Case Study: Pro-Abortion Advocacy and PR campaigns
Let's have a look at some PR and advocacy campaigns leading up to and immediately after the Roe v Wade decision in the United States this summer.
Written by Arianna Camille Menzies
Edited by Tanya Kathuria
When it comes to influencing public opinion as communications practitioners in the social impact field, advocacy and public relations (PR) are strong tools. They not only help create a positive outlook on our social impact work, but also assist in cultivating stronger relationships with our target publics and the media.
Advocacy is useful for building public support for a particular cause or action, such as voting. However, sometimes an organization needs to build or improve its public image to achieve its social impact goals, and this is when public relations comes into play. Public relations—as in: managing an organization’s relationship with the public, including through media relations—is an increasingly important method of influencing target publics, particularly in the context of recent political events globally.
In the time leading up to and immediately after the overturning of Roe v Wade in the US, many organizations ran advocacy and PR campaigns to influence opinions among the public and further progress towards their social impact goals.
Let’s look into a few of the prominent campaigns led by American NGOs:
Roe v Wade
But first, the context: Roe v Wade was a 1973 lawsuit in which a single pregnant woman challenged the constitutionality of Texas criminal abortion laws. This lead to a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court that the United States Constitution provides a “right to privacy” that protects the right to abortion for all people in the US.
However, almost 50 years after the ruling, on 24 June 2022, the Supreme Court removed the constitutional right to abortion by overturning Roe v Wade, ruling that the 1973 case had been wrongly decided. As a result, 21 US states have banned or severely restricted abortion, with more projected to do so in the coming months and years.
Advocacy: how campaigning can influence voters
The Kansas Abortion Fund led an advocacy campaign leading up to Kansas’ state vote on 2 August 2022. The goal of the campaign was to influence public opinion leading up to a state vote, specifically urging people to vote ‘no’ to the proposed state constitutional amendment that would give ‘no state constitutional right to abortion and legislative power to regulate abortion’.
The organization used two main tactics to influence voters: social media and in-person events. The organization’s social media had many reminder posts to ‘vote no’, guidance on how and where to vote, why people should vote ‘no’, and info about numerous public events supporting their campaign. Overall the campaign framed abortion as a constitutional right and something that the majority of Americans want, a fact they supported with verifiable statistics.
The Kansas Abortion Fund organized events like theatrical performances, public gatherings, and rallies. In-person events can leave a strong impression on voters because they are memorable and “build lasting connections with audiences”, according to Dr Paul Adams, senior lecturer in Communications at Victoria University. It used social media campaigns to amplify its messaging and support event turn-out. In-person events require much more forward planning and resources than a social media campaign, but they really paid off for the organization. You can find some examples of these tactics below:
Merch, such as t-shirts, reminding people to vote ‘neigh’ (no)
Rally event 2 months prior to voting day to urge people to vote ‘no’
PR: Combating misinformation and protecting organizational reputation
Misinformation is a common tactic anti-abortion groups use to discredit and damage the reputation of abortion service providers and pro-choice organizations. According to sexual health information specialist Toni Belfield, misinformation on abortion can negatively affect an organization’s reputation by making it “difficult for the public… to separate fact from fiction”. PR can help manage these tactics and mitigate the harm they cause.
Planned Parenthood used several PR tactics to combat a smear campaign launched by an anti-abortion organization called the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). The organization launched the PR campaign immediately following CMP’s initial attack in 2015, which was based on highly edited videos of top Planned Parenthood officials talking about tissue donation. CMP claims these videos are proof that Planned Parenthood profits from fetal tissue sales.
Highly visible top leadership: Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards spoke in Planned Parenthood’s official response video to CMP’s initial attack and participated in TV interviews by American news channels such as ABC. She used both instances to discredit misinformation through key messages, including clarifying that Planned Parenthood donates some fetal tissue to research, but does not profit from it “in any way”.
Swift storytelling: Within two days of CMP’s initial attack, Planned Parenthood published the story of a woman who contributed to medical research by consenting to donate fetal tissue after having an abortion. Storytelling is a PR tool used by organizations “to resonate with target publics, to entertain and inform, and to simplify complex concepts”, according to Deakin University PR professors Emma Bennett and Deirdre Quinn-Allen. The organization shared the story through social media, helping to achieve the PR objectives of persuading and informing by sharing the message directly from the organization and extending its reach to new and existing publics.
Obtain positive media coverage: Media coverage from major American newspapers reinforced key messages and provided information that supported Planned Parenthood’s position. One notable example is an NBC news article that explains why aborted fetuses tissue is used in research.
As CMP’s smear campaign is ongoing, Planned Parenthood continues to provide updated PR materials to address misinformation and uphold the organization’s reputation, including press releases and fact sheets. This campaign has been successful in upholding Planned Parenthood’s reputation, with 4 million new supporters joining the organization in the six years immediately following the CMP’s initial attack in 2015.
Note that Planned Parenthood used both controlled and uncontrolled communication channels as part of this PR campaign. Uncontrolled communication, such as media coverage, is an important PR tool because it gives the appearance of external support for an organization. However, once an organization gives a reporter a media release, it loses control over the message and how it is presented by the media. It’s beneficial for PR campaigns to also include controlled communication channels that place the organization in charge of the final product, such as social media posts.
The positive impact of advocacy and PR
As seen in the examples above, both advocacy and PR can successfully influence public opinion on campaigns related to abortion. The Kansas Abortion Fund used social media and in-person events to effectively encourage voters to protect the right to abortion in their state. Planned Parenthood’s tactics of visible leadership, storytelling and media relations helped build a positive narrative and mitigate the negative press following a smear campaign. While we continue to see how a post-Roe America impacts both opinion on abortion and government policy on reproductive rights, there is a lot we as communicators can contribute by using advocacy and PR to create meaningful social impact. Curious to learn more about how public relations can work for your nonprofit organization? Check out The Channels Network’s August newsletter, all about PR.
Have you created any PR campaigns that advocate impact? Let us know in the comments or tag The Channels Network on LinkedIn.
Arianna Camille Menzies is a marketing and communications specialist and choreographer with a passion for women’s health. Arianna is completing her Bachelor of Public Relations and Business Communication at Griffith University. She has professional and personal experience and expertise in social media management, digital marketing, outreach, writing, and dance for social impact. She holds a Certificate in Dance from the Ailey School. An intersectional feminist, her life mission is to break taboos and stigma around women’s health.
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