Majority of TV abortion plotlines reinforce myths about the procedure
We viewed all plotlines on American scripted television between 2008 and 2018 that contained an abortion, and found that only 40% of plotlines depict some aspect of the abortion procedure, the majority of which are surgical abortions. Less than a quarter of plotlines depict medication abortions, contrasting with real life in which one third of patients have an abortion by pill. Plotlines involving a surgical abortion often (but not always) occur in hospitals, and medication abortions are often both easy to access and are associated with danger or death. This misinformation may lead to unnecessary fear and anxiety amongst abortion patients, and cause confusion about the safety and accessibility of abortion.
Read more...