Justifying abortion: The limits of maternal idealist rhetoric

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this essay, we explore the logic behind restrictions on abortion and seek possible rhetorical alternatives by turning to an analysis of women’s later abortion narratives published between 2016 and 2020 in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s two most nationally visible remarks about “late-term” abortion. Because arguments for later abortion rights have implications for all women’s reproductive lives, we approach these narratives from a critical perspective rooted in intersectional feminist theory and praxis and reproductive justice. We argue that the narratives develop an idealist rhetoric of self-sacrificing maternity that emerges from an orchestration of racialized discourses of good motherhood and the gendered liberal political tradition. Later abortion narratives limit women’s reproductive freedom by constructing a motivational vocabulary for understanding (and supporting) later abortions based on mercy and good motherhood.