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Steph Herold

@stephherold.bsky.social
6.5K followers 1.2K following 461 posts

Researcher studying abortion on TV & film. Studying Jewish texts, autism, motherhood whenever I can. Indiscriminate dog lover. She/ her. All views are mine.

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Reposted by Steph Herold
ANSIRH @ansirh.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Science shows medication abortion could be offered more widely. And support for and interest in over-the-counter abortion pills is high. Spread the word and follow us for more updates on MiMi. #MiMi4All
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ANSIRH @ansirh.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
That's why we created MiMi, a conceptual design for a future over-the-counter medication abortion kit containing instructions, abortion pills, and a pregnancy test. MiMi is not yet available—but it’s a dream that could one day be reality. mimi4all.com
mimi4all.com
MiMi4All | The Future of Abortion Pills
Discover MiMi, a new concept for a future over-the-counter medication abortion kit, supported by reproductive health science and research.
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ANSIRH @ansirh.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Regulations exist that restrict access to medication abortion and contribute to the perception that people cannot safely take abortion pills on their own without clinician supervision.
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ANSIRH @ansirh.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Did you know abortion pills are so safe and effective, they could meet the FDA’s rules for being sold without a prescription? So why aren't they? The short answer: Policy decisions are being shaped by politics, not scientific evidence.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Abortion costs are sometimes visible, but we rarely see the time & effort it takes to come up with the, or what happens when you find out your insurance doesn’t cover it. Financial obstacles are some of the most commonly experienced restrictions to abortion. Why don’t we see them onscreen?
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Insurance was nearly invisible, too. No film showed a character using health insurance to pay for an abortion, and only a handful of stories mentioned insurance or abortion funds at all.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Cost came up in one-third of films, but only 8% of TV plotlines. Even when money was part of the story, the process of actually paying for an abortion was rarely shown. Characters often easily got help from others or the financial problem simply disappeared from the storyline.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
We looked at 44 films and 169 television abortion plotlines that aired between 2013 and 2023 to see whether and how they portrayed the cost of abortion. Here’s what we found:
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Today marks 50 years since the passage of the Hyde Amendment, which restricts federal funding for abortion. This makes it very challenging for people struggling to make ends meet to cover the cost of an abortion, one of the most common barriers. But how often does this experience make it onscreen?
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Reposted by Steph Herold
ANSIRH @ansirh.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Meet MiMi! A conceptual design for a future over-the-counter medication abortion kit containing instructions, abortion pills, and a pregnancy test. MiMi is not yet available—but it’s a dream that could one day be reality. Here's why: [🧵] www.mimi4all.com
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Eleanor Bergstein, the screenwriter for Dirty Dancing, has spoken at length about the experience of getting the film made, including the pressure to take the abortion out: www.vice.com/en/article/t...
Graphic in a binder image with text from an interview in which Eleanor Bergstein talks about a sponsor backing out over the abortion in the film
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Dirty Dancing reminds us that criminalization does not eliminate abortion access, but it does shape who can access safe care and who is exposed to greater medical and legal risk. The film showed a person seeking an abortion without regret, surrounded by people who help rather than judge her.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
What makes this representation significant is what the film chooses to show and say onscreen. Penny is not punished for choosing abortion. Instead, the film focuses on how she’ll afford the abortion and how she’ll be able to take time off work.
Still of a scene from Dirty Dancing in which a character off screen says, “we can get her an appointment but it costs $250.” Johnny is standing nearby with a drink in hand and Penny is slouching on a red couch. Four stills from Dirty Dancing with a character telling Baby that Penny can’t take time off work without jeopardizing her job.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
When Dirty Dancing premiered 39 years ago in 1987, audiences may have flocked to theaters for romance, dancing, and (let’s be honest) Patrick Swayze, but they also encountered an unusually direct depiction of illegal abortion.
