DEN IRLÄNDSKA ABORTDEBATTEN Abortfrågans gestaltning i debattartiklar inför Irlands folkomröstning om abort den 25 maj 2018

Abstract

In a Europe where women’s access to abortion is all the more restricted Ireland displayed a different development when they in a referendum 25 May 2018 voted to legalize abortion. Ireland has one of Europe’s most restrictive legislation on abortion but is now moving towards a more liberal legislation. This essay aims to analyze how abortion has been framed in the Irish debate before the referendum. Using framing theory and theory on stigma the essay analyzes how writers in opinion articles in two of Irelands biggest newspapers, the Irish Times and Irish Independent, has positioned abortion, women and fetuses. Through framing analysis and an assay scheme based on previous research the essay shows that both pro-life and pro-choice writers tend to frame abortion as the community’s responsibility to either support pregnant women’s choice to end their pregnancy or protect the fetuses from being denied the right to life. Pro-life maintains stigmatizing of abortion by humanizing the fetus and strengthening the female ideal of motherhood, naming the eight amendment as fetuses sole protection. Pro-choice writers proclaim women’s right to decide herself and name the eight amendment as a threat to women, denying them necessary care.