Governing Abortion Talk: The Influence of Medication Abortion Policy on Discourse in Australia
Keywords:
social policy, discourse, medical abortionAbstract
This paper critically examines the enduring influence of historical medication abortion policy in Australia on contemporary access to abortion, with particular attention to the role of discursive practices. Drawing on the Post-structural Interview Analysis (PIA) methodology, grounded in Bacchi and Goodwin’s “Post-structural Policy Analysis”, this article illuminates how language shaped by restrictive knowledge practices continues to perpetuate inaccessibility to medication abortion. The central argument presented is that policy not only regulates access at a structural level but also fundamentally shapes the epistemological frameworks through which medication abortion is understood and represented. These discursive representations—rooted in historically restrictive policy —have permeated public and institutional narratives, producing a discourse that limits the scope of abortion care and reinforces barriers to access. The paper contends that addressing inequities in abortion access requires more than policy reform; it necessitates a critical interrogation and transformation of the knowledge practices that sustain restrictive discourses. Visibility on discursive representations and their foundation in restrictive knowledge practices is essential for enabling expansive abortion care in Australia.
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