| Abstract: | The contemporary U.S. debate over abortion has been waged as a battle between <life> and <choice>. The author traces the development of these ideographs, arguing that through their verbal and visual strategies, advocates on both sides of the issue have rendered ideographic meaning concrete. Whereas the fixed definitions have served the cause of <life> well, they have been detrimental for <choice>, leading advocates to seek out ways to revitalize the debate. The 2004 March for Women's Lives was a key event in this larger effort; through it, participants revitalized the abortion debate, bringing renewed flexibility to the ideograph <choice> at the same time it challenged the fixed status, and the veracity, of the ideograph <life>. |
