Abortion has a PR problem.
There’s no other way to explain how we find ourselves in an abortion landscape that’s the worst it’s been in 50 years.
This June marked 2 years since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, removing the federal guarantee of legal abortion in the United States. We’ve seen crushing abortion restrictions and outright bans cropping up all over the country, the number of clinics dwindling to single digits even in access states and a general sense that, overall, access to abortion is losing ground.
It’s not because the anti-abortion extremists are winning in terms of numbers. They aren’t, not in terms of the number of abortion-supportive individuals or even the number of abortions procured. In fact, we know that the number of abortions has gone up since the Dobbs decision, not down. While abortion bans do not lower the rate of abortion nationwide, they certainly have an impact.
Abortion bans make accessing abortion care incredibly difficult, stigmatized and financially draining. They threaten the safety of healthcare providers, other staff and clinics and those who use them in restricted areas, overwhelm clinics in neighboring access states and drastically increase the risk of maternal mortality. And, unsurprisingly, they disproportionately impact poor communities and communities of color.
And yet, we know that, across party lines, abortion is and has always been overwhelmingly popular. 91% of Americans say that they support abortionexternal link, opens in a new tab in at least some cases. 70% of voters believe that abortion should be legal in “most or all casesexternal link, opens in a new tab.” 64% of Americans believe that Congress should guarantee abortionexternal link, opens in a new tab across the country. These numbers tell a story that is not reflected in the current landscape of abortion access.
Which means that the pro-choice movement is not putting up an effective fight against the movement to end abortion.
At the Abortion Positivity Projectexternal link, opens in a new tab, we work to destigmatize abortion and shift the public narrative away from one controlled by the anti-abortion extremist minority. We are working to shift the narrative, specifically aimed at self-identified “pro-choice” individuals and organizations, because we feel the old messaging of that movement is a big part of the problem. When we say that abortion has a PR problem, what we mean is that, all too often, even “pro-choice” people fall into the trap of perpetuating abortion stigma (either latent or blatant), playing into anti-abortion rhetoric and doing the work of the opposition for them!
To get on the same page about some terminology: Abortion Stigma is the latent implication that abortion is bad, shameful, or immoral. Abortion stigma harms abortion patients and providers by creating a hostile and unsafe environment for care, empowering abortion restrictions/bans that put lives and destinies at risk, and undermining medical and personal expertise.
What does that look like in practice?
Did you know that in the 1990s Planned Parenthood adopted the slogan “safe, legal, and rare” to describe their position on abortion? Planned Parenthood. The nation’s biggest provider of abortions. What does it signal when the place that provides the most abortions highlights a desire for abortion to be “rare”? It signals that there is something fundamentally wrong, dangerous or shameful about that abortion.
That is not helpful.
And in case you were wondering, “safe, legal, and rare” was not a term of their own invention. In fact, it was lifted from the talking points of Democratic president Bill Clinton. Again and again on the political stage, we are presented with conversations in which supposedly pro-choice politicians embrace or accept the premise that abortions are, ultimately, something to be avoided as much as possible. We hear things like:
“We’re not for abortion on-demand.”
“I do not support late-term abortion.”
“I support abortion only in cases of rape or incest.”
Unsurprisingly, we see similar talking points reflected in the broader public discourse about abortion constantly.
We hear pro-choice people couching their support of abortion with qualifiers such as “when medically necessary” or “in certain cases.” Using euphemistic language such as “choice,” “access,” or “reproductive rights” instead of actually saying the word “abortion” when talking about abortion.
When we talk about abortion from a place of apology, qualifiers and underlying shame, we give up our greatest asset in the fight for abortion access: the fact that abortion is overwhelmingly popular.
We have the numbers. We should have the power. We should be driving the narrative around abortion and yet we aren’t.
So, what’s the solution? At The Abortion Positivity Project, we believe that it lies in taking back narrative control from the anti-abortion extremist minority and proudly embracing what we call Abortion Positivity.
Abortion Positivity is a framework of understanding abortion without stigma or judgment. Abortion Positivity centers appreciation for the positive impact of abortion and recognizes abortion as a social good. The goal of Abortion Positivity is to strip stigma from the public narrative and societal conversation around abortion.
What Abortion Positivity is NOT is a means of judging individuals’ emotions about their personal experiences with abortion or policing anyone’s private conversations with trusted care providers. It does not mean only discussing experiences with abortion that are positive. There is room for all manner of individual experiences and personal choices within this framework. In fact, Abortion Positivity understands that stigma informs both the abortion access landscape and personal experience.
