At the end of June, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling that will overturn Roe v. Wade, the Court’s 1973 landmark decision which ruled that the Constitution protects a pregnant individual’s liberty to choose to have an abortion.
Challenging abortion disinformation online
The debate over medication abortion restrictions has gained greater attention in recent months related to COVID-19 and national changes to abortion access. Rapidly changing legal restrictions, the cost of abortion and abortion stigma and shame prompt many people to go online to seek information on abortion. In light of currently heightened reliance on technology during COVID-19 restrictions and long-standing political polarization creating social and practical barriers to abortion access, online abortion information poses substantial opportunities and challenges to public abortion knowledge and access.
Medication abortion has been found to be a safe and effective method of pregnancy termination and is currently approved for use up to 70 days of pregnancy in the United States. But its use remains an area of political conflict in the United States reflecting the polarizing and politically charged status of abortion in the U.S. overall.