"The stakes are so high": interviews with progressive journalists reporting on abortion

Canadian Newspapers Support Mifepristone Medication Abortion to Improve Fulfillment of the AAAQ Right to Health Framework (2015-2019)

BACKGROUND

In 2015, mifepristone in combination with misoprostol, the international gold standard for medication abortion, was approved for use in Canada. By 2019, all Canadian provinces had included the medication as a publicly insured health benefit.

METHODS

Our content analysis of Canadian newspaper coverage describes arguments in favor of or against medication abortion and the evolving regulatory framework for mifepristone from 6 months before regulatory approval until the last significant regulatory barrier to use was removed (2015-2019).

RESULTS

Our study found an exceptionally high level of support for the approval of, introduction of, and removal of regulatory barriers to mifepristone for medication abortion. Of 402 pieces, 67% were pro-medication abortion, 25% presented balanced or neutral coverage, and only 8% presented solely anti-medication abortion viewpoints. Of the 761 individuals quoted, more than 90% made positive or neutral statements about medication abortion. Most pieces discussed medication abortion as a health issue and described how liberalization of the regulatory framework would improve abortion availability (68%), accessibility (87%), acceptability (34%), and quality (28%).

CONCLUSIONS

Rather than formal balance, which presents contrasting arguments as equally valid even when the scientific evidence for one vastly outweighs the other, our study identified evidentiary balance, in which coverage aligned with the weight of evidence and expert opinion. Our results differ from analyses in other high-income countries (United Kingdom, United States) where media outlets frame abortion in relation to morality or electoral politics rather than as a health issue. The Canadian print media presented overwhelmingly favorable arguments toward the expansion of mifepristone medication abortion and framed the introduction and universal coverage of medication abortion as advancing the "Availability, Accessibility, Acceptability, and Quality" (AAAQ) Right to Health Framework that establishes international human rights standards for health information, facilities, goods, and services.

A content analysis of twitter backlash to Georgia's abortion ban

OBJECTIVE

Georgia's House Bill 481: The Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act (LIFE Act), which prohibits abortion after cardiac activity is detected, was signed into law on May 7, 2019. The bill's proponents framed the ban to protect the "unborn." However, less is known about the framing used by abortion rights supporters to oppose the bill in the context of social media. The aim of this study is to systematically examine the content of Twitter to investigate how users organically engaged in activism in response to the passage of HB 481. We contend that understanding this opposition is critical for activists, healthcare providers, and policymakers interested in mobilizing public support for maintaining legal access to abortion care.

METHODS

A coding team of 6 researchers conducted a combined a priori and iterative thematic content analysis of 583 #HB481 tweets to systematically examine how social media users framed their responses to HB 481. Tweets were coded for full group consensus.

RESULTS

Opposition to HB 481 was framed around three major themes: mobilizing political action, emphasizing a collective gender identity, and general rejection of the bill. Fourteen subthemes are contained in these major themes, which reflect the nuanced and multifaceted ways abortion rights supporters presented their opposition to the bill.

CONCLUSION

Twitter users invoked emotional reactions and drew on their experiences to promote a collective identity that called attention to systemic gender oppression and urged widespread mobilization to oppose HB 481.

Exploring media framing of abortion content on Kenyan television: a qualitative study protocol

BACKGROUND

Media framing of abortion messages is an emerging field of research. However, little is known about how the news media frames abortion messages aimed at influencing adolescents' reproductive health choices. This study therefore seeks to investigate the framing of abortion in TV news items on three leading Kenyan TV outlets over a period of 3 years, understand Kenyan journalists' perceptions and experiences with abortion coverage, and to examine adolescents' perceptions and experiences with abortion coverage on Kenyan televised news media.

METHODS

This qualitative study which will be conducted in two sites-Nairobi and Uasin Gishu counties-in Kenya will purposively sample abortion news items from three leading media outlets aired between January 2016 to December 2019, for content analysis. Additionally, 12 journalists (9 reporters, 3 news editors) will be purposively sampled for Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) on journalist framing of abortion messages. Finally, convenience sampling will be used to select approximately 48 university-going adolescents for four Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)-2 female, 2 male- aimed at examining adolescents' perceptions and experiences with abortion coverage in the broadcast news media. The KIIs and FGDs will be audio-recorded, transcribed and translated. These data will be analyzed thematically.

DISCUSSION

This study moves beyond interrogating only media items to further exploring framing from the perspectives of media consumers and investigations in the process behind production of abortion messages. The study interrogates abortion messages aimed at younger demographics such as adolescents as well as the gendered differences of the effects of these abortion messages, an area barely explored. The study findings will be informative to those who wish to develop media that could be used to promote safe abortion as well as advocate for sexual reproductive health rights, especially among adolescents.

Coverage of Abortion in Select U.S. Newspapers

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

News coverage can shape public understanding of policy issues in important ways. In the last decade, many new state-level abortion restrictions have been passed, often based on claims about the safety of abortion care, yet little is known about recent news coverage of abortion. This study analyzes a sample of news on abortion in the United States and explores the implications for reproductive health policymakers, practitioners, and advocates.

METHODS

We analyzed a sample of news and opinion articles containing the term "abortion" published in three major U.S. newspaper sources in 2013 and 2016. The total sample was 783 unique pieces. We coded for story topics, references to fetal personhood, women's stories, and basic abortion facts. Three trained coders conducted the coding, with intercoder reliability rates ranging from 0.777 to 1.0.

FINDINGS

Most of the time abortion appears in the news, it is merely mentioned, rather than discussed substantively. Abortion is covered as a political issue more than a health issue. The personal experiences of people who get abortions are present in only 4% of the sample, and language personifying the fetus appears more often than women's abortion stories. State abortion restrictions are newsworthy, yet basic facts on the commonality and safety of abortion are virtually absent.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that the news does not support public understanding of abortion as a common, safe part of reproductive health care. Such framing may undermine public support for policies that protect access to this common health care service.