Abortion Rights in Images: Visual Interventions by Activist Organizations in Argentina

Abstract

Politics is about power, contestation, and negotiation. Political discourse relies not only on the persuasiveness of words, rational argumentation, and ethical appeals but also on the deployment of images. Political disputes around abortion are paradigmatic of the crucial role that images can play. While conservative groups have deployed powerful imagery to present their moral and political convictions, abortion rights organizations are increasingly intervening in the political arena with visual artifacts. Places where abortion is illegal and where activists have been struggling to repeal punitive abortion laws seem particularly well suited for examining the visual repertoires of abortion rights activists. Argentina is a case in point. This article interrogates the visual production of three significant organizations for abortion rights in Argentina: the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe, and Free Abortion; Lesbians and Feminists for the Decriminalization of Abortion; and the Network of Socorristas (first responders). What kinds of images, symbols, and aesthetic strategies have they crafted? What meanings do these visuals convey? What affects do they mobilize? How do these images fit, contradict, or exceed vital dimensions of Argentina’s political culture? We examine abortion rights images along three lines: first, the meaning of key symbols of the organizations; second, emerging notions of abortion safety; and finally, the struggle for abortion rights in relation to human rights, citizenship, and democracy. We consider the potency and limitations of the organizations’ visuals, contributing an analysis of local experiences in relation to abortion rights activism as a topic of transnational relevance.