This year, we tracked 65 abortion plotlines across cable, broadcast, and streaming channels. While we documented some familiar trends, we also observed a return to concerning tropes.
Findings: Tracking Depictions of Barriers, Characters, & Abortion on TV
Implications: Trends of Abortion Invisibility, Myths, and Misinformation on TV
Television depictions of abortion are particularly important to track to understand what accurate and misleading information audiences are exposed to through this content . Though television shows continued to accurately represent more characters of color seeking abortion care, several troubling trends emerged this year. Several shows portrayed religious opposition to abortion, focusing on characters who were unable to reconcile their Christianity with the possibility of an abortion, even in dire health circumstances. Other shows reinforced the perceived unacceptability of abortion by depicting characters having false pregnancies and convenient miscarriages. Only three plotlines included depictions of medication abortions, and notably absent were rich context and background for characters seeking abortion, particularly related to poverty and parenting.
Steph Herold, MPH, lead researcher for Abortion Onscreen, writes:
“Though we did see some encouraging trends in this year’s abortion representations, particularly related to race, the majority of plotlines did not show the complex reality of abortion access across the United States. We saw very few, if any, depictions of the very real consequences of pregnancy criminalization, attempted bans on medication abortion generally and bans on specific types of medication abortion provision, and criminal indictments of abortion providers, in addition to the interpersonal challenges of raising money towards the cost of the abortion and seeking time off of work and childcare for the abortion appointment itself. This is a real missed opportunity to provide contextual depth to the onerous experience of accessing an abortion in the U.S. in 2025.”
For more, read the full Abortion Onscreen in 2025 report, check out the Abortion Onscreen project, and search the Abortion Onscreen database for additional plotlines.