Translating Abortion
Disinformation
The Spanish-Language Anti-Choice Landscape
TRANSLATING ABORTION DISINFORMATION: THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE ANTI-CHOICE LANDSCAPE
Executive Summary
NARAL Pro-Choice America’s research team is committed to exposing the anti-choice movement’s use of disinformation
to attack abortion access and reproductive freedom. In 2021, we began a long-term research project aiming to expand
our understanding of how anti-choice disinformation disseminates online in Spanish-language spaces and how it could
impact Spanish-speaking communities in the United States.
Our research sought to identify influential Spanish-language activists and Facebook pages that oppose abortion and
spread disinformation and determine what overlap exists between English-language and Spanish-language anti-choice
groups, influencers, and messages. We also wanted to understand more about social media engagement with Spanish-
language news coverage of abortion and expose what messages anti-choice groups and activists advertised to Spanish
speakers in the United States, particularly in a political context.
Our research uncovered several baseline findings, including that:
High-engagement Spanish-language articles about abortion policy in the United States overwhelmingly
lean anti-choice and originate from religiously-affiliated outlets.
Anti-choice influencers and pages on Facebook largely promote the same messages and disinformation
about abortion in Spanish as their English-language counterparts. A key difference, however, is that
Spanish-language pages and influencers often promote explicitly anti-feminist messages, whereas
English-language activists often co-opt feminism to attack abortion.
Overlap between English- and Spanish-language anti-choice groups and activists exists, particularly with
respect to graphics and content from Live Action, a primarily English-language anti-choice organization
and “news” site.
Catholicism plays a major role in anti-choice messages about abortion from Spanish-language influencers
and outlets, pushing a false narrative pitting religious identity against support for abortion access.
Spanish-language political advertisements during the 2020 cycle rarely mentioned abortion, and those
that did dubiously framed Democrats as “extreme” on abortion and fearmongered about abortion later
in pregnancy.
As we approach the 2022 midterm elections and a U.S. Supreme Court decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s
Health
Organization
with the potential to overturn Roe v. Wade and radically shift the landscape of abortion access across the
United States, it is more important than ever to combat anti-choice messages and disinformation targeting Spanish-
speaking communities.
In addition to supporting and following the lead of groups that have advanced abortion advocacy in the Latinx
community, we must adopt a multifaceted approach, including:
Working to increase accurate and timely reporting on abortion and reproductive freedom among
Spanish-language news outlets.
Elevating Spanish-speaking messengers who can authentically discuss how their identity and faith
inform their support for abortion access and reproductive freedom.
Filling the gap in Spanish-language political ads about abortion to reach voters with proactive, positive,
and accurate messages about reproductive freedom.
Continued research on how anti-choice disinformation has the potential to cause real-world harm in
Spanish-speaking communities and detract from the Latinx community’s support for reproductive
freedom and abortion care.
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TRANSLATING ABORTION DISINFORMATION: THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE ANTI-CHOICE LANDSCAPE
A Brief Note
Throughout this report, we use the term “Latinx” when discussing communities and individuals of Latin
American descent. We recognize that many people do not use the term “Latinx” to describe their identity and
ethnicity, preferring descriptors specific to their country of origin or terms such as Hispanic, Latino, or Latina.
We chose to use “Latinx” to reflect our commitment to gender inclusivity, particularly given the importance of
including transgender and nonbinary people in conversations about abortion access and reproductive freedom.
We would also like to acknowledge that we began this project from a U.S.-centric point of view given NARAL’s
focus on political advocacy within the United States and our research team’s expertise on the U.S.-based anti-
choice movement. While we do discuss some dynamics related to abortion access outside of the United States
in order to contextualize distinctions in Spanish-language narratives we observed, this report is not intended to
be a comprehensive overview of anti-choice disinformation impacting Spanish speakers and countries outside
of the United States.
Common Anti-Choice Narratives and Themes
Broadly speaking, many of the same narratives and disinformation about abortion spread by English-language anti-choice
organizations are also spread by anti-choice activists and Facebook groups in Spanish. Such content demonizes abortion
providers, promotes medical disinformation about abortion, erases the lived experiences of pregnant people, and argues
for so-called “fetal personhood,” which would ban virtually all abortion care by locking ideological language about when
life begins into law. The content encourages support for policies that restrict or ban access to abortion care, such as Texas’
vigilante-enforced ban on abortion (SB 8) and those that enable institutions or individuals to deny abortion care to people
on religious grounds.