Screenshot of the scene in Dirty Dancing when Johnny is comforting Penny after her abortion. The screenshot is in an image of an old timey TV.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Truly — you wouldn’t know there were a zillion errors unless you, you know, did the work yourself. It actually gave me a tiny glimmer of hope that I’m not (yet) easily replaceable, but I am sure my days are numbered.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Someone told me to try and use it to help me find abortion plotlines (I’m a researcher who analyzes abortion onscreen) and I spent about an hour building prompt after prompt for it, and the results it returned were so riddled with inaccuracies I aborted (ha) the whole thing. Waste of time entirely.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
"Claims about coerced abortion have long been exploited by abortion opponents as justification for abortion restrictions...yet in our sample, blocking access to abortion was reported more frequently than attempts to force an abortion." onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
How Common Is Abortion Coercion? Evidence From a Large <fc>US</fc> Sample of People Assigned Male at Birth
Objective Reproductive coercion encompasses a range of partner behaviors that violate reproductive autonomy, including contraceptive sabotage, coercion to become pregnant, and controlling pregnancy ...
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Wow fascinating. Thank you for sharing these!
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
New report: disability representation remains one of Hollywood’s clearest opportunities. Characters with disabilities held only 2.8% of speaking roles in 2025, and nearly half of the year’s top films did not feature a single character with a disability aii.annenberg.usc.edu/all-reports/...
aii.annenberg.usc.edu
All Reports
A research brief on gender, race/ethnicity, and age among leading characters in the 100 top films each year from 2007 to 2025.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
New paper from @bethlhoffman.bsky.social & me using YouTube comments to analyze how people respond to abortion storylines I was surprised by how much people engaged in meaningful discussions, especially when they roasted shows for being unrealistic 😅 www.frontiersin.org/journals/com...
frontiersin.org
Frontiers | “Have the writers actually read abortion law?”: using YouTube comments to explore audience responses to entertainment TV abortion plotlines
IntroductionComment sections on social media websites such as YouTube provide a unique venue to observe contemporaneous audience interpretation and discussio...
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Reposted by Steph Herold
ANSIRH @ansirh.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Brittany Luse of @npr.org chats with Janet Goldwater, director of the documentary Hollywood Does Abortion, and ANSIRH's @stephherold.bsky.social to understand how Hollywood handles, or mishandles the topic of abortion. www.npr.org/2026/08/04/n...
npr.org
Abortion access is limited. Is Hollywood to blame? : It's Been a Minute
Have our favorite shows and movies shaped the way we think about abortion?Hollywood has a huge impact of how we understand abortion. It can drive a plot, like in Dirty Dancing, or inspire…
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
"Today, more Americans identify as pro-choice than they did before Dobbs. And, as we document in our book, more Americans are now taking absolutist positions. They support legal access to abortion in all or most cases and oppose government regulation altogether." theconversation.com/public-opini...
theconversation.com
Public opinion on abortion has shifted 4 years after Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade
More Americans now hold absolutist positions, supporting legal access to abortion in all or most cases and opposing government regulation altogether.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
📺 Dr. Santita providing compassionate abortion care on #SantitaNetflix Also glad to see abortion show up on #EveryYearAfter, #TheTestaments, #Invincible & other fan favs. What abortion storylines have you seen this year? (Forgot to add the #TellMeLies hashtag so there it is!) abortiononscreen.org
abortiononscreen.org
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
At Abortion Onscreen, we've tracked 35+ abortion plotlines so far this year, including: 📺 Diana on Tell Me Lies saying, “I am so excited to abort your baby” to her abusive ex-boyfriend. 📺 Blaire on #ted standing up to her anti-abortion family, plus Ted and John helping her pay for the abortion
A dark staticy image with a purple TV from the 90s, pink graffiti-style text says: ABORTION ON TV SO FAR IN 2026. A picture of Diana from the TV show Tell Me Lies (a young Black teen with a brown sweater on, holding a to-go coffee cup), with a pink call-out box with the name of the show, the episode ("I Don't Cry When I'm Sad Anymore") and a great line: "It's gonna be the highlight of my year, I am so excited to abort your baby." A picture of Blaire from the TV show Ted (a young white woman with a brown sweater on, staring out of the frame), with a pink call-out box with the name of the show, the episode ("Roe v Weed") and a great line: "My uterus is not a democracy." A picture of Santita from the TV show Santita (a mid-30s Latina in a wheelchair being pushed by a handsome Gael García Bernal in a busy market), with a pink call-out box with the name of the show, the episode ("Santita's Commandments") and a great line: "I'm sure this is a little scary. But you're in good hands. Everything's going to be fine, Eva. We're going to take good care of you."
