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Abstract
In recent years, there have been calls in activist spaces to ‘queer’ abortion rights advocacy, to incorporate non-normative notions of gender identity and sexuality into abortion struggles and services. Argentina provides an interesting site in which to examine these developments, since there is a longstanding movement for abortion rights in a context of illegal abortion and a recent ground-breaking Gender Identity Law that recognises key trans rights. In this paper, we analyse public documents from the abortion rights movement’s main coalition – the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion – alongside interviews with 19 Campaign activists to examine shifts and tensions in contemporary abortion rights activism. We trace the incorporation of trans-inclusive language into the newly proposed abortion rights bill and conclude by pointing to contextual factors that may limit or enhance the further queering of abortion rights.
Résumé
Ces dernières années, des appels ont été lancés parmi les activistes pour la queerisation du plaidoyer en faveur des droits à l’avortement, qui consisterait à intégrer des notions non-normatives de l’identité de genre et de la sexualité aux luttes et aux services permettant d’accéder à l’avortement. L’Argentine représente un espace intéressant pour l’examen de ces développements, puisqu’il y existe un mouvement de longue date en faveur des droits à l’avortement, avec pour contexte l’illégalité de ce dernier et une loi récente et révolutionnaire sur l’identité de genre qui reconnaît les droits-clés des personnes transgenres. Dans cet article, nous analysons des documents publics émanant de la principale coalition du mouvement en faveur des droits à l’avortement – la Campagne nationale pour l’avortement légal, sans danger et gratuit – et, parallèlement, des données issues d’entretiens avec 19 activistes engagés dans cette campagne, afin de repérer les changements et les tensions présents dans le militantisme contemporain en faveur des droits à l’avortement. Nous examinons l’intégration du langage inclusif, relativement aux personnes transgenres, au nouveau projet de loi sur les droits à l’avortement et, dans notre conclusion, soulignons la possibilité que certains facteurs contextuels limitent ou renforcent une queerisation plus importante des droits à l’avortement.
Resumen
En los últimos años se ha propuesto en los espacios de activistas la necesidad de incluir perspectivas ‘queer’ en la defensa del derecho al aborto, de incorporar nociones no normativas de la identidad de género y la sexualidad en la lucha y los servicios de acceso al aborto. Argentina ofrece un lugar interesante en el que es posible analizar estos desarrollos, puesto que existe un movimiento de larga data por el derecho al aborto en un contexto de aborto ilegal y una reciente e innovadora Ley de Identidad de Género que reconoce derechos básicos de las personas trans. En este artículo analizamos los documentos públicos de la principal coalición del movimiento por el derecho al aborto – la Campaña Nacional por el Derecho al Aborto Legal, Seguro y Gratuito – junto con entrevistas a 19 activistas de la campaña a fin de analizar los cambios y las tensiones en el activismo contemporáneo por el derecho al aborto. Examinamos la incorporación de un lenguaje inclusivo en relación a las personas trans en el nuevo proyecto de ley por el derecho al aborto y concluimos destacando los factores contextuales que podrían limitar o incrementar la incorporación de lo 'queer' respecto al derecho al aborto.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to all the activists who shared their perspectives with us, and to the following scholars who offered helpful feedback on earlier versions of this paper: Lisette Balabarca, Gwen D’Arcangelis, Sudarat Musikawong, Constanza Tabbush and Nayla Vacarezza.
Disclosure statement
We have no financial interest or benefit in relation to the direct applications of our research.
Funding
The research on which this paper is based was supported by funding from the Faculty Research Award Program (FRAP) at the University at Albany, State University of New York [grant number 61218].
Notes
1 A Pew Research Centre (Citation2014) survey found that 71% of Argentines identify as Catholic, but only 9% say religion is important in their lives, pray daily and attend Church regularly.
2 We use the umbrella term trans (transgender), commonly used by advocates to refer to people whose gender identity and expression differ from the sex/gender assigned at birth.
3 See the law’s full text at http://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/195000-199999/197860/norma.htm
4 This is a common label that activists use in Argentina, though (like elsewhere) sometimes the acronym shifts to include various groups.
5 Gratuito means free of charge.
6 The web site (http://www.abortolegal.com.ar/) started in March 2006 and had 283 posts through 2014. The blog (http://abortolegalseguroygratuito.blogspot.com) appeared in August 2009 and by the end of 2014 had 68 posts, most distinct from the web site.
7 For historical context, we incorporate material from activist interviews conducted during 2002–2003.
8 See, Código Penal de la Nación Argentina, http://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/15000-19999/16546/texact.htm
9 This and all other quotes from texts or interviews in Spanish are our translation.
10 Regarding reproductive rights, Ariza Navarrete and Saldivia Menajovsky (Citation2015, 194) note that generally ‘trans men who need to use those rights are not considered men but women’.
11 The Encuentros are massive gatherings of activist and other interested women, occurring annually since 1986. They have been important for the popularisation of abortion right claims.
12 See history in Zurbriggen and Anzorena (Citation2013).
13 The term travesti refers to persons designated male at birth whose gender identity/expression does not align with that category. The ways of styling the body and naming themselves situate travestis among various ‘trans femininities’ (Vacarezza Citation2014, 35). The travesti identity has ‘regional, historical, and political’ specificity in Latin America (150), and has particular manifestations in Argentina, including ‘social vulnerability, an association with sexual work, the exclusion of basic rights and the recognition of the same as a political identity’ (Cabral and Viturro Citation2006, 270).
14 See the list of organisations on the Campaign’s web site: http://www.abortolegal.com.ar/?page_id=68
15 Interviews conducted for previous study (Borland Citation2004).
16 See the closed petition: https://www.change.org/p/planned-parenthood-action-center-and-naral-pro-choice-america-commit-to-being-protransprochoice
17 ALITT appears on the first lists of coalition partners published on the blog and web site.
18 See Sutton and Borland (Citationforthcoming) on abortion rights as ‘a debt of democracy’.
19 To ensure confidentiality, we use pseudonyms and minimal personal descriptors of Campaign interviewees.
20 Manuel refers to the growing use of medications, particularly misoprostol, as abortifacients (see McReynolds-Pérez Citation2017).
21 See the bill’s text: http://www.abortolegal.com.ar/proyecto-de-ley-presentado-por-la-campana/