Embracing Abortion Positivity means rooting abortion advocacy in the goal that anyone who decides to seek out an abortion should be able to access care with no barriers or judgment, and operate strategically from that place. It means asking the question: how do we talk about abortion in a way that achieves rather than undermines that goal? And letting the answer guide our conversation.
What might that look like?
Here are some tips and talking points for taking back narrative control and engaging in abortion positive messaging:
- The alternative to abortion is forced birth.
The anti-abortion movement loves to romanticize and trot out the idea that folks should simply (as if adoption, pregnancy or parenting were simple!) consider alternatives to abortion. These alternatives typically include adoption, parenting, or simply not getting pregnant to begin with. Let’s get very clear about something: these are NOT alternatives to abortion. The alternative to abortion is forced birth. Period. What they do before or after that is irrelevant to the conversation and doesn’t need to be entertained. Adoption is an alternative to parenting. Abstinence is an alternative to having sex. None of these things are alternatives to abortion.
So, what if instead of asking, “Should abortion be legal?” we reframed the question to be, “Should the government be allowed to force people to give birth against their will?”
- Every pregnancy has the opportunity to become life-threatening.
Pregnancy is incredibly risky. The risk of death during pregnancyexternal link, opens in a new tab greatly exceeds the risk of death from having an abortion. Abortion is almost always safer than carrying a pregnancy to term. Abortion is a treatment for many medical conditions and pregnancy complications, including miscarriage, fetal defects, ectopic pregnancy, and retained placenta. Abortion is the intentional termination of a pregnancy. However, the unintentional termination of a pregnancy, also known as a miscarriage or spontaneous abortion, will often require abortion care. There is no way for us to offer effective, comprehensive pregnancy care without ready access to abortion. There is no birth justice without abortion access.
- Stop saying “Pro- Life.” Say “anti-abortion” or “pro-forced birth” instead.
There is nothing life-affirming in the ideology of the anti-abortion movement. The people that proclaim themselves “pro-life” do nothing but create and support policies that put people’s lives, health, and destinies in peril by removing access to abortion. Abortion saves lives. Forcing someone to remain pregnant or endangering their life by withholding medical care does not.
- Don’t be afraid to say the word abortion!
Did you know that anti-abortion extremists use the word “abortion” four times moreexternal link, opens in a new tab than “pro-choice” people? Abortion is not a dirty word and we do not need to avoid saying it! We also do not need to distance ourselves from our support of abortion by using euphemisms or qualifiers.
Do you say the word abortion when you mean to talk about abortion? Or do you cloak it in words like “choice” or “access”? Do you only use broader, catchall terms like “reproductive rights,” or “healthcare,” or using “reproductive justice” generically? Let’s be clear: those words are pointing to real and necessary frameworks and systems. If you want to talk about reproductive justice, great! But only if you are actually trying to talk about that broader movement and framework. If you are only using those words to avoid saying the word abortion because you are afraid it will sound too incendiary or polarizing, then you are giving ground unnecessarily to the anti-abortion movement. Say abortion when you’re talking about abortion.
- All abortions are valid. An individual’s circumstances does not make their abortion more or less moral.
Unfortunately, all too often we hear pro-choice arguments that default to language and hypotheticals that reinforce a false category of “justifiable abortions” in cases of extreme duress or tragedy. For example, leaning heavily on arguments for abortion “in cases of rape or incest” or “when medically necessary.” While those are certainly real examples of individuals who suffer when abortion becomes inaccessible, we do not need their circumstances to justify abortion. The justification for abortion is someone who is pregnant not wanting to be pregnant anymore.
- Don’t be afraid to take narrative control of the issue!
For decades we have been countering the attack that “abortion is bad” with the idea that abortion is not bad. We can do better!If you find yourself debating whether abortion is bad, then the anti-abortion extremists are already dictating the terms of the conversation. Arguing something is “not bad” is a fundamentally weak argument. Let’s focus on shifting the discourse from “abortion is not bad” to “abortion is good” – because it is!
All too often we find ourselves in conversations where we are on the defensive, scrambling to try and poke holes in ludicrous anti-abortion claims and abortion negative messaging rather than simply shutting down or refusing to entertain certain narratives.
Abortion allows people to determine their own destinies. Abortion saves lives. Abortion should be safe, accessible, legal, stigma-free, and affordable for anyone who wants it and there is no need to apologize, equivocate or compromise on that stance.
Talk about how abortion access fundamentally aligns with your VALUES, not as some kind of necessary evil but as a core tenet of human dignity, freedom and bodily autonomy.
Go forth and spread Abortion Positivity proudly!
