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CHAPTER 4. ABORTION DISCOURSE IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE 63
cial movement organizations, and public opinion. In the years following Roe, a
highly polarized era occurs, as large-scale “pro-choice” and “pro-life” movements
emerge. This era is most succinctly marked by a succession of U.S. Supreme
Court cases and repeated (unsuccessful) attempts to pass an amendment to the
Constitution prohibiting abortion. These efforts transformed the abortion issue
into one that has remained broad-based and fully engaged for nearly a quartercentury.
Although the Supreme Court has steadily whittled away at the ability of
women to exercise their right to an abortion established by Roe, no more than four
justices in any single case have indicated a willingness to expressly overturn the
decision. Those seeking such an outcome had anticipated success following the
string of steadily restrictive Court opinions and the ascension to the Court of five
Reagan and Bush appointees (Tribe 1990). They were bitterly disappointed when,
in the Casey decision in 1992, O’Connor, Kennedy and Souter reaffirmed, rather
than rejected, the central holding in Roe. This left the bloc of Rehnquist, Scalia,
Thomas and White one vote shy of reversal.
The election of a pro-choice President in 1992, and the subsequent replacement
of Justice White – who had dissented from the majority opinion in Roe and was
willing to overturn that decision in Casey – it would appear that we may be on
the cusp of a fourth phase in the abortion controversy in the United States. In
this new phase, the right to an abortion, while still contested, is less the focus
than the ability to obtain an abortion. Thus, the persuasive efforts of the pro-life
movement are targeted to abortion service providers and consumers rather than
policy makers. Given the unlikelihood of success in the Supreme Court, some
pro-life advocates have essentially given up trying to change general attitudes
through reasoned discourse, and are instead using or advocating (or at least not
criticizing) the use of terror as a weapon against those providing abortion services
(Donovan 1985, Forrest & Henshaw 1987, Terry 1988, Wills 1989, Grant 1991).
4.2 Abortion Discourse in the Public Sphere
Public discussion about abortion moves through similar phases as public policy.
There is some dispute about the public perception of abortion during the precriminalization
phase. According to Luker (1984), there is ample evidence that abortion
was considered by some to be morally wrong. Popular home medical guides made
clear that pregnancy was a biologically continuous process, with some opposing