viability and Legal Limits
The later court proceedings emphasized that there was no immediate threat to her life, no foetal abnormality, and that the statutory time limit had passed.
Reproductive choice
Maternal Autonomy and Mental Health
The article presents contraception, abortion and the decision not to become a mother as matters of individual agency rather than destiny.
Foetal Viability and Legal Limits
The article notes that the opposing US framing of “pro-choice” and “pro-life” reflects a deeply polarising debate over reproductive rights.
Understanding maternal mental illness
Maternal Autonomy and Mental Health
Routine perinatal screening, better health-worker training and treating women’s accounts of their mental states as evidence could address common struggles.
Foetal Viability and Legal Limits
Public debate often focuses on rare and extreme cases, such as the Lindsay Clancy case, rather than establishing a contrasting policy position on routine screening.
- Gloria Steinem’s age at death
- 92
- Steinem’s feminist turning point
- A 1969 Redstockings speak-out, where women discussed abortion experiences
- US abortion ruling
- The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022
- US state restrictions
- 20 states implemented total bans or severe abortion restrictions in the four years after the ruling
- WHO estimate
- One in five women experiences a mental-health condition during pregnancy or in the year after birth
- India’s abortion law
- The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, amended in 2021, permits termination up to 24 weeks for specified categories
- Indian Supreme Court case
- A 2023 case involved a mother of two being treated for postpartum depression; the termination ultimately did not happen