Remember the Abortion Episode?

TV episodes about abortion, reviewed by a woman who's actually had one. // Tara Rose, Founder - twitter: @RareOats

[remembertae]

You’re the Worst -Lindsay’s “Abobo”

(Photo: FXX)

“Talking to Me, Talking to Me” S3 E10, Nov. 2, 2016

“The Inherent, Unsullied Qualitative Value of Anything” S3 E11, Nov. 9, 2016

“You Knew It Was a Snake” S3 E12, Nov. 16, 2016

WRITTEN BY: Alison Bennett, Franklin Hardy, Shane Kosakowski, Eva Anderson, and Philippe Iujvidin

SYNOPSIS

Best friends Gretchen and Lindsay (who is pregnant) are having lunch at a diner. At the end of their meal the waitress brings three pieces of pie to Lindsay, who says to her friend, “Aw, I’m eating for two for the last time!” Grabbing the pie as she gets up up to leave, Lindsay turns to Gretchen and says, “Let’s go get this abobo.”

We next see the ladies parking in front of a clinic. Gretchen asks her friend if she wants company. Lindsay says she’s fine going in alone and will return in 45 minutes. But on her way into the building, she’s distracted by adoring text messages from her unwitting husband Paul. She then stares at the clinic sign with an ambivalent expression. A friendly woman on the street offers to chat with her about her difficult decision so Lindsay sits with the woman, not noticing the anti-choice protest sign at her side. Gretchen spots this interaction from the car and dashes over to disrupt the protester. Lindsay tells Gretchen she isn’t sure she wants to have the abortion and divorce Paul because she’s afraid of no longer having a family. Gretchen assures her friend she’ll help her so she doesn’t have to stay in a terrible marriage. Walking Lindsay into the clinic, Gretchen sneers at the protester and claims this as a victory for women’s rights. But after hearing about Lindsay’s extremely dysfunctional marriage, even the protester agrees termination is the wisest choice.

After the abortion, Lindsay has no regrets but struggles to break the news to Paul. At a friend’s wedding, she schmoozes with a successful fashion blogger in the hopes of landing a job so she can leave him. The blogger offers Lindsay a gig on the spot, warning her that it will involve lots of international travel. Paul politely informs the blogger that his wife is expecting, which is when Lindsay tells him — in front of the blogger — that she had an abortion and wants a divorce.

Lindsay crashes at Gretchen’s place that night. The next day, Paul comes over to have it out with her. He admonishes Lindsay for making the decision without his input, to which she blithely responds, “My body, my choice.” As their argument builds, Paul mentions the many terrible things she did to him (such as stabbing him with a kitchen knife and pressuring him to watch her have sex with other men), to which she eventually responds, “You knew who I was. You don’t get to act surprised now.” Accepting that their marriage is over, Paul later tells Lindsay he hopes she finds a more fitting mate but also warns her, “You better lawyer up, bitch.”

KEEPING IT REAL QUOTIENT

In writing this blog, I’ve encountered several well written shows featuring extremely hard-to-like protagonists (standouts include Girls, Transparent, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend). You’re the Worst is certainly not one of my favorites, maybe because Lindsay in particular is so very terrible. But I love this story for really going the distance in its depiction of a woman aborting with absolutely no regrets.

Lindsay is the kind of woman people whisper about when they’re explaining why they don’t always “agree with” abortion. She’s the epitome of a selfish bitch who killed a fetus just as carelessly as she created it. A wickedly hedonistic wife who pushed her kindly husband into a humiliating “cuck” role, Lindsay chooses termination without consulting or even warning him. Though her pregnancy was accidental, they had consciously agreed to stay married (despite their obvious incompatibility) and raise their offspring together. Hers is the classic example of a “bad” abortion. I can just imagine gossipy acquaintances criticizing her for killing Paul’s child, after all he’d done to make her happy.

But just as the activist at the clinic figured, we viewers know Lindsay would be a terrible mother stuck in a toxic marriage. Not only does her decision make sense, it’s kinda weird she waits as long as she does to have her abortion. She isn’t excited or eager to be a mom. She resents Paul and his dull vision of their domestic future (hence the stabbing incident, which happens in the first episode of the season). It’s obvious she only wants the baby so she can stay with him, but why is she so set on maintaining their marriage? Once it becomes clear she has almost no job skills, I could understand why she’d stay married for a piece of his hefty income. But it’s only after she has the abortion that she realizes she’s gonna lose everything in the divorce.

