Fatal Fertility: Abortion Framing in Argentina

To gain further understanding of the framing of abortion across various societal actors this thesis asks the question; How does the framing of abortion in Argentina during to 2020 abortion legalization debate differ between the media, politicians, and activists? A quantitative framing analysis was conducted on three newspapers across the political spectrum, Clarín, La Nación, and Página 12, the speeches by Senators during the abortion legalization vote, and the social media accounts of three activist organizations. It quantifies and contrasts the framing by these actors using a set of abortion frames created by Sutton and Borland (2013). The results show that the ‘economic/social justice’ and ‘public health’ frame, which are connected through an intersectional approach to abortion rights which stands central in Argentina’s abortion rights movement, were most popular amongst politicians, activists, and the left-leaning newspaper Página 12. The pro-choice Senators showed a preference...Show moreTo gain further understanding of the framing of abortion across various societal actors this thesis asks the question; How does the framing of abortion in Argentina during to 2020 abortion legalization debate differ between the media, politicians, and activists? A quantitative framing analysis was conducted on three newspapers across the political spectrum, Clarín, La Nación, and Página 12, the speeches by Senators during the abortion legalization vote, and the social media accounts of three activist organizations. It quantifies and contrasts the framing by these actors using a set of abortion frames created by Sutton and Borland (2013). The results show that the ‘economic/social justice’ and ‘public health’ frame, which are connected through an intersectional approach to abortion rights which stands central in Argentina’s abortion rights movement, were most popular amongst politicians, activists, and the left-leaning newspaper Página 12. The pro-choice Senators showed a preference for the ‘economic/social justice’ frame, while the activists and Página 12 used ‘public health’ as their primary frame most often. The most significant difference between framing by activists and politicians is seen in the frames ‘pragmatism’ and ‘life’. Politicians use the ‘pragmatism’ frame to support abortion from a relatively neutral stance in order to appeal to an ideologically diverse electorate, only one activist was shown to use this frame. Only one pro-choice Senator used the ‘life’ frame, whereas 19,4% of the activists used this as a counter-frame against the ‘life’ frame used by pro-life Senators. The two remaining newspapers were shown to be outliers on their own. The conservative La Nación is an almost impenetrable platform of pro-life rhetoric, while the centrist Clarín makes a more balanced showing, both hold true to their anti-Peronist and anti-Kirchnerist roots and lack coverage of the ‘human rights’ and ‘economic/social justice’ frames, they further refrain from using activists as sources.Show less

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Fatal Fertility: Abortion Framing in Argentina