Post by NO AL ABORTO arguing against abortion
access, including false claims that abortion is
“not healthcare,” “not a right,” and “not safe.”
Post by Carlos Ramirez Oficial celebrating a judicial decision
allowing Texas’ extreme ban on abortion (SB 8) to remain in
effect and advocating for other states to pass similar bills.
Many Spanish-language anti-choice pages spread demonstrably false claims about the safety of abortion. For example, in
March 2021, NO AL ABORTO shared a graphic that falsely claimed abortion increased the risk of breast cancer, infertility,
and depression. As of January 2022, the post remains live and has been shared 65 times without any fact-check from
Facebook. In another case, Live Action Argentina shared a TikTok on its Facebook page falsely claiming abortion increased
the risk of anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse, and suicide among women. The group cited discredited research by anti-
choice activist Priscilla Coleman as the basis for its claims.
1
As of January 2022, the post had been viewed on Facebook
approximately 2,300 times, again with no fact-check or intervention. The original TikTok video has accumulated over
10,000 likes with no fact-check or intervention by the platform.
2
TRANSLATING ABORTION DISINFORMATION: THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE ANTI-CHOICE LANDSCAPE
Facebook post of a TikTok from Live Action Argentina which spreads disinformation about the
psychological safety of abortion care. The post links to a study by anti-choice activist Priscilla Coleman
that was discredited by researchers for being methodologically unsound and biased.
Both English- and Spanish-language activists use such disinformation about the safety of abortion care to support
the false narrative that restrictions and bans on abortion are “pro-woman.” However, Spanish-language content often
contains an additional dimension juxtaposing the safety of legal versus illegal abortion due to more restrictive policies,
and in some cases total bans, on abortion care in many Latin American countries.
2
In an effort to “debunk” evidence
demonstrating that such bans and restrictions increase the risk of death and injury among pregnant people,
3
activists
and pages often circulate anecdotes about individual cases. Such anecdotes promote the false idea that abortion is
“dangerous” regardless of whether it is legal or illegal, bolstering efforts to keep extreme bans and restrictions in place.
Another area of overlap among English- and Spanish-language activists are attempts to falsely equate abortion to
“femicide,” or the intentional murder of women because of their gender. However, these narratives from Spanish-language
activists take on a different context given the realities of gender-based violence, inequality, and extreme restrictions on
abortion—including those that have led to women being incarcerated for miscarriages—in some Latin American countries.
4
Additionally, while English-language groups use such narratives to attempt to frame their activism as true “feminism,”
5
at
least six of the Spanish-language pages we tracked ardently oppose feminist activism, painting feminists as violent and
unreasonable. They often defend
“traditional” family and gender roles and also ignore transgender and non-binary people
in conversations about pregnancy and abortion care.
Post from NO AL ABORTO featuring a meme falsely
implying that feminists are violent and hateful
toward anti-choice activists. The post includes the
hashtag “feminism is cancer.”
Post from Carlos Ramirez Oficial featuring
a meme attacking feminists as being
opposed to “reasoning.”
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TRANSLATING ABORTION DISINFORMATION: THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE ANTI-CHOICE LANDSCAPE
Post from Estamos Unidos fearmongering about the state of
the U.S. economy, amplifying disinformation about the 2020
election being “stolen,” and falsely claiming President Biden
is a “puppet” and his administration is “leftist.”
In addition to falsehoods and extreme rhetoric about abortion, virtually all of the Spanish-language anti-choice pages
we monitored also trafficked in disinformation about LGBTQ rights (targeting transgender people in particular), election
integrity, racial justice, and vaccines (including pushing the false claim that vaccines endanger pregnant people).
Several pages also fearmongered about communism, including falsely claiming President Joe Biden is a communist and
categorizing movements for gender and racial equity as “Marxist.”
Facebook Influencers and Catholicism
Religion, particularly Catholicism, played a heavy role in much of the content about abortion care on the Facebook pages
we monitored, especially when it came to Spanish-language influencers. Much of this content falsely pits faith and
religious identity against support for abortion access and reproductive freedom. Such arguments gloss over the reality
that people of all faiths support abortion, including the 62% percent of Catholics who say the Supreme Court should
uphold
Roe v. Wade.
6
Among the anti-choice Spanish-language influencers we tracked, Eduardo Verástegui has the largest audiences with
over 1.91 million followers on Facebook. Verástegui is a Mexican actor who pivoted to anti-choice activism and now leads
an anti-choice advocacy group called Movimiento Vida México. The vast majority of Verástegui’s content centers around
Catholicism, and his star power and vocal anti-choice advocacy has led U.S.-based groups and politicians to promote him.