When Lindsay does change her mind about the pregnancy, her resolve is pretty steady (not counting those outside-the-clinic jitters). Deciding to terminate can be a complex ethical choice for some people, yet for many of us it’s a pretty simple decision. I chose to have an abortion immediately upon learning I was pregnant and never regretted it. But I felt like I had to be really secretive about it at the time. I was so afraid of being judged, so ashamed for having gotten pregnant by accident. That’s why I love seeing a character like Lindsay who has zero qualms about the way she handled her unwanted pregnancy. There’s this great scene after the abortion when she and Gretchen return to the diner. Lindsay chews her pie thoughtfully and Gretchen asks very sweetly what she’s thinking about. Lindsay says, “Pie.” Then this exchange occurs -

Gretchen: You just had an abortion, you’re divorcing your husband, and you’re literally only thinking about what’s happening in this moment?

Lindsay (shrugs): Guess so.

Instead of judging her friend, Gretchen determines Lindsay is a mindfulness guru and starts taking notes so she can follow her example.

Lindsay’s termination is just one of several thoughtful, funny, non-stigmatizing TV abortion stories that have aired in the past few years. But this one stands out for me because even though we aren’t expected to judge her negatively for her choice (aside from the shitty way she goes about informing the fetus father) neither are we expected to feel sorry for her. Lindsay doesn’t feel sad, confused, or guilty about any of her terrible behavior. As she tells Paul in the last fight scene, this is just who she is. So why would she feel sad, confused or guilty about her “abobo”?

GRADE

A- Again, I couldn’t understand why Lindsay waited so long to abort. But I love that when she finally does, both she and Gretchen are as blasé about it as we would expect these characters to be.

- by Tara

[remembertae]

Threesome “Pregnant”

(Photo: BBC)

S1 E1, Oct. 17, 2011

WRITTEN BY: Tom MacRae

SYNOPSIS

Young British couple Alice and Mitch share an apartment with their gay friend Richie. On the eve of Alice’s birthday, the roommates get drunk at a club, then go home and do some party drugs. Anxious and crying because she’s about to turn thirty, Alice invites the guys to a threesome so she can feel less old. Hungover the next morning, the roommates feel some regret about their drug-fueled group sex adventure but seem to get over the awkwardness pretty quickly.

Mitch and Richie throw a surprise birthday party for Alice. During the festivities, drunk Mitch decides he wants to propose to Alice in front of all their friends and Richie encourages him. But Mitch chickens out at the last minute and merely wishes his girlfriend a happy birthday.

Alice soon learns she's pregnant. When she tells Mitch, neither of them are excited. He says he wants the baby if she wants to have it. She says, “I was thinking that maybe…that we shouldn't?” They both agree they’d be bad parents and joyfully make out.

Alice goes to the clinic by herself while Mitch makes his regular visit to a sperm bank (which he refers to as his “job”). When the front desk clerk offhandedly observes, “Every man is a boy until he has a child,” Mitch gets an idea. He calls Richie and says he might want Alice to keep the baby if Richie will agree to be part of the family - “We look after the kid, you look after us.”

Both Mitch and Richie race to the clinic to stop Alice from having her abortion. But while he’s running there, Mitch gets a call from the sperm bank; they've just learned that he’s infertile.

Richie finds Alice in the clinic waiting room and tells her Mitch’s idea for the three of them to raise the baby together. He promises to love and care for the child as if it were his own. A moment later, Mitch arrives and grimly announces to Richie, “Congratulations, it's yours.”

Alice cancels her appointment. Outside the clinic, the three roommates figure that Richie’s condom must have broke when they had group sex. Now knowing he's the biological father, Richie isn't as excited about raising a baby. His fickleness frustrates Alice. Meanwhile, Mitch is jealous that Alice seems more interested in parenting now they know it's Richie’s offspring. Much bickering ensues. Eventually Richie tells Mitch in private that his jealousy is silly and that their party lifestyle can't go on forever.

The guys catch up with Alice at a fast food restaurant. Mitch bows down to one knee and says to her, “Will you marry me and have his baby?” Alice gushes, “Yes!” as the other restaurant-goers break into applause.

KEEPING IT REAL QUOTIENT

This episode feels like the perfect antidote to the Gilmore Girls story I recently reviewed because we see what should have happened with Lane and Zack. Both episodes present the surprise pregnancy as bad news. But when Alice tells Mitch she’s pregnant, they don't jump to the assumption that parenting is an inevitable next step. Once she suggests aborting, Mitch tells her in his most loving way, “You would be a truly terrible mother.” She responds, “Oh honey, you’d be a real shit dad,” and that's how they decide together that abortion is the best plan. It's a funny moment but it also feels like an authentic reaction from a young couple facing an unwanted pregnancy. Seeing them come to that conclusion together is sweet, and demonstrates that these two goofballs really are a good match.

