Skip to main content
eScholarship
Open Access Publications from the University of California

UC Davis

UC Davis Electronic Theses and Dissertations bannerUC Davis

Rosie’s Choice: The Politics of Abortion and Feminist Martyrdom

Abstract

In this essay, I argue that the process of politicizing the fetus leads to the economic exploitation of the working-class woman regarding abortion, and the stigmatization of those who have had abortions or assisted others to have them. In addition, the reproduction of powerful anti-abortion discourses accelerated the reproductive exploitation of working-class women through coerced pregnancies, poverty, and death. The dominant discourse has long depicted Rosie Jimenez as the perfect example of lack of access to affordable abortions, which suggests Rosie’s inability to pay for an abortion caused her death. However, I argue that access does not always equate to justice, but rather, working class women, such as Rosie, had the agency to choose when to have more children, a personal choice that intersected politically with three key elements of her identity: a working-class, Mexican American woman. The politics of abortion intertwines with Rosie’s ethnicity, social status, and gender. The association between abortion, class, and race follows the trend of reproductive justice which refers to contemporary society’s massive and growing interest in reproductive politics and choices. The scholarly trend of studying reproductive justice as a whole is fairly new, starting in the 1990s, and is increasingly growing. The framework of reproductive justice benefits women and people who want children to maintain their personhood and autonomy without being exploited for their reproduction.

Main Content
For improved accessibility of PDF content, download the file to your device.
Current View