Seventeen misleads teens on Florida abortion case
August 24, 2022
Between the back-to-school essentials lists and college dorm aesthetic articles, teen magazine Seventeen inserted its commentary this week on a recent court case related to abortion in Florida.
It begins with a quip saying that “the courts decided that she is not mature enough to make a decision about her own body. But she is mature enough to be a mother.”
Disregarding that not only is the body of the mother involved, but the unborn baby, and that abortion is not the only alternative to raising a child.
Seventeen continues, peddles the false narrative that the teen has a “right to an abortion” including a hyperlink to another of its articles listing “9 Movies About Abortion,” alluding to mostly indie comedies romanticizing the procedure.
The article ends by telling teens angered by the case presented by the magazine how they can “take action against Florida and other states’ harmful restrictions”. Recommendations include “donate to a local abortion fund, if you’re able to do so. These organizations fund procedures, give access to contraception and provide transportation and support for individuals traveling long distances or out of state for an abortion procedure. Find an organization near you via the National Network of Abortion Funds or donate to Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, or the National Abortion Freedom. You can also try to find a protest near you. Check social media or visit Bans Off Our Bodies, a movement organized under Planned Parenthood.”
With the topic of abortion presented in a teen-oriented magazine in a culturally and socially appealing light, magazines such as Seventeen are angling to influence the next generation of left-leaning activists.
Accuracy in Media investigated Seventeen in July of 2022 for skewing abortion complication numbers.