Of course, the premise of the series depends on Alice having that baby. So my question is, does her change of heart make sense? Sure, I guess. It's hard to analyze characters I’m meeting just now in the first episode. We don't see her go through a complex emotional journey, but then this is pretty lighthearted, comedic fare. I will say this - I came away from this pilot totally believing that Alice, Mitch, and Richie genuinely like and love one another. And obviously they’re all prone to impulsivity. Deciding at the last minute that raising a child as a threesome makes sense (whereas raising a child in a more traditional, two-parent household doesn't) seems like the sort of gut decision someone like Alice would make. In a way, this unique three-parent arrangement bridges that daunting gap between this wacky, hedonistic lifestyle she's been enjoying and the more sober existence of a mother (which seemed unimaginable to her at first).

I do find it a bit annoying that more time is spent on the guys deciding that they should become dads. The conflict revolves around this twist revelation that Richie is the biological father, because suddenly no one knows what they want to do. Both Alice and Richie are confused and ambivalent, while Mitch is mainly jealous that the baby isn't his. Their three-way bickering comes to a head outside the fast food restaurant, when Mitch tells Alice “get yourself a Coke” so he and Richie can discuss things. She says she can't drink Coke because it's bad for the baby. He yells, “Oh and the abortion will just be brilliant for the little fella!” His response made me laugh but watching Alice saunter away made me a little sad. The feminist abortion episode critic part of me wanted her to stick around and lead the discussion instead of walking away, because I generally want the pregnant person to be centered in the narrative. On the other hand, the sitcom viewer part of me understands that this sequence of events builds up to Mitch’s odd, endearing proposal in the restaurant, which was a nice comedic payoff after his half-assed attempt at the birthday party.

The only other thing that made me go “ugh” was the lady at the sperm bank making that comment to Mitch about boys becoming men when they have a kid. That perspective irks me because what about all the grown-ups who choose to not procreate? Are they not actual adults? (Or do some parents say these things because they're bitter and envious of their child-free friends’ freedom?) But it's certainly true that having a baby forces a change of lifestyle, especially if you're used to non-stop partying. For a guy on the edge of thirty, whose only paid gig involves masturbating for a few bucks at a time, I can see how diving into a more serious “dad” role would be appealing.

GRADE

B This isn't the boldest or most thought-provoking representation of abortion, but I appreciate that there are no stigmatizing elements. It's a decent abortion story wrapped up in a very funny and charming pilot.

- by Tara

[remembertae]

Hey there! Somebody recommended to me that I watch Threesome, this really cute and short British sitcom from 2011 on Hulu, and imagine my surprise when the pilot was an abortion episode! I figured I ought to drop you a line. :D

Thank you!! There are few phrases that bring me as much pleasure as "abortion episode pilot" :) Time to renew my Hulu subscription!

[remembertae]

Did They Even Mention the A-Word?: Gilmore Girls

In this series, we’ll take a quick look at TV episodes that just barely mentioned abortion in response to a character’s unplanned or unfortunate pregnancy (as well as those episodes that noticeably did not). (Photo: CW) S7 E3 “That’s What You Get, Folks, for Makin’ Whoopee” Oct. 3, 2006 S7 E4 “ Lorelai’s First Cotillion” Oct. 10, 2006 THE SITCH Young newlyweds Lane and Zack have just come home from a disastrous honeymoon in Mexico where they both contracted a stomach bug. Lane confides in best friend Rory that her first (and thus far only) experience with intercourse was terrible. Though Rory says everyone's first time can be weird and that the sex will probably get better, Lane is seriously considering never having sex again. Further complicating the matter, she later learns her sickness isn't a virus, but that she’s pregnant. Lane avoids telling Zack at first. When she finally does, he becomes withdrawn and brushes off the subject whenever she brings it up. Eventually Lane forces a discussion and admits she’s very freaked out by the prospect of pregnancy and parenting. He’s happy and relieved to learn she's just as worried as he is. Lane squeals, “This baby sucks!” Zack agrees, and the newlyweds start making out. DID THEY EVEN MENTION THE A-WORD? Nope. Not even close. Yet there are many reasons Lane wouldn't want to have a baby. She isn't so sure about her marriage; in addition to the bad sex, she tells Rory she felt embarrassed by Zack’s behavior during their honeymoon. Thinking of what pregnancy will do to her body disgusts her. And as she tells Rory repeatedly, she just doesn't feel mature enough. Here we see two young feminist friends discussing an unplanned, unwelcome pregnancy. Isn't it weird that their conversations lack even a subtle suggestion of, “Have you thought about getting this taken care of?” Instead, Rory jumps to, “You’re going to be a great mother!” Meanwhile her BFF looks like she wants to die. It's worth noting that Lane was raised in a strict Christian household and abstained from sex before marriage, so it’s possible she’d never even consider terminating. But in reality, plenty of people who don't “believe in” abortion end up choosing that route anyway, in situations very similar to Lane’s. Expecting us to assume she wouldn't entertain the thought just feels like bad storytelling.

