Scripted for Her: Misinformation in Reproductive Health

As online platforms inundate users with unverified medical claims, health care providers are stepping up to deliver evidence-based counseling and restore public trust.

The digital landscape has transformed reproductive health access, with platforms like TikTok serving as search engines for younger generations. Although social media connects professionals, it also exposes patients to low-quality, unreliable content created primarily by non-professionals. Studies show that over 20% of sexual health videos on TikTok created by non-medical creators contain inaccurate information.¹

Automated algorithms exacerbate this challenge by prioritizing sensationalist, emotionally charged claims over evidence-based science, locking users into ideological echo chambers. Online research reviews reveal over 100 unique misleading reproductive health narratives circulating across major platforms, with a third falsely claiming that evidence-based interventions carry unattributed medical risks.^1-3

This highly saturated digital environment blurs the line between misinformation and coordinated, ideologically motivated disinformation campaigns.¹

In this month’s episode of Scripted for Her, Natalie DiPietro Mager, PharmD, PhD, welcomes Sally Rafie, PharmD, BCPS, founder of the Birth Control Pharmacist, to explore the proliferation of reproductive health misinformation and how pharmacists can step in and resolve a dangerous trajectory.

READ MORE: Study Links Hormonal Contraceptive Use With Starting Semaglutide

Exaggerating Risks in the Name of Wellness

A prominent theme in this digital wave is the severe overexaggeration of hormonal contraceptive side effects, which steers patients toward less effective natural family-planning methods and increases unintended pregnancy rates. Influencers exploit a growing societal aversion to chemicals and toxins by promoting unproven alternative remedies and cycle-tracking without explaining crucial efficacy limitations.^1,3

This “hormonophobia” ignores the critical reality that pregnancy itself carries 10-fold greater health risks than standard hormonal contraceptives. The physical consequences are severe, as fear-based narratives induce a “nocebo effect,” causing patients to experience perceived side effects driven entirely by expectations of harm.^1,2

Furthermore, reproductive health misinformation is incredibly sticky and widespread among prenatal patients. An Ohio survey revealed that only 17% of patients knew that common hormonal contraceptives do not cause infertility, while over half of participants held the incorrect belief that abortion negatively impacts future fertility.²

Ideological Gaps, Policy Barriers

The problem is further compounded by structural and ideological sources. Crisis pregnancy centers often promote a pronatalist agenda by distributing materials that tie contraceptives and abortion to unscientific physical and mental health dangers.^2,3

For instance, despite clinical evidence that abortion regret is rare, most patients surveyed incorrectly believe that having an abortion causes severe regret, depression, and anxiety. Some state-mandated consent materials contain medically inaccurate information, and some states lack comprehensive sex education in schools.²

Empowering Patients Through Trusted Counseling

According to Mager and Rafie, to combat these deeply entrenched myths, health care professionals must adopt compassionate, nonjudgmental communication strategies. Rather than using dismissive terms like “myth” or “misconception,” which can invalidate a patient's lived experience, clinicians should acknowledge personal feelings while gently correcting underlying scientific facts.¹

Patient surveys indicate that women prefer receiving reproductive health guidance directly from their health care providers, particularly regarding contraceptive side effects. When counseling, pharmacists provide high-quality education in approachable, private settings.

Over 30 states now allow pharmacists to directly prescribe contraceptives, making them highly accessible allies. Pharmacists can signal that they are safe, welcoming resources by maintaining eye contact, using diverse signage, and wearing promotional buttons.

Clinicians can also teach patients digital literacy using the SIFT framework (Stopping, Investigating the source, Finding better coverage, and Tracing claims) and directing them to trusted databases like Bedsider, Planned Parenthood, or the FDA.

Explore some of the resources mentioned in today’s episode:

• SIFT Framework
• Birth Control Pharmacist
• Misconceptions, Misinformation, and Misperceptions: A Case for Removing the “Mis-” When Discussing Contraceptive Beliefs
• PMNCH FactCheck

Scripted for Her, a podcast from Drug Topics hosted by Natalie DiPietro Mager, PharmD, PhD, MPH, professor of pharmacy practice at Ohio Northern University, aims to help pharmacists provide comprehensive care and continuity of care within the women’s health space. All episodes of Scripted for Her are available in video format via DrugTopics.com on the third Wednesday of each month. Check out our most recent episode, Scripted for Her: Cannabis Use Among Women.

REFERENCES

1. Smith A. Confronting misinformation and disinformation in sexual and reproductive health. Mid-Iowa Health Foundation. August 1, 2026. Accessed August 17, 2026. https://www.midiowahealth.org/blog/confronting-misinformation-and-disinformation-in-sexual-and-reproductive-health

2. Gallo MF, Church AC, Warren E, et al. Contraception and abortion misinformation among crisis pregnancy center attendees and non-attendees. Contraception. 2025;156:111321. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2025.111321

3. John JN, Gorman S, Scales D, et al. Online misleading information about women's reproductive health: a narrative review. J Gen Intern Med. 2025 Apr;40(5):1123-1131. doi: 10.1007/s11606-024-09118-6