Language matters when talking about abortion
Anti-abortion activists are trying to shape the conversation around abortion and manipulate the public — but experts are fighting back with the facts.
In our newest podcast episode, we talked to The Guardian about its decision to change the way it writes about abortion.
The Guardian was one of the first media outlets to recognize the influence abortion opponents have on the international framing of this common and lifesaving medical procedure. That’s why, earlier this year, the news organization announced its decision to stop using the term “fetal heartbeat bill” to describe the six-week abortion bans introduced in state legislatures across the United States.
Why? The outlet realized that the term was both medically inaccurate and heavily biased against abortion — and the women who needed one. Now, The Guardian has changed its editorial guidelines to provide the most accurate abortion information possible.
Jessica Glenza, a US health reporter at The Guardian, spearheaded the change. She wanted to make sure the outlet — and its journalists — were on the right side of science and met with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to learn the facts.
“They were really enthusiastic to see a news organization taking the time to determine the most clear, de-politicized, scientifically accurate way to describe these laws,” Glenza said.
MSI has partnered with other organizations to demand that international media outlets follow The Guardian’s lead and stop using politicized and medically inaccurate abortion language.
Click here to learn more about the challenges we face with mainstream media’s depictions of abortion.
