Introduction

This chapter provides an analysis of an action research project in Belfast, Northern Ireland, an intervention designed to explore if prochoice faith discourse on abortion could be facilitated where none had previously existed. Action research is a common approach to studies of social transformation processes based on reflexive collaboration between researchers and participants. It is often employed with the expressed aim of contributing to social change or disrupting the existing social power dynamics (Kapoor and Jordan, 2009). I will locate the project within the relevant literature, explore the local political and social context, discuss the methodology used and consider the outcomes and implications of the research. As an active participant in the project facilitation team, on behalf of prochoice organisation Alliance for Choice, my analysis is rooted in reflexive feminist ethnographic research practice. It is based on qualitative data derived from personal journaling, voice notes shared between myself and the two other project facilitators, observations of participants, feedback and critical reflective conversations. Through this work I argue that social stigma has an impact on social transformation work and requires interventions that provide adequate space and time for reflection, critical analysis, capacity building and the development of an effective community of discourse. This case study provides an example of the application of this methodology, which has resulted in the successful establishment of a growing community of faith actors pursuing approaches to abortion that affirm reproductive health, rights and justice from within a religious framing.

Background

Demographic reporting on people who have abortions demonstrates that holding religious beliefs, or identifying with a faith tradition, does not stop people from accessing abortion healthcare. In the US, while Evangelical Protestants are under-represented among abortion seekers, two-thirds of people obtaining abortions indicate a religious affiliation (Jerman et al, 2016). Globally the trend is the same, with high rates of induced abortion in Muslim and Buddhist majority countries, Catholic countries in South America and Asia, and Christian communities in African nations such as Uganda and Zimbabwe (Whittaker, 2002; Hessini, 2007, 2008; Chiweshe, 2016). Research on the prevalence and impact of abortion stigma demonstrates that highly religious women are more likely to experience internalised stigma as well as fearing negative reactions from their family and friends (Cockrill and Nack, 2013).