UCSF

Purpose of review

Entertainment media contribute to how people understand and make sense of health issues, especially stigmatized ones such as abortion. This paper reviews the peer-reviewed literature published between 2019 and 2024 on how abortion is depicted in scripted television and film available for viewing in the United States.

Recent findings

The majority of recent studies focus on qualitative content analysis of a composite of television shows, documenting the myriad ways that these programs reflect and are distinct from the reality of abortion access in the United States. The quantitative studies find small but significant increases in abortion knowledge related to exposure to television abortion plotlines, but no increases in support for abortion postexposure. No studies track the impact of exposure to multiple abortion plotlines at multiple points in time. Only one study included a sample of entertainment content creators to understand their motivations for creating abortion plotlines.

Summary

Media depictions of abortion are often rife with misinformation, and may influence the U.S. public's general knowledge and beliefs about abortion. More research is needed to understand possible relationships between television and film abortion content and its impact on viewers.