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Cannot wait to be out of this phase (kids are 8 and 5, so I have a long way to go).
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Scholars Strategy Network @scholars.org · 15/07/2026
📺️ In this @msmagazine.com op-ed, @stephherold.bsky.social (@ansirh.bsky.social) draws on her research to argue that television may be the best hope for spreading accurate information about abortion, and one that too often gets it wrong. 🔗 Read: msmagazine.com/2026/06/25/t...
msmagazine.com
TV Still Has a Lot to Learn About Abortion
Four years after <em>Dobbs</em>, television has become more willing to acknowledge the legal and political barriers to abortion care—but too often, it still reinforces harmful myths. While shows lik...
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Ms. Magazine @msmagazine.com · 26/06/2026
Research shows abortion storylines can shape public understanding, making accurate representation more important than ever.
msmagazine.com
TV Still Has a Lot to Learn About Abortion
Four years after <em>Dobbs</em>, television has become more willing to acknowledge the legal and political barriers to abortion care—but too often, it still reinforces harmful myths. While shows like…
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
The unfortunate irony of the post-Dobbs era is that it seems that television has become both more willing to name political barriers to abortion access while simultaneously promoting narratives that further stigmatize abortion. More from me in @msmagazine.com: msmagazine.com/2026/06/25/t...
msmagazine.com
TV Still Has a Lot to Learn About Abortion
Four years after <em>Dobbs</em>, television has become more willing to acknowledge the legal and political barriers to abortion care—but too often, it still reinforces harmful myths. While shows lik...
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
More data / analysis here -- open access article! Hoping to have more recent data on this to share soon, soon www.whijournal.com/article/S104...
whijournal.com
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Today is the 4th anniversary of the #Dobbs decision, which revoked federal protections for abortion. Has TV caught up w/a post-Dobbs reality? We find that abortion storylines increasingly depict barriers to care; an important shift, but TV still has a long way to go in representing abortion access.
An infographic with a blue background and several white boxes that look crinkly, as if they’re crumpled paper. The graphic reads: abortion on tv: before and after Dobbs and has two boxes with five before and after stats
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Latine immigrant representation on TV has fallen from 50% in 2020 to just 23% today. New research from Define American shows what's at stake when these stories disappear from the screen, and how we can change the narrative. bit.ly/changethenarrative2026 #ChangeTheNarrative
bit.ly
Change The Narrative, Change The World 2026 - Define American
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Totally surreal to watch Hollywood Does Abortion at the Tribeca Film Festival last week. It was a true honor to share abortion onscreen research & analysis with this exceptional documentary team. Congrats to the incredible filmmakers and crew! www.hollywooddoesabortion.com
Dark movie theater with a big screen that reads HOLLYWOOD DOES ABORTIONS IN WHITE LETTERSA photo of about 15 people on the red carpet at the Tribeca Film Festival
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Female Gaze: The Film Club @femalegazefilmpod.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Morgan spoke with Steph Herold, MPH, a subject matter expert featured in the documentary film, “Hollywood Does Abortion.” The film interrogates how abortion is depicted and discussed in film and on television. Episode available now! www.buzzsprout.com/1638073/epis...
Tribeca Film Festival 2026
Interview with Steph Herold, MPH, for “Hollywood Does Abortion”
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Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 09/06/2026
hey just checking in on this again?
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Barnacle Goose ☸︎𑁍💨 @barnacle-goose.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Update: "mifepriston 50 mg is not suitable as a contraceptive. The study started on April 14, 2025 [&] revealed a higher number of positive pregnancy tests and pregnancies than expected. The percentage of ectopic pregnancies, in particular, gave cause for concern." www.gofundme.com/f/zxmvd-mife...
gofundme.com
Donate to Reclaim your rights! A New Post-Roe Strategy, organized by Rebecca Gomperts
On June th, 2026 Leiden University Medical Center has discontinued the W… Rebecca Gomperts needs your support for Reclaim your rights! A New Post-Roe Strategy
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Premiering today at the Tribeca Film Festival to a sold out (!!!) crowd - Hollywood Does Abortion! Thrilled to have played a small part in this excellent doc and can’t wait for everyone to see it. tribecafilm.com/films/hollyw...
tribecafilm.com
Hollywood Does Abortion | 2026 Tribeca Festival | Tribeca
Since the 1970s, depictions of abortion in film and television have both impacted and reflected shifting attitudes towards the procedure and those who choose it. In this incisive documentary, the purs...
