Backlash and Appropriation

This chapter assesses abortion debates in the 1980s and 1990s. By this point, anti-abortion actors were attempting to solve their PR problem by mimicking their opponents’ arguments, moving away from a conservative emphasis on morality and vice, and towards an appropriation of the liberal-paternalist and feminist arguments that had been put forward in support of legal abortion. This was done by adopting seemingly feminist language in talking about medical power, exploitation and women’s rights. Pro-choice and feminist actors, on the other hand, typically avoided challenging the logics underpinning the Abortion Act. Few alternatives to the current, highly medicalised system of abortion provision were proffered; rather, pro-choice actors were forced into a reactive position defending the Abortion Act from anti-abortion attacks.