- by Tara

[remembertae]

Law & Order “Dignity”

(Photo: NBC)

S20 E5, released Oct. 23, 2009

WRITTEN BY: Richard Sweren and Julie Martin

SYNOPSIS Dr. Walter Benning — a third trimester abortion provider — is shot dead at his church. A cop on the scene informs detectives Cyrus Lupo and Kevin Bernard that a witness saw a white man flee the building immediately after the shooting. According to Benning’s wife, an anti-abortion protester had shot her husband at his Riverdale clinic the year prior (the assailant is currently in prison). When the detectives visit the clinic, they see a large crowd of protesters from an organization called Mission for Life. But according to one of the clinic nurses, the MfL protesters are non-violent and even assisted in apprehending last year’s shooter. When the detectives notice that the clinic received several recent calls from a Pennsylvania phone number, the nurse says it was the boyfriend of an incoming patient, and that he sounded angry.

The detectives track down Jonah, former boyfriend of Blair (the young PA woman seeking a third trimester abortion). But when Jonah admits he was scared off of parenthood when Blair said the baby would have serious health problems, it becomes clear he wasn't the shooter. The detectives then question a visibly pregnant Blair, who explains her child will have fragile skin disease and require round-the-clock medical care. She mentions how excited her father was to become a grandfather, which leads the detectives to questioning her dad, Professor Morton. Initially, Morton claims he only called the clinic, but eventually admits he also visited the day before the shooting. While there, he told his daughter’s story to a protester who told him not to worry about his daughter’s unborn baby.

The detectives next visit the Mission for Life headquarters, where a staffer and MfL attorney Roger Jenkins assure them that they too want to catch the killer. The staffer then identifies a photo of the suspect as Wayne Grogan, an overzealous protester not affiliated with MfL. Through Grogan’s ex-wife, the detectives try tricking Wayne into meeting them at the hospital. Unfortunately, Grogan’s son has tipped him off and sent Jenkins as a legal representative to negotiate his dad’s surrender. Instead, the detectives go back to the son, pressure him for a tip, and eventually apprehend Grogan at his girlfriend’s cabin in the woods.

Jenkins represents Grogan at his trial and immediately bargains with district attorneys Michael Cutter and Connie Rubirosa for ten years on a manslaughter charge. The DAs refuse, which is when Jenkins says his client will claim he acted in defense of another (i.e. Blair Morton’s unborn baby). He later tells the judge that unborn baby Morton’s medical condition is serious but survivable, and that Grogan knew this before he killed Benning. Much to the DAs dismay, the judge allows this argument.

The DAs meet with their boss, Jack McCoy. McCoy tells them they need to prove Grogan wanted to kill Benning before he heard about the Mortons. Rubirosa questions nurse Jennice Morrow, who supposedly quit working at Benning’s clinic because of the protesters. But it turns out Morrow quit because she saw Benning accidentally deliver a live baby, then murder it. Rubirosa informs Cutter and McCoy and says they need to notify the defense team. But since that information isn't directly related to Benning’s murder (and could only be used by Jenkins to prejudice the jury), they tell her to keep quiet.

At the trial, witness testimony keeps working against the DA’s case; Jenkins gets Professor Morton to admit he doesn't support his daughter having an abortion, and then a gynecologist who vouches for Morton’s professionalism insults pro-lifers by referring to them as “hypocrites and fools.” The defense ratchets up their case by bringing in Lisa Barnett, a woman who gave birth to a terminally sick baby even after doctors suggested she have a third trimester abortion (and whose story apparently inspired Grogan). Her tale about the 21 hours she spent with her beloved infant daughter — whom she wanted “to die with dignity” — leaves half the jury in tears. However, when Cutter asks if she believes late-term abortion providers offer an important service, she surprises the defense by saying “yes.”

At this point, Cutter tells McCoy he wants to take the manslaughter deal, especially because he personally can't abide late term abortion. McCoy refuses. Then they learn that the defense found out about nurse Morrow (via Rubirosa, who refused to omit that information) and are bringing her in as a witness. On the stand, Morrow describes in brutal detail how Benning delivered the baby by accident, asked the mother if he should complete the procedure, then stabbed the baby’s neck when the mother said, “yes.” Though everyone in the room is horrified, Morrow also verifies that the baby would have lived for only one or two days.