For example, Live Action recently honored him at its 2021 “Life Awards Gala”
7
and the organization’s president, Lila Rose,
retweeted his statement opposing the Mexican Supreme Court’s decision to decriminalize abortion care.
8
Other influencers include Daniel Y Maria Online, a U.S.-based page with 59,000 Facebook followers. Much of the page’s
content focused on Catholicism in the context of abortion and family planning, with occasional commentary on
broader political issues in the United States such as immigration, vaccines, and transgender equality. We also tracked
Carlos Ramirez, another Mexico-based activist, Catholic, and leader of an anti-choice organization called Pro-Life Army.
Ramirez has over 85,100 followers on Facebook, and while comparatively less vocal about his Catholicism, he frequently
criticizes the feminist movement and promotes homophobic and transphobic rhetoric in addition to his content
attacking abortion rights.
4
Post from Daniel y Maria Online fearmongering
about COVID vaccines being “experimental” and
falsely arguing that survival rates for COVID make
taking the vaccine riskier than getting the virus.
TRANSLATING ABORTION DISINFORMATION: THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE ANTI-CHOICE LANDSCAPE
Spanish-Language Media Coverage of Abortion
Over a period of seven months, we tracked the Spanish-language news articles focused on abortion policy in the United
States that garnered the most likes, comments, and shares on Facebook and other platforms. These high-performing
articles tend to have broader audience reach given platforms’ use of engagement-based algorithms. Our analysis found
that the outlets that regularly published articles about abortion with higher levels of engagement were typically religiously
affiliated. Such outlets include ACI Prensa, InfoCatólica, Noticia Cristiana, and Religión en Libertad.
Within the broader Spanish-language media landscape, ACI Prensa consistently garnered the most interactions on its
articles about abortion on social media. A sister outlet of the Catholic News Agency, the vast majority of ACI Prensa’s
high-performing articles centered on Catholicism and abortion, particularly promoting criticism of Catholic politicians
in the United States who support reproductive freedom. For example, following President Joe Biden’s virtual meeting
with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in March 2021, the outlet published an article criticizing Biden for
showing López Obrador his rosary and discussing the Virgen de Guadalupe, implying Biden’s religious beliefs conflicted
with his support for reproductive freedom and abortion.
9
The article garnered approximately 22,000 interactions across
social media platforms, among the highest of any article published during the period we tracked. Similarly, an article
about the Archbishop of San Francisco publicly declaring that Catholic politicians who support reproductive freedom
should not be able to receive communion accumulated approximately 20,000 interactions.
10
Our analysis also found that mainstream Spanish-language outlets such as Telemundo, Univision, and CNN en Español
rarely published high-engagement articles about abortion policy in the United States. In contrast to ACI Prensa, which
had high-engagement articles that leaned anti-choice in 20 out of the 32 weeks we tracked, these three outlets combined
had high-engagement articles with more neutral, factual coverage during only five of the weeks. A notable exception to
this trend was the week of August 30, when Texas’ SB 8 went into effect. Articles from CNN Español
11
and Spanish outlet El
Diario
12
about the six-week ban on abortion each garnered more interactions than an article from ACI Prensa focused on
President Biden’s statement disagreeing with the notion that life begins at conception, a view often espoused by anti-
choice activists to promote bans and restrictions on abortion care.
13
Overlap with English-Language Anti-Choice Groups
Given NARAL’s extensive monitoring of U.S.-based
anti-choice groups and their tactical use of
disinformation to attack abortion care, we wanted
to determine whether their content also spread in
Spanish-language spaces and identify whether they
appeared to influence narratives and strategies
among anti-choice activists and outlets in Spanish.
We found that many Spanish-language Facebook
pages we monitored amplified content from U.S.-
based anti-choice organizations and activists,
including Live Action, Students for Life, and Abby
Johnson. Notably, over our initial research period,
none of the target pages shared content from
Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), arguably the most
prominent anti-choice advocacy group in the United
States. SBA List’s absence in Spanish-language
spaces is likely due to the limited number of graphics
and videos they produce, almost all of which are
focused on lobbying and promoting anti-choice
lawmakers and policies in the United States.
On the other hand, graphics from Live Action were
particularly popular and shared with the most
frequency on Spanish-language pages. Live Action
Argentina, a Spanish-language offshoot of Live
Action, often translated Live Action’s content into
Spanish in addition to creating its own original
content using similar talking points and framing.
