Abortion Salience After the Roe v. Wade Leak: A Computational Content Analysis of Tweets by CNN, Fox News, and ABC News

The Roe v. Wade leaked draft opinion, and the subsequent Supreme Court decision overturning Roe, drew a wave of media attention to the issue of abortion. This study sought to examine the topical and attribute salience of abortion in the tweets of CNN, Fox News, and ABC News after the leak. Findings reveal a gap in abortion salience, with Fox News more likely to tweet about abortion than CNN and ABC News. Moreover, Fox News and CNN were more likely to frame abortion politically, and Fox News had a more negative sentiment in its tweets about abortion. Implications on public opinion and policymaking are discussed.