Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #104944

Eileen A. Yam, MPH¹, Sandra G. Garcia, ScM, ScD², Erika Troncoso, MPH¹, and Lisa A. Goldman, MPH³. (1) Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Population Council, Panzacola 62 Int 102, Col Villa Coyoacan, Mexico City 04000, Mexico, 52-55-5999-8630, eyam@popcouncil.org.mx, (2) Director of Reproductive Health for Latin America and the Caribbean, Population Council, Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean - Mexico City, c/o One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY 10017, (3) Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, 140 Warren Hall #7360, Berkeley, CA 94720

Introduction: Mass media play a prominent role in informing the public and influencing national debate on abortion. The election of overtly Catholic and anti-abortion Mexican President Vicente Fox may have led to more explicitly anti-abortion press coverage during the first three years of his administration. We analyzed a snapshot of news articles and editorials from this transitional period to document how the media portrayed the topic of abortion and to understand how this coverage may have contributed to public debate.

Methods: In five Mexican newspapers, we identified 601 articles published between January 2001 and December 2003 that mentioned the word “abortion.” Of these, we analyzed a one-third random sample (n = 200) to document abortion opinions expressed as well as the principal actors mentioned. Two investigators manually coded all articles and editorials.

Results: Nineteen percent of the articles and editorials (n = 37) mentioned arguments in support of abortion, 15% (n = 30) were openly opposed to abortion, 8% (n = 15) expressed both support of and opposition to abortion, and 59% (n = 118) maintained a neutral stance. Forty-two percent of the total sample (n = 83) mentioned the Catholic Church and its leaders.

Conclusion: The majority of articles analyzed did not take a clear position in support of or opposition to abortion. Of those that did take a clear stance, a greater number supported rather than opposed abortion. The recurrent appearance of religious leaders and themes is a reflection of the strong Catholic influence in Mexico.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize mass media’s prominent role in influencing and informing public debate on abortion.
• Describe how five influential Mexican newspapers portrayed the topic of abortion during the first half of President Vincent Fox’s conservative administration.
• Discuss the implications of media coverage of abortion for reproductive health rights researchers and advocates.

Keywords: Media, Abortion

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.