5
Argumentos contra la Ideología
de Género’s post features a
translated quote from English-
language anti-choice activist
Abby Johnson claiming there is
nothing “empowering” to women
about abortion. The post’s text
erroneously implies arguments
supporting abortion as a gender
equity issue are a “marketing”
tactic to help abortion providers
earn money.
Live Action Argentina’s post
is a direct translation of a
TikTok originally published
in English by Live Action.
It amplifies conspiracy
theories and disinformation
about Planned Parenthood
and falsely implies abortion
care is unsafe.
TRANSLATING ABORTION DISINFORMATION: THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE ANTI-CHOICE LANDSCAPE
A post from Daniel y Maria Online claiming to
depict a child who “survived” a medication
abortion, falsely claiming the method of care
is “reversable,” and promoting Heartbeat
International’s website.
Additionally, some of the Facebook pages we monitored cited articles
from LifeNews.com, an anti-choice outlet that also frequently promotes
right-wing disinformation, as sources for their content.
Crossover also exists in Spanish-language media coverage. ACI Prensa
has published articles citing U.S.-based anti-choice organizations such
as SBA List, Charlotte Lozier Institute, and Students for Life. Some of this
content is directly translated from Catholic News Agency articles.
Another notable point of crossover exists around Heartbeat
International, a network of fake health centers (FHCs or “crisis pregnancy
centers”) with affiliates throughout the United States and around the
world. Heartbeat International and other FHCs lie to people to dissuade
them from having an abortion. They are key players in disseminating
anti-choice disinformation about abortion care, including promoting
an unproven practice they call abortion "reversal” that is not supported
by scientific evidence or methodologically-sound research.
14
We
found that Spanish-language anti-choice influencers and pages have
promoted Heartbeat International’s
“reversal” website in addition to
other falsehoods about medication abortion. Media outlets such as
InfoCatólica have also promoted “reversal,” citing individuals from
Heartbeat International and the American Association of Pro-Life
Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) as sources.
15
Spanish-Language Advertisements About Abortion
We reviewed dozens of right-wing Spanish-language advertisements in order to understand how anti-choice groups and
politicians communicated about abortion when targeting Latinx voters. Our research ultimately surfaced only eight Spanish-
language political ads from the 2020 cycle that mentioned abortion, four of which focused on the presidential election:
• The Trump campaign ran two radio ads discussing abortion targeting Spanish speakers in New Mexico.
(It is unclear whether the campaign ran variations of the ads in different states.) Both ads fearmongered
about abortion later in pregnancy and supposed so-called “abortion extremism” in the Democratic Party.
16
One of the ads also falsely implied abortion care endangered pregnant people.
17
• Betty Cárdenas, former chairwoman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly and member of Trump’s
“Latinos Board,” ran an ad falsely accusing Kamala Harris of supporting “infanticide” and opposing care for
“babies who survive an abortion.”
18
• Though not explicitly about abortion, the Trump campaign also published an ad in Spanish praising
Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court and accusing Democrats of attacking her faith
and being anti-Catholic.
19
The other four ads targeted races on the federal and state levels:
• Women Speak Out PAC—a super PAC affiliated with SBA List—released Spanish-language ads that ran on
Facebook during the group’s $4.1 million campaign targeting the Georgia U.S. Senate runoffs.
20
The 15-second
and 60-second ads feature Mexican anti-choice activist Eduardo Verástegui discussing the candidates’
positions on abortion.
21 22
In the ads, he makes false and incendiary claims that Democrats support abortion
“up to the moment of birth” and also refers to “taxpayer-funded abortion,” in addition to claiming the
Democratic party has a “socialist agenda.” These were the only Spanish-language political ads in 2020 from
an English-language anti-choice group that surfaced during this research.
• In Florida’s 27th Congressional District, Frank Polo Sr.’s campaign ran an advertisement that said he would
“fight against abortion.”
23
• An ad by Texas Values Action targeting pro-choice candidate Erin Zweiner in Texas’ 45th House district falsely
implied she supported “infanticide” based on her opposition to a bill mandating political interference in
family decisions.
24
• Tom McCullagh, who ran for a state senate seat in Illinois’ 49th District, attacked his opponent Meg Cappel’s
support for abortion later in pregnancy.