Later, the DAs argue with each other about the case. Rubirosa says she used to believe Roe v. Wade was gospel but now she’s not so sure where a woman’s privacy ends and another being’s dignity begins. Cutter tells her to just do her job but she says she can’t just set her soul aside like he can.

During closing arguments, Jenkins shows the jury a photo of Daniel Morton, Blair’s newborn baby. Cutter is about to show bloodied family photos from Benning’s wallet, but cans the emotional approach and speaks philosophically about valuing life by eschewing violence. Cutter’s case works. The jury finds Grogan guilty. And though Rubirosa wants McCoy to transfer her elsewhere, he refuses. McCoy tells Rubirosa and Cutter to get over their differences.

KEEPING IT REAL QUOTIENT Before this episode came out in late 2009, series producer Dick Wolf said it would be a “balanced, thought-provoking drama about abortion.” Given that this story is clearly based on the murder of Dr. George Tiller — a third trimester abortion provider who was shot dead by an anti-choice activist at his church less than five months before this episode aired — I think it’s important to look at the creative licenses taken to create a “balanced” narrative. From my point of view (and many other abortion rights advocates) George Tiller was a hero who helped women end pregnancies that would have hurt them, or would have forced them to give birth to babies with severe, sometimes fatal abnormalities. He didn't deserve to die. But since the writers felt the need to present abortion with a “both sides are problematic” viewpoint, they thought it was necessary to make it seem like his fictional counterpart did things that justified him being shot. Thus, we are told that Dr. Benning was, in fact, a literal baby killer. I can't overstate how deeply offensive this characterization is, especially so soon after Tiller’s death. That detail about Benning stabbing a newborn in the neck was absolutely fabricated for the purpose of making the dead provider less sympathetic.

Instead of vilifying the provider, I wish this episode had spent more time talking about Blair Morton and her quest for a late term abortion because that would have been a far more compelling ethical quandary. My personal feeling about abortion is this - I will always value the life, liberty, and agency of the pregnant person over anyone else, including the fetus. If that means carrying a pregnancy to term against a physician’s advice (as Lisa Barnett chose), then I support that. By the same token I believe that if Blair wants an abortion, she should have one. But I also think it's tragic that our economic and health care systems compel a woman like Blair to seek abortion mainly because she cannot afford to raise that special needs child. But of course, this narrative barely addresses the financial issue*, except for when Prof. Morton tells the detectives (rather unconvincingly) that he’ll figure out a way to cover the baby’s medical costs. Blair is hardly a part of this story at all. Her dad and her fetus both play bigger roles here, which is fitting because this episode isn't so much about abortion as it is “how men feel about abortion”.

In the first half of the episode, Detective Bernard makes a big show of being disrespectful and snotty toward the abortion clinic nurse. When Lupo later tells him to knock off the snide remarks, Bernard says he was born two months premature because his mom tried to end her pregnancy by throwing herself down a flight of stairs. This is why he is pro-life and needs to be a dick toward the clinic nurse. Ah yes, the old “someone else’s abortion is about me” trick. Here's the deal - abortion only happens to the pregnant person and the fetus inside them. That’s it. For example, my abortion only happened to me and the fetus that was inside me. It didn’t happen to you. My abortion didn't “almost happen” to the person who gave you up for adoption, or your mom who tried to throw herself down a flight of stairs. If you are here and alive because the person who birthed you decided against abortion or the stairs didn't work, I am happy for you. But your parent’s choice had absolutely no bearing on mine, nor should it have. So don't come at me with that “What if I’d been aborted?!” argument, because it is irrelevant and I will never care.

Similarly, I don't care that Cutter is against late-term abortion outside of the courtroom. During a scene in which McCoy warns Rubirosa that you can't count on a New York jury to be pro-choice, he says, “My daughter was pro-choice until she taped a sonogram of my grandchild to be on her refrigerator. Now…” Guess what? I don't care what McCoy’s sellout daughter thinks, either. Also, becoming a mom only made me MORE vehemently pro-choice, so don't assume we all turn anti once we decide to have a baby. Rubirosa’s angst about Roe v. Wade felt pretty maudlin, especially for a show that tends to tell you very little about its professional protagonists’ personal feelings and viewpoints. It sucks that abortion is used as a catalyst for all this clunky, overwrought character development. But from the late 1990s to about this point, TV so often talked about abortion in this way. A pregnant secondary or tertiary character’s desire to terminate becomes this heart-wrenching conversation piece for a bunch of other people who aren't pregnant (see Dawson’s Creek, Felicity, House, and Everwood). We don't see that sort of storytelling as much nowadays and I am sure grateful for that. It's hard to believe that not so long ago, an episode like this was considered a quality, balanced take on reproductive choice.

