Artifact: https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/abortion
For this post, I will identify the rhetorical strategies used by Planned Parenthood on their webpage about abortion services. The artifact’s medium of delivery is the Planned Parenthood website, which has numerous pages on topics relevant to sexual health and information about available resources.
Here, Planned Parenthood makes effective appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos. The organization creates ethos by referring to their staff as “professional and caring” and able to “give you all the straight-up information you need to help you make the right decision for you. No pressure, no judgment. Just support.” These descriptors and statements construct ethos because they present employees as flexible and able to handle a variety of patients with different backgrounds. Similarly, these statements appeal to pathos because they foster a sense of comfort within audience members. By promising an environment free of pressure and judgment, prospective patients feel more at ease during the stressful process of considering an abortion. Lastly, Planned Parenthood evokes logos by offering links to other resources on the facts of abortion. They have a Frequently Asked Questions section as well as two sections on the abortion pill and in-clinic abortions, respectively.
