“I Love My Kids, This Abortion is not Because I Don’t”: The Meanings of Motherhood and Abortion on U.S. Television, 2013—2023

Abstract

Over the last decade, depictions of characters who obtain abortions onscreen have come closer to representing the reality of abortion seekers, addressing, though not eliminating, documented discrepancies across race, class, and barriers to abortion care. Yet year after year, portrayals of characters parenting at the time of their abortions represent less than 10% of the total characters who have abortions, a striking departure from reality, where most people who have abortions are raising children. This paper is a qualitative content analysis of the twenty-three characters onscreen from 2013 to 2023 shown parenting at the time of their abortions. I incorporate the theory of the abortion imaginary to explore how these representations are materially different from the majority of televisual abortion representations in that they offer a window into the (im)possibilities within motherhood. These portrayals may disrupt some stereotypes about abortion seekers, but they also reinforce conservative ideals about intensive, all-consuming, self-sacrificing motherhood.