GRADE D- If they’d found Grogan not guilty, it would have been an F.

* Conveniently overlooking the cost of raising a special needs child was something that bothered me about this terrible SVU abortion episode

- by Tara

[remembertae]

Did They Even Mention the A-Word?: Family Ties

In this new series, we’ll take a quick look at TV episodes that just barely mentioned abortion in response to a character’s unplanned or unfortunate pregnancy (as well as those episodes that noticeably did not). Know a show* that oughta be reviewed?  Message me and I’ll add it to my watch list.

(Photo: NBC)

S1 E12 “Oops” Dec. 22, 1982

THE SITCH

Teenager Mallory Keaton learns her friend Cindy is pregnant. Cindy fears her uptight mom’s reaction, so she confides in Mallory’s easygoing liberal mom Elise instead. Elise encourages Cindy to talk to her mother anyway. The Keatons later learn that the talk was a disaster and Cindy has run away from home. She later resurfaces at the Keaton residence, confused and upset, but otherwise okay. Cindy’s mom Lynn comes over to retrieve her daughter and Elise mediates a discussion between the two. Lynn explains that she’s so strict because she was wild as a teenager and just wants to protect her kid from the trouble she experienced. Cindy is sympathetic to that but says they need to be able to talk openly, and that Lynn needs to listen to her. They make up and head home to decide what Cindy should do next (which is never revealed to the viewer because her character never reappears).

DID THEY EVEN MENTION THE A-WORD?

Yes. When Cindy initially pours her heart out to Elise, she says, “I’m so confused. I don’t know whether to have an abortion or put the baby up for adoption or keep it.”

I was pleased to see abortion listed as one of Cindy’s choices, and that neither Elise or Mallory judge her for considering it. Since the Keaton parents are progressive activist types, this feels consistent. Also keep in mind that this family sitcom episode aired at the end of a ten year time period (between Maude in November 1972 and The Facts of Life in October 1982) during which no one on TV had an abortion. Given that, it’s pretty cool they left open the possibility that Cindy might pursue termination.

* FYI I’ve already written about 30 Rock, Parks & Recreation, and New Girl. I will be writing about Gilmore Girls and Nashville in the coming weeks.

[remembertae]

Brockmire “Road Trip”

(Photo: IFC)

S1 E6, May 3, 2017

WRITTEN BY: Amanda Sitko

SYNOPSIS

Minor League baseball team owner Jules James and her not-so-serious boyfriend/ballpark announcer Jim Brockmire are hanging out at the small town bar she owns. She can’t believe that after so many years of taking great care to not get pregnant, she is now knocked up. Fetus father Brockmire is ready to fork over cash for an abortion, but Jules isn’t sure that’s what she wants He fully acknowledges the choice is hers, but asks for some odds. She says she’s 60/40 in favor of having the baby, which surprises him. She asks him to seriously consider whether or not he could be a dad.

While playing a game of catch with his teenage assistant Charles, Brockmire asks the young man, “You think I’d be a good father?” Charles quickly responds, “You would be a terrible father, don’t do that.” Meanwhile at the bar, Jules quietly asks the (unnamed) bartender if she’s ever had an abortion. The young lady responds that she has, and relates a rather frank and disturbing story about having to travel long-distance to Pittsburgh for the procedure, where she encountered violent protesters; however, she asserts that she regrets nothing. Jules reveals she is pregnant, but when she starts getting into personal details, the bartender encourages her to call a friend instead.

Jules later visits her friend Diana, a mother of three. Diana is excited for Jules’s pregnancy, telling her this is her “sign” that she’s ready to let go of the past and settle down. When Diana’s youngest wakes up crying, mom encourages an uncomfortable Jules to hold the baby.

We then see Brockmire seeking more advice from baseball player/father-of-thirteen Pedro Uribe, who speaks glowingly of fatherhood. When Brockmire sees Jules later, he’s excited about the prospect of raising a kid. But when Jules tells him she definitely wants an abortion, he heaves a sigh of relief and thanks God. The two make plans to visit a clinic in Pittsburgh.

Jules and Brockmire meet with an abortion provider, who is put off by their relentless snarky joking. When the doctor explains that Jules qualifies for a medical abortion, she bristles at the thought of swallowing a pill and asks if she can snort it instead. The doctor tells her to please refrain from making cocaine references in his presence. He asks her to ingest the mifepristone right away and the misoprostol later. When she takes the first pill, much slapstick-y gagging ensues, but she does eventually swallow it.

