A content analysis of twitter backlash to Georgia's abortion ban

Georgia's House Bill 481: The Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act (LIFE Act), which prohibits abortion after cardiac activity is detected, was signed into law on May 7, 2019. The bill's proponents framed the ban to protect the "unborn." However, less is known about the framing used by abortion rights supporters to oppose the bill in the context of social media. The aim of this study is to systematically examine the content of Twitter to investigate how users organically engaged in activism in response to the passage of HB 481. We contend that understanding this opposition is critical for activists, healthcare providers, and policymakers interested in mobilizing public support for maintaining legal access to abortion care.

A coding team of 6 researchers conducted a combined a priori and iterative thematic content analysis of 583 #HB481 tweets to systematically examine how social media users framed their responses to HB 481. Tweets were coded for full group consensus.

Opposition to HB 481 was framed around three major themes: mobilizing political action, emphasizing a collective gender identity, and general rejection of the bill. Fourteen subthemes are contained in these major themes, which reflect the nuanced and multifaceted ways abortion rights supporters presented their opposition to the bill.

Twitter users invoked emotional reactions and drew on their experiences to promote a collective identity that called attention to systemic gender oppression and urged widespread mobilization to oppose HB 481.