25
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TRANSLATING ABORTION DISINFORMATION: THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE ANTI-CHOICE LANDSCAPE
Susan B. Anthony List’s digital ads featuring Mexican anti-choice activist Eduardo Verástegui. While
Verástegui is speaking in Spanish, both ads featured prominent English-language subtitles.
In addition to political advertisements, we examined Facebook’s ad library for other Spanish-language ads opposing
abortion. No prominent English-language anti-choice groups posted Facebook advertisements in Spanish in 2021, though
Live Action ran a series of advertisements in May and July 2020. One ad that falsely claimed abortion was not medical care
featured footage from Unplanned, a 2019 film about anti-choice activist Abby Johnson.
26
Other ads compared abortion to
the COVID pandemic and gun violence epidemic.
27 28
Other anti-choice Spanish-language ads posted on Facebook
in 2021 included:
• An ad by a fake health center claiming to provide
“education about abortion.”
29
• An ad targeting people in Arizona by anti-choice
activist Mayra Rodriguez, who is affiliated with
Abby Johnson’s organization, And Then There Were
None. Prior to pivoting to anti-choice activism,
Rodriguez worked for Planned Parenthood and now
promotes false claims that the organization targets
and coerces undocumented immigrants.
30
• Multiple ads posted by the Western Journal en
Español about whether Catholic politicians who
support reproductive freedom such as President
Biden should be denied communion.
31 32
• Ads by the San Francisco Archdiocese
33
and
A Facebook ad by Live Action Español comparing abortion
the Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma
34
to a “plague” and co-opting “flatten the curve” messages
promoting “retreats” for people who have had
around the COVID pandemic to argue against abortion.
an abortion.
7
TRANSLATING ABORTION DISINFORMATION: THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE ANTI-CHOICE LANDSCAPE
Conclusion & Recommendations
Social Media Platforms
Researchers and advocacy groups have repeatedly pointed
out the failure of social media platforms such as Facebook
to fact-check and remove Spanish-language mis- and
disinformation—even when they take action against similar
posts in English.
35
Such content not only has the potential
to harm communities within the United States, but also
throughout the larger Spanish-speaking world.
NARAL’s research has also consistently found that
social media platforms do little to fact-check or remove
disinformation about abortion from their sites in either
language, despite stated commitments to removing
medical misinformation. Facebook has been particularly
problematic in its moderation decisions around content
promoting anti-choice disinformation. Reporting has
indicated that Mark Zuckerberg himself was involved in
the platform’s decision to bow to a right-wing pressure
campaign and censor a fact-check by medical experts of a
demonstrably false English-language post about abortion.
36
Facebook has also allowed anti-choice groups to advertise
their stigmatizing and medically unproven claims that
medication abortion can be “reversed,” including after
reporting revealed that these ads targeted minors.
37 38
Though Facebook is not alone among tech companies in
refusing to remove disinformation about abortion care
(in English and Spanish), its failure to do so has direct
implications for the 72% of Latinx people in the United
States who use its platform.
39
Such disinformation
directly aids the anti-choice movement in its efforts to
stigmatize abortion, coerce pregnant people who deserve
the freedom to make the decisions that are best for
their families and lives, and pass draconian bans and
restrictions on abortion.
Social media platforms like Facebook must:
Recognize that disinformation about abortion is
medical disinformation with real-world harms in
the same vein as falsehoods about vaccines, the
COVID pandemic, and other health-related topics.
Take steps to limit the spread of falsehoods about
abortion in English, Spanish, and other languages
by proactively removing content promoting
disinformation or (at minimum) fact-checking and
labeling such content to provide additional context.
Rely on the expertise of non-ideological
medical experts such as the American College
of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the
American Medical Association when fact-
checking content about abortion. Such groups
are premier professional associations of doctors
and reflect widespread medical consensus on the
topic of abortion care.
Deplatform anti-choice actors who repeatedly
spread disinformation about abortion care and
inflammatory rhetoric about abortion providers
which contributes to real-world harassment of
patients, doctors and nurses, and other workers
at clinics.
Social media platforms have a responsibility to take
proactive steps to limit the spread of disinformation
about abortion care. Every person, regardless of what
language they speak, deserves to have accurate,
unbiased information when making personal
decisions about pregnancy and abortion care.
Advocates for Reproductive Freedom
As advocates continue to demonstrate the dire need for adequate multilingual content moderation on platforms such as
Facebook,
40
we must continue to research how disinformation about abortion in Spanish and other languages has been
allowed to flourish online and hold platforms accountable for enabling bad actors time and again. However, the work of
combating disinformation and other problematic narratives around abortion care in Spanish cannot be limited to calling
for pla
tform accountability.
