CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | O'Leary, Sierra |
|---|---|
| Title | At the Intersection of Disability and Pregnancy: An Examination of Austrian disability and healthcare policies, and their impacts on disabled pregnant |
| Summary | An expansive and ever-evolving concept, disability has variously been conceived of as individual tragedy, punishment for personal moral failure, something to be fixed or cured, and the condition of being restricted by societal and environmental factors that do not sufficiently account for human variance, among many others. These varying conceptions of disability have translated to diverse policymaking approaches addressing the needs of disabled people. Of these conceptions, the social model, which sees disability not as a natural consequence of physical or mental attributes—often referred to as ‘impairments’ instead of disabilities—but rather as a result of the social and environmental circumstances that make those attributes problematic, has been the foundation undergirding much of the legislation regarding disability rights and accessibility around the world. While disabled people face various challenges, their disadvantages can be compounded by intersecting factors such as race, class, and gender. This thesis focuses on the understudied confluence of the challenges faced by disabled people who may experience pregnancy, and evaluates whether Austrian legislation, infrastructure, and healthcare systems as they presently stand adequately address these challenges and enable sufficient accessibility. It is found that despite its many advancements, Austria still remains a largely inaccessible environment for disabled people who may experience pregnancy due to infrastructure, access, oversight, and training issues with the country’s healthcare system and accessibility framework. |
| Supervisor | Orszaghova, Kris |
| Department | Undergraduate Studies BA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/oleary_sierra.pdf |
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