Despite the fact that one in three women of reproductive age will have an abortion there continues to be stigma surrounding those who have had abortions. Abortion stigma continues to permeate how women are treated and services are provided. The present study explores the ways in which women use the online social networking site Twitter to engage with the #ShoutYourAbortion hashtag to resist dominant pro-life discourses of abortion and challenge abortion stigma. Through the use of a critical discourse analysis that utilizes feminist standpoint theory, four major discourses were identified as emerging out of the #ShoutYourAbortion hashtag. First, the discourse of resisting and challenging pro-life rhetoric emerged in that women utilized the hashtag to challenge dominant discourses on abortions by sharing their own experiences that contradict pro-life narratives. Second, the discourse of emphasizing the importance of choice and autonomy regarding women’s reproductive rights and freedoms was highlighted, and the importance of abortion as a form of healthcare was emphasized. Next, women used discourses that aimed to critique and challenge the abortion industry as a whole. Lastly, women used the hashtag to normalize abortions in an attempt to challenge abortion stigma. This exploratory research provides insights into the utility of engaging with hashtags to resist and challenge dominant discourses, and how women are sharing their experiences in an attempt to change the narratives around abortion. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

Anchored theoretically in critical discourse analysis and by using analytical tools from legitimization theory, this essay explores the communication within one particular kind of anti-abortion activism, called sidewalk counseling. Informed by previous research on abortion discourse, this study critically analyzes transcribed, authentic video material and accounts for legitimization strategies employed in sidewalk counselor language. The aims of this study are to investigate the linguistic make-up of sidewalk counselor communication, as well as how or to what extent sidewalk counselors motivate their activism in their speech, and to explore potential power relations in the communication. The results show that sidewalk counselors use a number of legitimization strategies in their communication, and they also indicate a power structure based in religiousness. Key findings include that appealing to interlocutors’ emotions is the most commonly used strategy by sidewalk counselors in the examined conversations, while referring to a hypothetical future is the least used strategy.