Organizations working to support abortion access must support and follow the lead of groups who have spearheaded
abortion advocacy within the Latinx community for decades. The continued investment of time and resources in
understanding the broad range of experiences and perspectives about abortion care among the Latinx diaspora in the United
States will allow advocates for reproductive freedom to create and amplify proactive and authentic messages about abortion
care in Spanish that reflect the diversity of Latinx communities throughout the country.
Increasing outreach to Spanish-language news outlets has the potential to change the existing media landscape
around abortion care and provide Spanish speakers with more accurate sources of information on abortion care and
existing bans and restrictions. The lack of right-wing Spanish-language political advertisements focused on abortion
also provides an opportunity to shift the conversation toward a positive narrative about abortion care in Spanish
and bolster the widespread support for abortion care among Latinx communities.
41
Ultimately, amplifying Latinx people as
messengers who can speak authentically about their support for reproductive freedom, including those whose Catholic
faith informs that support, will be essential in pushing back against anti-choice narratives falsely pitting identity and faith
against support for abortion access.
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TRANSLATING ABORTION DISINFORMATION: THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE ANTI-CHOICE LANDSCAPE
Research Methodology
This report is based on a combination of qualitative research projects conducted over a nine-month period. The first phase
of research involved monitoring anti-choice activity on Facebook given its widespread use among Latinx people. Beginning
in March 2021, we closely monitored nine Facebook pages with a combined audience of over 2.79 million followers over
a three-month period: Directo y Sin Censura, NO AL ABORTO, Daniel Y Maria Online, Eduardo Verástegui, Carlos Ramirez
Oficial, Estamos Unidos, Argumentos contra la Ideología de Género, Generación Provida Latinoamericana, and Live Action
Argentina. The pages broadly fall into two categories: groups specifically focused on opposing abortion (e.g. NO AL ABORTO)
and right-wing groups covering U.S. politics more broadly (e.g. Estamos Unidos).
In addition to monitoring Facebook, we utilized NewsWhip Spike to track high-performing Spanish-language articles about
abortion over a period of seven months. We included U.S.-specific keywords in our searches in order to limit the results to
articles focused on policies and discussions about abortion in the United States given the high volume of articles about
abortion focused on countries throughout the larger Spanish-speaking world. Each week we noted the top articles ranked
by social media engagement to understand which stories about abortion generated the most impressions and what
outlets published the most popular news stories focused on abortion during that week.
The second phase of the project focused on identifying what anti-choice messages about abortion were prevalent in online
advertisements, particularly in a political context. We began by examining Spanish-language advertisements from the 2020
election cycle. We conducted this research using Facebook’s ad library and Google’s transparency report, as well as looking at
the YouTube pages of over 31 right-leaning, anti-choice political groups and actors, including:
• Prominent anti-choice groups such as Susan B. Anthony List
• Republican PACs such as the Congressional Leadership Fund
• The Trump campaign and affiliated PACs such as America First Action
• Right-wing groups targeting Latinx voters, such as the Republican National Hispanic Assembly
After identifying the video and radio advertisements from these groups that were available online, we analyzed their
content for messages about abortion. We did not analyze all banner and sidebar ads published by these groups on Google
given the extremely large volume of such ads from the Trump campaign and other groups. In addition to reviewing political
ads, we also used Facebook’s ad library to examine Spanish-language ads about abortion purchased in 2020 and 2021.
Given the large population of Spanish-speakers globally and limited tools to restrict research to content viewed by Spanish
speakers located in the United States, our initial phase of research on Facebook primarily focused on understanding what
narratives about abortion care were prevalent and what crossover with U.S.-based anti-choice groups existed. While some
of our target pages had U.S.-based managers, many also had page managers based in Latin American countries such as
Mexico and Argentina. This dynamic highlights the differences in how Spanish-language disinformation disseminates
online, its potential to affect both domestic and international audiences, and the challenges in monitoring the impact of
such narratives on the diverse Latinx diaspora in the United States.
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TRANSLATING ABORTION DISINFORMATION: THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE ANTI-CHOICE LANDSCAPE
Endnotes
1
“False Witnesses: Priscilla K. Coleman,” Rewire News Group, accessed January 12, 2022, https://rewire.news/false-
witnesses/.
2
“Fact Sheet: Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Guttmacher Institute, March 2018, https://www.guttmacher.
org/sites/default/files/factsheet/ib_aww-latin-america.pdf.
