ORCID

https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8265-3864

Date of Award

Fall 2025

Language

English

Embargo Period

11-24-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Anthropology

Program

Anthropology

First Advisor

Elise Andaya

Committee Members

Elise Andaya, Jennifer Burrell, Barbara Sutton

Keywords

abortion activism, anthropology of abortion, activist burnout, anthropology of emotion, abortion bans, feminist anthropology

Subject Categories

American Studies | Anthropology | Community-Based Research | Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Social and Cultural Anthropology | Social Justice | Women's Studies

Abstract

In the spring of 2021, a six-week abortion ban passed by popular vote in the city of Westerburg, Texas. It had a civil enforcement mechanism, allowing someone to collect a reward of $2,000 if they successfully sued someone they reported for “aiding and abetting” abortion. The ban, called the Westerburg Sanctuary City ordinance, was referred to as “bounty hunting.” When the ban passed it became the template for the state-level Texas Heartbeat Act, which provides a greater financial reward for a successful civil suit, with a minimum of $10,000 plus legal fees. In the face of this ban, pro-choice activists in Westerburg began campaigning to be able to keep abortion care legal. This dissertation describes the experiences of pro-choice activists in West Texas in a post-Roe environment, what brought them to activism, and what keeps them in activism despite being an ideological minority.

This study found that the weaponization of stereotypically negative emotions was one of the main factors in countering activist burnout and allowing activists to remain involved in progressive activism in a deeply conservative environment. The sense of community and positive interpersonal relationships formed by activists took on a new level of importance due to feelings of isolation associated with being an ideological minority, and the breakdown of interpersonal relationships that some activists attributed to moral and ideological conflicts with friends and families of origin. Medical providers articulated feelings of distress and greater difficulty in providing the best quality of care due to the abortion bans discussed here.

License

This work is licensed under the University at Albany Standard Author Agreement.

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