Abstract

INGRASSIA, PAOLA  and  RETEGUI, LORENA. Disputes of meaning over abortion in Argentina during 2020. Inmediac. Comun [online]. 2022, vol.17, n.1, pp.189-217.  Epub June 01, 2022. ISSN 1510-5091.  https://doi.org/10.18861/ic.2022.17.1.3232.

The aim of the article is to understand and analyze the meanings that two competitive arenas -the media and the feminist movements-built on the same topic, the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (VIP). To carry out the study, quantitative and qualitative techniques were combined. In total, 323 news items published during December 2020 by the sites with the highest audience in Argentina (La Nación, Clarín & Infobae) about the debate over abortion rights were analyzed. The study period includes the month in which the VIP project was approved as a legal standard. In turn, the analysis is complemented by seven in-depth interviews with members of different regions of the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion. Among the results, it is observed that only 25% of the analyzed news were signed by women and that only in 28.2% of the cases the VIP law was defined as fair or necessary. In addition, 63.8% of the notes observed trivialization of the objectives or the presentation of the legal project; in 56.3%, polarization stood out, while differences were accentuated as equivalents or the actions of the counter-movement; and 83.3% showed a disregard for the importance or effectiveness of the feminist movement. At the same time, the voices of the militants allowed us to understand both the challenges and the communicational actions and strategies that they implemented to influence at the political and media level, as well as their perceptions about the way in which the media represented the issue of abortion, the slogan and objectives of the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion and the image of women as part of the “green movement”.

Keywords : abortion; news frames; feminist movements; competitive sands; meaning disputes.

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