3
“Abortion,” World Health Organization, November 25, 2021, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/abortion.
4
Kate Smith and Gilad Thaler, “These Women Say They Had Miscarriages. Now They’re in Jail for Abortion,” CBS News, May
28, 2020, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/miscarriages-abortion-jail-el-salvador/.
5
Amelia Irvine, “Abortion rights advocates don’t speak for all women on Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination,” USA
Today, September 5, 2018, https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/09/05/pro-life-women-abortion-feminism-human-
rights-supreme-court-column/1122263002/.
6
Scott Clement, William Bishop, and Robert Barnes, “Americans broadly support Supreme Court upholding Roe v. Wade
and oppose Texas abortion law, Post-ABC poll finds,” Washington Post, November 16, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/
politics/2021/11/16/post-abc-poll-abortion-supreme-court/.
7
Bettina di Fiore, “Defending life in activism, politics, and entertainment: Live Action’s second Life Awards Gala,” Live Action,
August 24, 2021, https://www.liveaction.org/news/live-action-awards-defenders-media-politics-entertainment/.
8
Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) retweeted Eduardo Verastegui (@EVerastegui), “Miles de bebés mexicanos han sido
condenados a muerte. Porque al despenalizar el aborto en todo México, el mensaje de los irresponsables Ministros de
Justicia es: ‘¡Adelante, ya pueden matar a sus bebés!’ A este Gobierno, el pueblo le cobrará caro este legado sangriento.”,
Twitter, September 8, 2021, https://twitter.com/everastegui/status/1435496302113079296?lang=en.
9
“Obispo a Biden: No puedes ‘presumir’ devoción a la Virgen de Guadalupe y promover el aborto,” ACI Prensa, March 3, 2021,
https://www.aciprensa.com/noticias/obispo-a-biden-no-puedes-presumir-devocion-a-la-virgen-de-guadalupe-y-promover-
el-aborto-80019.
10
Eduardo Berdejo, “Arzobispo: Católicos que apoyan aborto no deben acercarse a la Eucaristía,” ACI Prensa, May 1, 2021,
https://www.aciprensa.com/noticias/arzobispo-los-que-rechazan-santidad-de-la-vida-con-el-aborto-no-deben-recibir-
eucaristia-60510.
11
Kate Sullivan, “Biden tacha de ‘extrema’ la prohibición del aborto después de las 6 semanas en Texas y dice que viola
un derecho constitucional,” CNN Español, September 1, 2021, https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2021/09/01/biden-extrema-
prohibicion-aborto-6-semanas-texas-violacion-derecho-constitucional-trax/.
12
“La respuesta de la portavoz de la Casa Blanca a un periodista sobre el aborto: ‘Usted nunca ha afrontado esa decisión,”
El Diario, September 2, 2021, https://www.eldiario.es/internacional/psaki-corta-periodista-aborto-embarazado_1_8268532.
html.
13
Christine Rousselle, “Biden dice no creer que la vida comience en la concepción,” ACI Prensa, September 3, 2021, https://
www.aciprensa.com/noticias/biden-dice-no-creer-que-la-vida-comience-en-la-concepcion-97207.
14
“Facts are Important Medication Abortion ‘Reversal’ Is Not Supported by Science,” American College of Obstetricians
and Gynecologists, accessed January 12, 2022, https://www.acog.org/advocacy/facts-are-important/medication-abortion-
reversal-is-not-supported-by-science.
15
“Bebé es salvado de un aborto químico,” InfoCatólica, May 23, 2021, https://www.infocatolica.com/?t=noticia&cod=40626.
16
Donald J. Trump, “Abortos,” Radio Ad, August 6, 2020, 1:00, https://youtu.be/32rIaIMbJuw.
17
Donald J. Trump, “Fatal,” Radio Ad, August 6, 2020, 1:00, https://youtu.be/636eyDTgKDI.
18
Betty Cárdenas, Facebook Ad: “Lo que necesitamos saber de la Senadora Kamala Harris…”, October 26 - October 29, 2020,
https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=389493858756066.
19
Donald J. Trump, “Amy,” Video Ad, October 13, 2020, 0:30, https://youtu.be/P5N69JkhZbk.
20
“SBA List’s Women Speak Out PAC on the Ground in Georgia: Grassroots Blitz to Reach 1 M Voters Begins,” Susan B. Anthony
List, November 20, 2020, https://www.sba-list.org/newsroom/press-releases/sba-lists-women-speak-out-pac-on-the-
ground-in-georgia-grassroots-blitz-to-reach-1m-voters-begins.
