According to a study led by researchers from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Duke University School of Medicine, TikTok videos showing pathways to a medical abortion are generally informative and helpful.
The study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the end of January, evaluated the 100 most viewed TikTok videos with the tags #abortionpill, #medicalabortion and #medicationabortion. These videos often detail what a medical abortion is, how to perform it, and what pills are associated with it.
“When we started the study, we expected to find more videos with misinformation,” said study researcher Jenny Wu. After reviewing the data, we were surprised by the accuracy of the videos. A significant number of videos were used by medical professionals and organizations created that offer abortions.”
Of the 65 public health information videos, 89.2% were fairly accurate and 10.8% were mixed. Of the 51 videos with scientific content, 86.3% were fairly accurate and 13.7% were mixed.
Several months after the fall of Roe v. Wade of the US Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, which paved the way for abortion bans in several US states, social media platforms can help educate patients and fight the stigma surrounding abortion.