Pre abortion ultrasound in a context of illegality: a study on the discursive practices of professionals from women’s experiences

Abstract

In this article we investigate the situation of preabortion ultrasound examination in a context of illegality, attending to the discursive practices of professionals who mediate viewing experiences, from the perspective of the experiences and interpretive repertoires of young women who were submitted to the examination. In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 women who had an abortion in the university period and who did a pre-abortion ultrasound. The material was transcribed and analyzed from the interpretive paradigm. Abortion is ignored in the examination situation through a particular discursive practice of professionals around the personification of the fetus and the naturalization of the maternal-fetal bond. The examination encourages the woman to see and meet the fetus, while she rejects the invitation to participate in the visualization. This women do not produce the hegemonic or dominant link between images, languages, and emotions that would make them mothers, but neither do they produce an alternative link that allows them to experience ultrasound consistent with the decision to interrupt the pregnancy. In this way, the ultrasound situation translates into an experience of normative violence for women.