The abortion issue in America is highly divisive, as is indicated by the 'partial birth' abortion debate. This article examines the way in which a central shift in language has had an effect on the wider abortion debate. It shows how politically constructed language shifted the trajectory of the abortion debate in just fourteen years. The Congressional legislation banning partial birth abortion and the upholding of that legislation by the United States Supreme Court - both influenced by the language surrounding the highly unusual procedure now known as partial birth abortion - eroded abortion rights as defined in Roe v Wade. The success of the anti-abortion movement in respect of the ban on one type of abortion may presage a wider attack on the Constitutional underpinning of abortion in America, a possibility that makes the tactics deployed in respect of partial birth abortion worthy of careful examination.
AJAS (ISSN 0705-7113) is the official journal of the Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association. It is an international journal published twice a year, in July and December, by the Association.
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