Pro-life, Positioning and Imperialism - A Critical Discourse Analysis of U.S. Foreign Aid Statements on Abortion and Reproductive Health

Sammanfattning: This thesis uses Critical Discourse Analysis to explore how the practice of abortion is defined and created in U.S. presidential administrations’ statements on foreign aid, how the discourses regarding abortion and reproductive health have changed between 1984-2019 and how the U.S. foreign aid statements on reproductive health can be understood through postcolonial feminist theory. When the presidency is held by a Republican, the U.S. has implemented a policy prohibiting U.S. taxpayer money to fund abortion services abroad. The Mexico City Policy, as it is named, has severe consequences on women’s health. The theoretical framework builds upon postcolonial feminist theory, which includes a Marxist perspective and a theory on reproductive governance. The empirical material of the thesis is constituted by statements made by U.S. presidential administrations from 1984-2019. The findings show that the discourses regarding abortion in foreign aid very much depends on what party holds the presidency. The Republicans follow and reproduce a pro-life discourse and claims the unborn foetus’ right to life, whereas Democrats follow a more comprehensive discourse of sexual and reproductive health and rights. The thesis concludes that the implementation of the U.S. foreign aid policy on reproductive health also reproduces colonial patterns of power, control and influence.