Neoconservative camouflage: the datafication of abortion debates in Ecuador

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article analyses the controversy between neoconservatives and prochoice groups in their political use of abortion data in Ecuador. Despite the fact that there is a huge underreporting of abortion in the country – since it is an illegal process, with two exceptions – I keep track of how the narratives on this issue have changed from a moral and religious tone to a datified discourse focused on “science” and human rights where both neoconservative and prochoice groups are forced to produce their own studies, data, and conclusions with the little information available. Combining statistics together with a discourse analysis of the debates on the decriminalization of abortion for rape in 2019 in the National Assembly and the debate on the Constitutional Court in 2021, I observe the controversy that develops in the use of data. In conversation with literature on social studies of science, technology, and techno politics, I seek to contribute to the debate on the production and political use of data directly related to human rights, with an emphasis on women's rights in Latin America.