Ethnographic fiction as feminist practice: Reflections on approaches to lived experiences in post-legalisation abortion governance in Ireland

Although Ireland repealed the former constitutional ban on abortion in 2018, experiences of barriers to abortion care access and provision continue. The State's efforts to review the legislation signify a consideration of lived experiences with abortion, yet no further improvements to the law have been made. In my work on post-legalisation abortion governance, I critically assess to what extent Irish abortion governance has been transformed with Repeal. I employ ethnographic as a reflexive and creative approach to capture experiences with abortion care, and to explore the legitimacy of embodied knowledges. In this article, I explore ethnographic fiction as a feminist research practice in post-legalisation Irish abortion politics. I argue that writing fiction as a feminist practice is a means to critically interrogate political discourses on lived experiences with abortion, and how these are written into policy documents. The empathy and imagination involved in creating fiction help to foreground embodied experiences with abortion care and provide an alternative to the Irish State's approach to lived experiences.