Abortion Politics, Mass Media, and Social Movements in America

188 Pages·2014·1.037 MB·English

by  Deana A. Rohlinger

AbortionPolitics,MassMedia,andSocialMovementsinAmerica
Weaving together analyses of archival material, news coverage, and
interviews conducted with journalists from mainstream and partisan
outlets as well as with activists across the political spectrum, Deana
A.Rohlingerreimagineshowactivistsuseavarietyofmediums,some-
times simultaneously, to agitate for – and against – legal abortion.
Rohlinger’s in-depth portraits of four groups – the National Right
to Life Committee, Planned Parenthood Federation of America,
the National Organization for Women, and Concerned Women for
America – illuminate when groups use mass media to forward their
goals and why they might choose to avoid media attention altogether.
Rohlingerexpertlyrevealswhysomeactivistgroupsaremoredesperate
thanotherstoattractmediaattentionandshedslightonwhatthismeans
forpolicymakingandlegalabortioninthetwenty-firstcentury.
Deana A. Rohlinger is an associate professor in the department of
sociologyandaresearchassociateatthePepperInstituteofAgingand
PublicPolicyatFloridaStateUniversity.Sheiscoeditorofthevolumes
Media, Movements, and Political Change and Strategies for Social
Change. She is also the author of several book chapters and articles
published in journals such as Social Problems, Sociological Theory,
Mobilization: An International Journal, The Sociological Quarterly,
Sociological Spectrum, Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and
Change, American Behavioral Scientist, the Journal of Women and
Aging,andSocialMovementStudies.Sheiscurrentlytheeditorforthe
Social Movements section of Sociology Compass and the book review
editor for Mobilization. She also serves on the American Sociological
Association’sCollectiveBehaviorSocialMovement Council;the mem-
bershipcommitteeoftheSocietyfortheStudyofSocialProblems;and
theeditorialboardsofAmericanSociologicalReview,SocialProblems,
andAmericanBehavioralScientist.

Abortion Politics, Mass Media,
and Social Movements in America
DEANA A. ROHLINGER
FloridaStateUniversity
32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa
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©DeanaA.Rohlinger2015
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Firstpublished2015
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabySheridanBooks,Inc.
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Rohlinger,DeanaA.
Abortionpolitics,massmedia,andsocialmovementsinAmerica/DeanaA.Rohlinger.
pages cm
isbn978-1-107-06923-7(Hardback)
1. Abortion–Politicalaspects–UnitedStates. 2. Socialmedia–Political
aspects–UnitedStates. I. Title.
hq767.5.u5r64 2015
362.1988080973–dc23
2014021294
isbn978-1-107-06923-7Hardback
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Dedicatedto
Jack,Noah,andCole

Contents
Listoffigures pageix
Listoftables x
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction:Dilemmas,choices,andconsequences 1
Astrategicchoiceapproach 3
Lessonslearnedfromastrategicchoiceapproach 10
Outlineofthebook 14
1 Constraintsonstrategicchoice 17
Organizationaldynamicsandstrategicchoice 17
Institutionaldynamicsandstrategicchoice 23
Conclusion 28
2 Themassmediafield 31
Reputationandstrategicchoiceinthejournalisticfield 31
Towardachoice-centeredunderstandingofmassmedia 37
Reputationandrespondingtomediadilemmas 40
Conclusion 41
3 Abortion,socialmovements,andmassmedia 43
AbortionpoliticsafterRoeandDoe 45
Overviewofthestudyandorganizations 49
Overviewofmediaattentionontheabortionissue 52
4 Media,politics,andtheNationalRighttoLifeCommittee 56
Mainstreamingthepro-lifecause 58
Contendingwiththemoderatemiddle 62
Dealingwithdirectactiongroups 67
Theproblemofthereallyradicalfringe 73
Conclusion 74
vii
viii Contents
5 Reputation,politicalchange,andtheNationalOrganization
forWomen 78
Theproblemsofprincipledpragmatism 80
ShiftingthefocusfromERAtoabortion 84
ReassertingNOW’spublicimage 92
Conclusion 95
6 BrandingandthesuccessofPlannedParenthoodFederation
ofAmerica 99
ThePPFAbrandandtheabortionissue 102
Reframingthedebateofparentalrights 108
Eliteagendasandorganizationalconflict 111
Conclusion 117
7 ConcernedWomenforAmericaandsympatheticmedia 120
Thestrategicbenefitsofconservative,Christianmedia 123
Movingintothemainstream 129
Conclusion 137
8 Conclusion 141
Themediadilemmasorganizationsface 142
Organizationaldynamics:thebuildingblocksofstrategy 147
Thecomplicationsofcontext 151
Themassmediafield:reconceptualizationandreputation 153
Afterword:abortionpoliticsinthetwenty-firstcentury 156
Workscited 160
Index 170