UCSF

Abstract Scholars and advocates often cite media as a mechanism to change culture, especially related to contested issues in American politics such as abortion. While there is mixed evidence in support of this claim, it is not clear how media content creators conceptualize their abortion plotlines. We identified television shows available to U.S. audiences that included abortion plotlines and purposively recruited the creators who worked on them. Forty-six American creators completed in-depth interviews. Respondents’ primary reasons for including abortion plotlines were: (1) to normalize abortion; (2) to deploy abortion as source of character development; and (3) to respond to politics. Some respondents reported barriers to getting abortion content from page to screen, including stigmatizing attitudes towards abortion from colleagues and network executives. Respondents did not necessarily aspire to reflect the reality of abortion access in the US, instead seeking to destigmatize abortion by portraying televisual representations of compassionate, shame-free abortions.