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Tickets available here! #tribeca tribecafilm.com/films/hollyw...
tribecafilm.com
Hollywood Does Abortion | 2026 Tribeca Festival | Tribeca
Since the 1970s, depictions of abortion in film and television have both impacted and reflected shifting attitudes towards the procedure and those who choose it. In this incisive documentary, the purs...
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
This amazing documentary premieres at the Tribeca film festival in ONE WEEK! It is so cool to watch filmmakers take your research and craft it into an hour and a half of moving, hilarious, insightful analysis. Can’t wait for everyone to see it!
A poster for a documentary called Hollywood Does Abortion with six film/tv stills from various media: Dirty Dancing, BoJack Horseman, Juno, Scandal, Knocked Up etc
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Yes, I hope so too.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
"A Judaism concerned only with survival eventually loses its soul. A Judaism concerned only with moral performance eventually loses its ability to survive. The challenge is holding both truths simultaneously." www.jta.org/2026/05/15/i...
jta.org
Israel can survive criticism. But can we survive silencing our moral responsibility in the face of moral inconsistency? - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Acknowledging that two things can be true at once is a Jewish value, writes a rabbi.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Can TV replace critical policy changes, comprehensive sex ed, and easy access to quality healthcare? Of course not. But it can stop doing active harm and instead show us safe medication abortions and diverse pathways to access.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
We need our popular media to showcase mediation abortion as the safe, common, normal abortion method that it is, especially self-managed abortion, so people know that they can have a safe, supported abortion at home.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
People are so confused about abortion pills - if / how they’re different from Plan B (very different!), if they’re legal, if they’re safe. Abortion info is systematically excluded from sex ed - so people absorb info from TV, friends, & of course the very reliable (sarcasm) internet / social media.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
When TV shows *do* depict medication abortion, it tends to be represnted as risky or dangerous (think Law & Order episodes with characters bleeding out in the street after taking abortion pills), when in real life, it’s safer than Tylenol.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
On almost all of the abortion plotlines on TV in 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 so far, less than 10% each year have depicted a mediation abortion. Last year, we just had three!
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Medication abortion is now the most common type of abortion in the U.S. used by more than 60% of abortion seekers as of 2023. www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/i... YET. 
guttmacher.org
Abortion in the United States
The Guttmacher Institute recently published new data on abortion in the United States. As we work to update our fact sheets with the latest data, please be aware that some of the information below is ...
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
If all you knew about medication abortion (mifepristone + misoprostol or misprostol alone) you learned from TV, you’d know a whole lot of nothing because TV so rarely depicts this abortion method. Here’s why that’s a problem
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ANSIRH @ansirh.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Defending medication abortion through telehealth is critical to ensuring people can get the care they need, alongside protecting abortion clinics and advancing access to in-person abortion care. Learn more about our research, which shows medication abortion is safe. www.ansirh.org/research/she...
ansirh.org
Facts About Medication Abortion Care
Medication abortion involves taking two medications: mifepristone and misoprostol. Here’s a summary of research that shows medication abortion is safe, effective, and critical health care.
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ANSIRH @ansirh.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
People across the United States have turned to medication abortion through telehealth as a trusted, safe, and effective method of care. Even a temporary disruption of access to medication abortion will have massive implications. www.politico.com/news/2026/05...
politico.com
Appeals court approves sweeping abortion pill restrictions, teeing up SCOTUS showdown
The temporary ruling will curtail access nationwide to a drug used in more than two-thirds of abortions.
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Steph Herold @stephherold.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
"AI-facilitated information searches are becoming part of how people navigate abortion in restrictive global majority settings," srh.bmj.com/content/earl...
Artificial intelligence pathways to abortion care: a regional analysis of ChatGPT referrals to Women on Web
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