The Rhetorics of U.S. Abortion Narratives: Thematic Continuities, Shifting Applications and Political Strategies, 1969-Present Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Thomsen, Carly Ann Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 01/10/2021 03:37:11 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/193463 1 THE RHETORICS OF U.S. ABORTION NARRATIVES: THEMATIC CONTINUITIES, SHIFTING APPLICATIONS AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES, 1969-PRESENT by Carly Ann Thomsen ________________________ A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF WOMEN’S STUDIES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2008 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. Carly Thomsen SIGNED:__________________________________ APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: 6/6/08 _________________________ ______________________ Miranda Joseph Date Associate Professor of Women’s Studies 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Over the course of this M.A. program, I have had the pleasure of learning from and being mentored by amazing scholars and activists. Three of these professors are on my thesis committee: Liz Kennedy and Laura Briggs both provided useful ideas, offered valuable feedback, and blessed me with insightful discussions. And Miranda Joseph has been a more devoted committee chairperson than I ever could have asked for, dedicating great amounts of time, brilliant ideas, effort and red ink to this project and me. While I’m sitting at SIROW typing up my acknowledgments page, it is easy to gloss over the challenges associated with getting to this point. But it wasn’t always rosy. When I unsuccessfully attempted to use Munoz’s theory of Disidentifications to analyze the emergence of motherhood in abortion narratives, Miranda responded, “Frankly, this isn’t working.” When she knew I could do better, she did not hesitate to say so. When she knew I could benefit from positive feedback and support, I received it. In short, this thesis would certainly not be where it is at without Miranda’s support and insights. Of course, I chose my thesis committee members as much for their brilliant scholarship as for the personal support they each provided to me prior to producing this thesis. Thank you—Liz, Laura and Miranda—for creating an environment where my scholarship and activism are both appreciated. Lastly, I need to thank my family (especially my Mom, Dad and Danielle), my life-long friends, fellow activists at U of A’s Women’s Resource Center, and my cohort members for their endless support and committed friendship over the past two years. I wouldn’t have made it without you. 4 DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my Great-Aunt Sophia Hasselhop, who died from an illegal abortion in 1927, at the age of twenty-six. I don’t see it as a coincidence that, at the time of writing this, I am also twenty-six years old. Engaged to be married at the time of her death, Sophie is remembered as a wild woman who loved to have a good time—dancing, laughing and always smiling. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………….........7 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………...8 A Note on Terminology……………………………………………………………….21 CHAPTER 1: TEXTUAL ANALYSIS WITHIN AND ACROSS NARRATIVES: IDENTIFYING THE FORM AND CONTENT OF ABORTION STORIES …….……24 Three Groups of Narratives…………………………………………………………...24 Abortion-Rights Narratives on Experiences with Illegal Abortion………………...28 Abortion-Rights Narratives on Experiences with Legal Abortion…………………30 Anti-Abortion Narratives…………………………………………………………...31 Close Reading of Emergent Themes…………………………………………………......35 Characterizations of Clinic Staff and Abortionists……………………………………35 Physical Pain Associated with the Procedure………………………………………...45 Alternative Options……………………………………………………………………50 Centralization of Abortion Experience to the Remainder of Her Life………………..61 Distinctions within One Group of Narratives: The Emergence of Activism in Narratives on Illegal Abortion…………………………………………………...66 Erin’s Story: Defying Characterization……………………………………………….70 CHAPTER 2: SHIFTS IN THE APPLICATION OF ABORTION NARRATIVES, 1969-PRESENT……………………………………………………………………….....76 1960’S-1970’s…………………………………………………………………………77 1980’s……………………………………………………………………………….....80 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued 1990’s……………………………………………………………………………….....88 Discourses Used by Organizations and the Connections to Abortion Narratives…….99 Timeline of the Use of Narratives by Advocates of Abortion-Rights………………….103 Discussion of Timeline……………………………………………………………....104 CHAPTER 3: CURRENT USES OF ABORTION NARRATIVES…………………..111 Overview of Contemporary Applications of Abortion Narratives…………………..112 Why South Dakota?.....................................................................................................114 South Dakota Campaign……………………………………………………………..117 Websites…………………………………………………………………………...120 Mainstream Media—News Coverage and Commercials……………………….....124 Campaign Commercials………………………………………………………...124 News Coverage…………………………………………………………………127 Rallies…………………………………………………………………………..130 Cecilia Fire Thunder and Native Voices………………………………………….133 CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………...146 2008 Campaign……………………………………………………………….……...149 Final Thoughts………………………………………………………………….. …..155 WORKS CITED………………………………………………………………………..162 7 ABSTRACT This thesis seeks to understand the various forces that have shaped the form, content, utilization and emergence of abortion narratives—both within a historical context and for political value. By comparing the themes that emerge within and across three sets of narratives—anti-abortion narratives, pre-Roe narratives that support abortion rights, and post-Roe abortion-rights narratives—and by identifying both gaps and influxes in the use of narratives, this thesis argues that the content and utilization of abortion narratives is directly connected to broader discursive strategies and political ideologies of reproductive rights organizations. 8 INTRODUCTION In 2006, I was working for the White Earth Land Recovery Project, a reservation- based non-profit organization on the White Earth Reservation in northwestern Minnesota. Prior to moving to White Earth, I had worked with NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota, and was very excited when in the Spring of 2006 I received a call from national NARAL offering me an opportunity to go home to South Dakota to work on the campaign which sought to overturn the abortion ban, that had passed the House and Senate and had been signed into law by Governor Rounds, by referring the issue back to the voters. While I was on the ground collecting signatures in South Dakota, and especially in reflecting on the experience later, I noticed something that I hadn’t previously noticed when working in Minnesota for reproductive rights. Personal accounts were a visible and public part of the anti-abortion campaign, but these narratives were not being utilized as part of the abortion-rights political strategy. I must admit that at first, I was outraged at anti-abortion claims that abortion hurts women and use of personal narrative to substantiate this position. I felt like a feminist strategy had been co-opted for anti- feminist purposes. But my frustration was largely forgotten as I started to ask bigger questions: Why wasn’t the campaign I was working for using these narratives? Why did the anti-abortion camp utilize feminist language and personal experience in arguing against abortion rights? And why were we so afraid of using these same tactics? As I began this research, closely reading hundreds of stories about abortion experiences over and over again, additional questions surfaced and have shaped the ways I conducted my research and the ways in which my analysis emerged. These include: 9 Who is telling these stories—why, when and how are they doing so? Where are the narratives emerging? How is this different from the ways in which narratives have been used historically? Are abortion narratives seen as a (useful) strategy for gaining rights? How does this goal impact and/or thwart the liberatory potential of narratives? Why does it appear that the emergence of abortion narratives has shifted over time, marked by great periods of non-existence and also large influxes? And perhaps most importantly, what forces have shaped and continue to shape the content, emergence and utilization of abortion narratives? This thesis seeks to answer these questions by analyzing one specific rhetorical strategy employed by reproductive rights organizations