With reproductive freedom and abortion access unequivocally under attack, combatting disinformation and strengthening support for our fundamental rights has never been more critical.
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Research
Our audience understanding surveys on reproductive freedom have taught us that moderate white women have complicated feelings about abortion, and most do not believe it should be either illegal or legal in all cases. Their nuanced view generally supports abortion with some limitations, but it often doesn’t rise to a top issue driving their civic behavior as they face more immediate concerns like the rising cost of gas and groceries.
- Those who believe abortion should be legal in most cases value compassion, safety, and respect. When asked “Which feelings have you felt about abortion?” their most common responses were sadness, anxiety, and frustration.
- Women who believe abortion should be illegal in most cases value responsibility, and compassion to a lesser extent. Sadness also came up with this group when asked about their feelings about abortion, but it was paired with anger and disgust.
In 2023, we explored white women’s post-Dobbs attitudes about abortion and reproductive freedom. This research included an analysis of the American National Election Studies (ANES) midterm results, in-depth interviews and focus groups with our audience segments, audience understanding surveys, and rapid message tests.
- 70% said they strongly or somewhat agree that abortion is a personal decision that should not involve the government, but many expressed anti-abortion sentiments as well as concerns about medication abortions being unsafe.
- This audience seems against the idea of charging women with a crime for abortion, even those that want to see some limits in place.
- There is evidence that their stance on abortion is not a key factor driving their vote choices. A recent survey by the One For All Committee supported this finding, with white women saying the economy was far and away the most important issue (40%) in deciding who to vote for in the 2024 presidential election, followed by healthcare as a distant second (10%), and abortion and preserving democracy tied at third (9%).
- This audience appears susceptible to disinformation narratives about medication abortion and “late-term” abortions.
- Barriers to progress include beliefs around who “deserves” abortion care and under what circumstances, and a lack of knowledge about the safety and use of different types of care.
“I’m not one to judge but sometimes circumstances dictate it. I believe it’s a personal decision even though I don’t believe in it.”
Liberal white woman
Messaging Insights
Tips to consider when messaging to this audience:
- Address the complexity of the issue and center compassion
and in-group care
in your message. Independence
, particularly as it connects to one’s freedom, and patriotism in discussing the historic fight for reproductive rights in the US are also helpful frames to bring in. - Position the messenger as a supportive friend or relative, rather than the person considering an abortion for themselves. This third-person approach helps sidestep defense mechanisms and complicated feelings about abortion while tapping into the audiences’ clarity about how a good friend should act.
- Discuss the unfairness of legal consequences for women stemming from abortion legislation.
- This audience needs a soft message, one that helps them sort through their feelings and supports them to act in line with their values.
The following are some examples of messages that put these tips into practice.
| Most women who need abortions also need someone to listen to them. They don’t need to be lectured. The best thing any one of us can do if a friend comes to us with this type of problem is listen and support them. It is her life, not ours. | +18pp Compassionate message aimed at centering voters’ in-group care. |
| I try not to judge others. Like if someone is speeding down the road, I try to remind myself that I don’t know what is going on in their life. Maybe they are rushing to the hospital. That’s how I feel about abortion. I can’t imagine choosing abortion myself, but I also can’t know what another woman is going through. Maybe that feels like the only choice for her. In the end, I think we should just keep the law the way it is and try to be kind to each other. | This message worked well with some segments of our audience (women who voted for Trump in 2020 and 35-54 year olds) by meeting them where they are, but it backfired with Democrats, underscoring the importance of our testing with specific voter segments. |
Turnkey Creative
Why it works
Our audience needs this softer approach that appeals to their values of in-group care and compassion, first for the sympathetic woman who has endured a miscarriage, which many can relate to personally, and then extended to an unknown woman choosing an abortion.