On-Screen Portrayals of Abortion and Why They Matter

The Femtastic Podcast

What we see in movies and TV impacts our cultural understanding and normalization of topics - and abortion is no different. That's why every year a team of researchers at UCSF's Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) analyzes and reports on film and TV portrayals of abortion.

Today on the podcast is Steph Herold, a researcher with the Abortion On-Screen Team here to discuss the 2020 report. Steph tells us how, where, and how accurately abortion was portrayed on-screen in 2020. She details how on-screen portrayals underrepresented people of color, parents, and barriers to abortion seen in real life, while overrepresenting teen patients and in-clinic (versus medication) abortions. Most importantly, she tells us why this all matters.

Show Resources:

- To view 2020 and all prior-year reports, go here

- To view ANSIRH's running database of on-screen abortion storylines OR to contact them to suggest a storyline not in their database, go here

- Email our guest [e-mail] if you have any questions or want to share an episode/film with abortion in it.

- Find Steph on twitter at @Stephherold and her colleague Gretchen at @gesisson