Later at the hotel, Jules and Brockmire are ready to “pre-game” her abortion. While she mixes drinks in the bathroom, he snorts a couple lines of what he assumes to be coke but, alas, he has unwittingly snorted her misoprostol. They meet with the frustrated doctor again. He imagines Brockmire might experience some of the same symptoms Jules will experience when she aborts, but can’t say for sure since this hasn’t happened before. He gives Jules another pill, and again she gags multiple times before actually swallowing it.

The next morning, Brockmire and Jules lie in bed, both wrecked from a rough night of medical abortion symptoms but otherwise relieved. She thanks him for being so thoroughly supportive throughout her brief pregnancy. She says she wants something positive to come out of this situation. Later we see that they’ve invited all thirteen of Uribe’s children to town so they can see their father during baseball season.

KEEPING IT REAL QUOTIENT

I don’t care much for this show, but there’s a lot to love about this abortion episode. For starters, I really dig Jules and Brockmire’s dynamic throughout the story. This is how I imagine pro-choice grown-ups dealing with an unplanned yet not entirely unwelcome pregnancy. Though not necessarily a maternal figure, it makes sense that Jules — an entrepreneur who’s aggressively promoting this sleepy small town’s baseball team — could see herself tackling motherhood with that same gusto. But in the end, even after holding her friend’s “cute little fat angel baby,” she just didn’t feel it. Brockmire does everything he can to support her, and in just the right way. When she tells him she’s leaning toward keeping the baby, he replies in his typical, colorful fashion, “I understand. I gave up my vote at ejaculation.” He doesn’t blab about her situation to anyone, even when he’s seeking advice from friends. Other than accidentally snorting her abortion pill (which mainly upsets her because he’d greedily snorted both lines), he puts her desire and comfort first. His going through the abortion symptoms with her perfectly symbolizes his surprising capacity for empathy.

The way they deal with this problem together makes for a funny and surprisingly sweet episode, but it’s also refreshing to see this depiction of a fetus father type who isn’t quite so rare in real life as TV would have us believe. I’ve watched a lot of abortion episodes and there is this tendency to create drama by placing the fetus father at odds with the pregnant woman and whatever choice she is making. Way less often do we see the guy say to her, “I’ll support whatever you want,” which is exactly what my boyfriend said to me when I was getting ready to terminate an unplanned pregnancy. Of course this is not everyone’s real life experience, but it seems underrepresented on TV.

But my favorite thing about this abortion tale is that magnificent scene with Jules and the bartender.  The young woman begins her tale by explaining how difficult it was for her to get an abortion. Unable to visit her local Planned Parenthood, which had recently been firebombed, she had to pay for a round-trip bus ticket to Pittsburgh, plus the cost of the surgery, plus the cost of three nights at a hotel. These are the sort of real life barriers that prevent people who live in small towns from accessing abortion, and that is something TV shows almost never discuss when they talk about termination. I’m extremely pleased that so many shows in the past few years have embraced the once-taboo topic of abortion and that we’ve see many pregnant protagonists — from Scandal’s Olivia Pope to Bojack Horseman’s Diane — choose termination without the tiniest bit of shame. But most TV shows feature middle and upper class characters who live in or around major cities where abortion is still pretty accessible. I live in a mid-sized southern city where you cannot get a legal abortion. If I needed to terminate, I’d have to travel two hours to a larger city, where I’d have to wait 48 hours for the pill or procedure itself. For people who work low wage jobs and/or don’t have a car, abortion becomes an expensive, time-consuming, potentially job-threatening endeavor. How pleasing to see a young, working class woman character on a TV show lay this all out for viewers who may not understand how hard it is to get an abortion here in flyover country.*

I also love the bartender’s story because it includes the funniest dark joke of the whole episode. Describing what happened when she got to the abortion clinic, she says, “The protesters screamed the worst things humanly possible in my face. But it was fine because I was listening to ‘Shake It Off’.” She smiles, then adds, “And then somebody threw a diaper full of rocks at me… That I couldn’t shake off.” As horrifying as this is, the casual, almost gossipy way she relates the story makes it so funny.

Indeed, her nonchalance about sharing her experience (“I tell everyone that story! It’s the first thing on my dating profile”) honestly reminded me of some of my millennial friends. I’ve always run with a pretty liberal and open-minded crowd, but I don’t remember me or my girlfriends talking so casually about abortion when I was in my early twenties. Even in the very church-going, abortion-unfriendly town where I currently reside, I’m regularly delighted to witness the open and unapologetic way some of my younger friends talk about termination. This bartender reminded me a bit of one young activist I know, who posted on Facebook the day after Tennessee’s anti-choice Amendment One passed, “Someone needs to knock me up so I can have a spite abortion.” I still laugh out loud every time I think about that.