10
TRANSLATING ABORTION DISINFORMATION: THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE ANTI-CHOICE LANDSCAPE
21
Women Speak Out PAC, “Eduardo Verástegui: Vote for Life Georgia (15),” Video Ad, January 5, 2021, 0:16, https://youtu.be/
lg0TjtdJZJ4.
22
Women Speak Out PAC, “Eduardo Verástegui: Vote for Life Georgia,” Video Ad, December 18, 2020, 1:01, https://youtu.be/
iq_pxPkgwOs.
23
District 27 (Paid for by POLO 4 Congress), Facebook Ad: “#PoloChange a #RealChange con prioridades para…”, December 29,
2019, https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=305388020345324.
24
Texas Values Action, Facebook Ad: “Apollas el dejar morír a un bebé DESPUÉS de haber nacido…”, October 26 - November 3,
2020, https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?id=642862866404684.
25
Tom McCullagh, Facebook Ad: “¡Ayude a proteger la santidad de la vida!”, October 25 - November 3, 2020, https://www.
facebook.com/ads/library/?id=628101154533844.
26
Live Action Español, Facebook Ad: “Vídeo gráfico,” July 13 - July 21, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/ads/
library/?id=882129502309094.
27
Live Action Español, Facebook Ad: “Tenemos que terminar con esta plaga…”, May 12 - May 31, 2020, https://www.facebook.
com/ads/library/?id=711631222998473.
28
Live Action Español, Facebook Ad: “Trágico,” July 14 - July 31, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/ads/
library/?id=277477116679621.
29
Life Choices Yakima, Facebook Ad: “Nuestro centro provee servicio médico…”, September 16, 2021. Note: This ad was
removed by Facebook or the advertiser and the link no longer works.
30
Ryan Foley, “Ex-Planned Parenthood director says abortion giant seduces immigrants with threat of deportation,”
Christian Post, August 2, 2021, https://www.christianpost.com/news/whistleblower-details-how-planned-parenthood-
seduces-immigrants.html.
31
Western Journal en Español, Facebook Ad: “Los líderes católicos,” May 27 - June 1, 2021, https://www.facebook.com/ads/
library/?id=499662161483891.
32
Western Journal en Español, Facebook Ad: “Los líderes católicos,” May 25 - June 1, 2021, https://www.facebook.com/ads/
library/?id=305125691204491.
33
SF Archdiocese-Human Life & Dignity, Facebook Ad: “Es normal llorar la pérdida,” July 13 - July 20, 2021, https://www.
facebook.com/ads/library/?id=532542374536346.
34
Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma, Facebook Ad: “Únase a nosotros,” September 25, 2021. Note: This ad was removed
by Facebook or the advertiser and the link no longer works.
35
“How Facebook can Flatten the Curve of the Coronavirus Infodemic,” Avaaz, April 15 2020, https://secure.avaaz.org/
campaign/en/facebook_coronavirus_misinformation/.
36
Hannah Towey, “Mark Zuckerberg reportedly helped reinstate a video that falsely claims abortion is ‘never medically
necessary,’ caving to complaints of Republican politicians,” Insider, October 25, 2021, https://www.businessinsider.com/
zuckerberg-caved-to-republican-politicians-abortion-misinformation-video-facebook-papers-2021-10.
37
Emily Shugerman, “Facebook Vowed to Probe Shady Anti-Abortion Ads. It Just Ran More,” Daily Beast, September 22, 2021,
https://www.thedailybeast.com/facebook-runs-more-abortion-reversal-ads-after-promising-to-investigate.
38
“Endangering Women for Profit,” Center for Countering Digital Hate, September 2021, https://www.counterhate.com/
endangeringwomen.
39
Brooke Auxier and Monica Anderson, “Social Media Use in 2021, Pew Research Center, April 7, 2021, https://pewrsr.
ch/3cYWjHA.
40
Stephanie Valencia, “Misinformation online is bad in English. But it’s far worse in Spanish,” Washington Post, October 28,
2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/10/28/misinformation-spanish-facebook-social-media.
41
“Latino/a Voters’ Views & Experiences Around Reproductive Health Care” National Institute for Reproductive Freedom
& PerryUndem Research, 2018, https://www.latinainstitute.org/sites/default/files/NLIRH%20Polling%20Press%20Kit_
ENG_11.1.18.pdf.
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