Mistrust: conservative rhetoric in the Oireachtas 2018 abortion debates

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 2018, the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland, which had prohibited abortion except under certain severe circumstances, was repealed by an overwhelming majority of voters in a national referendum. This article addresses opposition in the Oireachtas to the liberal changes to the abortion legislation that preceded and followed the referendum. By employing a critical discourse analysis approach, I identify characteristically conservative rhetoric and arguments used in the debates. Furthermore, I adopt an analytical framework provided by Albert O. Hirschman to argue that the opposing rhetoric employed wasrooted in the conservative tradition: the opponents of the abortion legislation argued both that the changes to the legislation will have the opposite result than intended and lead to unacceptable consequences. The legislation will not only harm society but also undermine the interests of women. I conclude that the opposition to the legislation was based on a mistrust of women, their agency and self-determination. The study aims to shed light on how core ideas of conservatism, such as opposition to ‘excessive’ equality, manifested in the contemporary political debates on abortion and how, ultimately, the rhetoric in the Irish debates fits within the larger framework of conservatism as a school of thought.