(Re)Framing abortion: the lamination of trafficking in reproductive rights discourse

Human trafficking has historically been exploited for political purposes and to reify social hierarchies. Popular media and conspiracies such as QAnon have reinforced many of these myths about human trafficking. As reproductive rights have continued to be contested in the U.S. with the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the term ‘abortion trafficking’ has been introduced to leverage fears related to trafficking and unify opposition to abortion access. This article considers how ‘abortion trafficking’ reflects a tradition of laminating human trafficking onto polarizing discourse frames. Utilizing Goffman’s conception of lamination in his work on frame analysis, identification of how ‘abortion trafficking’ has been manifested in popular discourse is identified. Implications of the effects of such laminations on theory and popular sentiment are considered.