“We Are the Visible Proof”: Legitimizing Abortion Regret Misinformation through Activists’ Experiential Knowledge

Abstract

Since 2010, many abortion policies emerging at the state level have been designed around the idea of "abortion regret," a scientifically discredited assertion that abortion causes long-term health problems for women. Studies have examined the legal significance of regret claims in case law as well as the role scientific misinformation and uncertainty play in the policy process. However, scholars have given less attention to the intersection between abortion regret experiences and misinformation. We address this gap in the literature by examining how antiabortion activists' experiential knowledge continues to reinforce and legitimize misinformation contained in state policies. We explore the process of substantiating abortion regret misinformation by attaching it to activists' experiential expertise. Based on twenty-three interviews with antiabortion activists, we argue that misinformation receives validation through the certainty of experiential knowledge, which activists mobilize around and use as a source of evidence in the policy process.

Gender, Religion, and Pro-Life Activism

“…Although many pro-life activists denounced abortion under all circumstances, other types of abortion attitudes could also motivate pro-life activism. Some pro-life groups claim their efforts compassionately serve the psychological and medical needs of women (Kelly 2014; Trumpy 2014; Doan, Candal, and Sylvester 2018), so studies should determine to if pro-life activists are really doing their activism for the well-being of women. Pro-life groups also talk about “fetal personhood” so it seems wise to see if activists when compared to non-activists, view fetuses as little people.…”

“…Pro-life groups traditionally frame abortion as an issue of moral purity, “traditional family values,” and “protecting the unborn” (Merola and McGlone 2011). In the last decade, some pro-life groups discuss the presumed trauma of having abortions (Doan, Candal, and Sylvester 2018; Kelly 2014), but this message is not emphasized in most pro-life organizations (Trumpy 2014). The extent to which an individual likes and accepts pro-life messages depends on the perceived credibility and salience of the frames voiced by pro-life organizations and activists (Tarrow 2011).…”

Father Knows Best: “Protecting” Women through State Surveillance and Social Control in Anti‐Abortion Policy

“…Post‐ Roe v. Wade , anti‐abortion activism and rhetoric has shifted to account for new ways of understanding who can be harmed by abortion and thus requires state protection against this perceived trauma (Doan, Candal, and Sylvester ; Ehrlich and Doan ; Rose ). In the immediate wake of Roe v. Wade , activists publicly focused on framing a fetus as a unborn baby and clinic personnel as baby killers (Doan ; Mason ).…”

“…Abortion is therefore viewed as inimical to women's interests because it severs the maternal‐child bond. From this perspective, women are constructed as victims who are easily coerced or duped into having an abortion and then left to wrangle with “abortion regret,” which activists contend is the long‐term emotional and physical harm inflicted on women in the aftermath of an abortion (Doan, Candal, and Sylvester ; Ehrlich and Doan ; Johnson ; Kelly ; Manian ; Rose ; Siegel ).…”

“…Policies play a significant role in creating an image of reality because they institutionalize interpretations of the world that “feed forward” into future political actions and have tangible outcomes (Campbell ; Crowley, Watson, and Waller ; Mettler and Soss ; Schneider and Sidney ; Soss ). Within these policies, socially constructed knowledge can be imparted and codified in law, reflecting policy makers' interpretations of the cause and effect of a problem, their selection of information deemed relevant to the policy, and their choice of experts identified to participate in the policy process (Armstrong ; Doan, Candal, and Sylvester ; Schneider and Sidney ).…”