Abortion And Social Media

Abortion is commonly featured in the media, however they package abortion in such a way that they specifically avoid taking a direct stance on whether abortion is wrong or justified, meaning they shy away from being Pro-life or Pro-choice. However, indirectly condensing symbols are often used. For example, using terms such as anti-life rather than Pro-choice or anti-choice rather than Pro-life to describe different stances on abortion have a negative connotation and subliminally reveals the media host’s opinion on the matter. Another example includes when speaking about abortion using the term baby or infant versus using the term fetus. The word fetus is often used to dehumanize the child growing inside the mother, causing the viewer …show more content…
As a result, abortion as a social problem becomes a particularly divisive valence issue. Conversations about abortion are prevalent on social media as well. For example on twitter and facebook, there are many hashtags that support the pro-life movement like “#prolife” and “#praytoendabortion”(Harris). These hashtags provide quick and mainly biased information to persuade viewers to join the pro-life movement on it’s war against abortion. Also, often overlooked by the general public, a lot of false information concerning abortion can be exploited through social media because it is not an official news outlet and does not require people to tell the absolute truth. However, people have the stigma that if a lot of people are supporting/retweeting a tweet or facebook post then it must be true. Social media can often be held responsible for easily swaying public opinion because of the large fanbase or followers that are obtained through these sites. Lila Rose, who is linked the pro-life activist group Live Action became a figurehead for the pro-life movement. Her opinions and views on the matter reach a wide range of people as a result of her large following on social media like …show more content…
Some general provisions required, the use of a “licensed physician”, “parental signature(s)”,the use or prohibition of “state funding”, the restriction or allowance of “coverage by insurance”, “waiting periods”, and “gestational and partial birth limits”("State Policies in Brief: An Overview of Abortion Laws”). Both the activists and expert claimsmakers that support the Pro-Life movement find the policymaking associated with abortion to be unsuccessful. Causal stories can play a significant role in policymaking. For example, one of the Pro-Choice movement’s biggest arguments that provokes uproar from it’s supporters is that a woman should have the right to chose abortion in cases of becoming impregnated as a result of rape. This causal story presents a scenario where the woman had no intention of either action occurring therefore it’s her sole right to choose her own path. Thus evoking questions from the public to policy makers such as: should these women be given the chance to make their own decision since they were not given the option to become impregnated? The constant pressure of the public on certain issues can eventually cause policymakers to change