A History of Silence in Abortion Care

In the 1970s, following the legalization of abortion, discussions surrounding abortion procedures emerged into the public.  In an effort to move abortion care from the margins to the center, abortion providers began to research different abortion procedures, collect data on their experiences, present research results at conferences, and openly debate the advantages and disadvantages of different procedures.  But with the emergence of a professional conversation of abortion care, anti-abortion activists, too, began to structure a conversation about abortion.  Anti-abortion activists systematically distorted professional discourse and began to use the words of abortion providers against them.   In a concerted publicity campaign, they redefined the fetus as a baby and abortion providers as murderers.  By the late 1980s, they had effectively silenced abortion providers. 

 Of particular concern to abortion providers and their supporters were discussions surrounding the details of abortion procedures and the fetal body.  Fearing the topics too sensitive and distasteful to the pro-choice community, the large pro-choice organizations discouraged discussion of these issues, further stigmatizing the work or abortion providers.  As a result, pro-choice advocates were in a poor position – or entirely unwilling --  to defend intact D&E, the so-called partial birth abortion procedure, when anti-abortion activists began to target the procedure.  This paper will analyze this history of silence and the political implications of it.