Pro-abortion rights narratives in Brazil, 1976 to 2016

Abstract

The article explores pro-abortion rights narratives in Brazil based on the narrative policy framework (NPF). I analyzed pro-abortion rights documents written by feminist activists from 1976 to 1988 and documents from feminist organizations, law proposals and policy documents regarding abortions produced between 1989 and 2016. I carried out a content analysis of both sets of documents using the OpenLogos software. Findings show that feminists made a strategic choice in favor of a public health narrative so as to expand the pro-abortion rights coalition through inclusion of actors from the health sector. The alliance with the health sector led to achievements, such as the creation of the first legal abortion services and the inclusion of anencephaly among the cases in which abortion is permitted. The public health narrative was, therefore, institutionalized, becoming both the main narrative employed by the coalition and the main narrative found in policy documents. This institutionalization is a goal for advocacy coalitions, but also imposes limits to their future work, since abandoning an institutionalized narrative may risk the coalition, while future demands must be formulated within the already-existing public policy structure.