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Shifting discourses, changing interests? How the language of sexual and reproductive health has evolved in the past 50 years
  1. Aideen O'Shaughnessy1,
  2. Carrie Purcell2
    1. 1School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lincoln - Brayford Campus, Lincoln, UK
    2. 2Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, The Open University, Edinburgh, UK
    1. Correspondence to Dr Aideen O'Shaughnessy; aoshaughnessy{at}lincoln.ac.uk

    https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsrh-2024-202456

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      In this Personal View article we look back on some of the changes in the language used in BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health (BMJ SRH) over its first 50 years. Examining changes in language used in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is important to understand how evolving political interests and societal attitudes influence healthcare provision and vice versa, and to ensure policies are sensitive to the needs of diverse populations. One overarching change has been the transition from a focus on ‘family planning’ to ‘sexual and reproductive health’, as reflected in the Journal’s early titles – Journal of Family Planning Doctors (JFPD) and the British Journal of Family Planning (BJFP). This reflects growing controversy surrounding ‘family planning’ and mirrors a shift in the Journal’s core demographic, and their professional interests. There is also evidence of a move towards gender-inclusive, patient-centred and non-stigmatising language.

      Given the broad scope of the Journal, and our own specific research interests as sociologists, we chose to focus our attention on articles on abortion and contraception. We reviewed the language used in a selection of early issues of JFPD and BJFP dating from 1975 to 1977 (available in the Wellcome Trust archive) and compared this with articles published in BMJ SRH in 2023–2024. In the context of sustained sociopolitical controversy surrounding abortion and contraception, specific attention is warranted to assess …

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      Footnotes

      • X @aioshaug, @DrCarrieP

      • Collaborators N/A.

      • Contributors AO’S conducted archival research. AO’S and CP conducted desk-based research, data analysis and coauthored the final manuscript. AO’S acted as guarantor.

      • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

      • Competing interests None declared.

      • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.