Negotiating abortion rights in Ireland

‘Her choice of course’: Negotiating legitimacy of ‘choice’ in abortion rights deliberations during the ‘Repeal the Eighth’ movement in Ireland.

Abstract

Discourses of ‘choice’ are routinely involved in sexual and reproductive rights’ advocacy. In this article, we offer a discursive psychological examination of how ‘choice’ is oriented to, in online deliberations on the ongoing movement for abortion rights in Ireland. Comment posters treated ‘choice’ as involving outcomes of and motives for choosing, in negotiating legitimacy of women’s rights to choose. These accompanied alternative versions of women, either as independent or as intimately bound up with pregnancy/motherhood, which were flexibly used in negotiation legitimacy of women’s rights to ‘choice’ in abortion practices. Choice advocacy is then situated in particular discursive practices.

Sambaraju, R., Sammon, M., Harnett, F. & Douglas, E. (2018). ‘Her choice of course’: Negotiating legitimacy of ‘choice’ in abortion rights deliberations during the ‘Repeal the Eighth’ movement in Ireland. Journal of Health Psychology - Special Issue on Sexual Health, 23, (2): 263 - 276. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105317741659