CHOICE IDEOLOGY AND THE PARAMETERS OF ITS PRACTICE: ALTERNATIVE ABORTION NARRATIVES IN NEW MEXICO

The ideology of choice, embedded in the pro-choice, anti-abortion debate in the United States, is founded on Enlightenment notions that take the autonomous individual with perfect knowledge and rationality as the unit of analysis. The basic premise is that each woman “chooses” from a variety of equally accessible options. Hidden in the political language of choice are the constraints all women face as they attempt to negotiate reproduction, especially if they wish to end a pregnancy. “Choice” does not exist as an abstract freedom, but is situated within the realities of power and agency. This paper examines the ability of “choice” to serve as a framework for abortion decisions and the alternative narratives employed by women to express the complexity of an abortion experience.AnthropologyDoctoralUniversity of New Mexico. Dept. of AnthropologyNagengast, CaroleLamphere, LouiseField, LesCramer, Jane