Alas, this scene is not perfect. A couple small details bugged me. At one point Dale, one of the redneck yokel bar flies, brags about being the person who firebombed the Planned Parenthood (which the bartender shrugs off with an eye roll). Look, I know some enemies of abortion access could best be described as “redneck” but this is a cheap shot. The writers of this show seem to have so much contempt for small-town people, but I suspect most of them probably don’t know any. It makes for some pretty hollow satire, especially because firebombin-rednecks aren’t the main reason rural women can’t get abortions (Republican legislators and anti-choice organizations are).

And then there’s this other detail, about which I have mixed feelings. After telling Jules that the procedure itself was easy, the bartender says, “Sure, when I woke up I felt like shit and I had a black eye from the rock diaper. But would I do it again?” With a slightly embarrassed look, she says, “Yeah, I did.” Ah, now here’s a major taboo, both on TV** and IRL - the woman who seeks multiple abortions. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it until we fully obliterate termination stigma, THERE IS NO CORRECT NUMBER OF ABORTIONS A PERSON CAN HAVE. If you call yourself pro-choice but catch yourself saying things like, “abortion shouldn’t be used as birth control,” or, “abortion should be safe, legal, and rare,” you are hurting the movement. As long as you believe that more-than-one-abortion is tacky or yucky, you are keeping stigma alive. Please stop.

So yes, I look forward to the day when “I had two abortions” isn’t a punchline. Nevertheless, I still appreciate seeing a character say that she did, especially one who is this funny and cool.

GRADE

A- Based on previous episodes, I had no expectation of loving this story as much as I did. The grievances listed above would usually result in a lower grade, but that just shows how great the rest of the episode is.

* While the bartender’s timeline implies that there was a waiting period for her procedure (consistent with Pennsylvania law), this is not something Jules encounters when she meets with the physician. I imagine this detail was omitted for the purpose of moving the story along, but it is an oversight.

** The only other character I’ve seen who talks about having had more than one abortion is Mimi-Rose from Girls.

- by Tara

UPDATE: A reader correctly noted that Samantha from Sex and the City also talked about having had two abortions. Good catch! 

[remembertae]

GLOW “Maybe It’s All the Disco”

(Photo: Netflix)

S1 E8, released Jun. 23, 2017

WRITTEN BY: Nick Jones

SYNOPSIS

In the mid-1980s, GLOW – a fledgling pro women’s wrestling group – is gearing up for its first televised performance. During their post-workout locker room time, one of the ladies asks her teammates for a tampon, which is when many of them notice that their menstrual cycles have synced up (a natural result of working so closely together and residing in the same motel). The one person who remains quiet during this chatter is Ruth, who is notorious for having slept with the husband of her teammate/former friend Debbie. Later at a drugstore, Ruth runs into gossipy Melrose and pretends to be looking for a birthday gift for their teammate Sheila. But really she’s there to purchase a home pregnancy test.

At the motel, Ruth uses the test kit, then anxiously awaits the results. When roommate Sheila comes by, Ruth manages to hide the kit before she sees it. But in that moment Ruth also notices the stick is blue, which means she’s pregnant. Later at Sheila’s disco roller rink birthday party, Ruth tries putting on a happy face for the group but looks sad and squeamish when she spots a child with his mom. When she tells teammate Rhonda that she needs to go back to the motel because she isn’t feeling well, Rhonda jokes, “Could be all the disco. Or maybe you’re pregnant!“ Ruth chuckles and leaves.

Later in her room, Ruth phones someone and says, “I’m sorry to bother you. I didn’t know who else to call.” In the next scene, it’s morning and we see a car pull up outside the motel to pick up Ruth - it’s surly director Sam, who takes her to a clinic. Ruth signs in for her 10 a.m. appointment then sits with Sam and thanks him for helping her. He offers to pick up donuts during her procedure and she asks for a pink-frosted one. In a rare moment of gravity, Sam says, “I feel like I’m supposed to ask you if this is what you want.” Ruth is thoughtful for a moment and replies, “Yeah. It’s not the right time. Not the right baby.” When the nurse calls her back, Ruth reminds Sam to get the donuts but he says he’ll wait until she’s done so she can pick them out herself. As Ruth walks away, she turns to Sam and says in the voice of her Russian wrestling character Zoya the Destroyer, “In Soviet Union, abortion is the only thing there is no line for.” He laughs.

As Ruth reclines on the surgery table, her physician asks her to verify that this is her decision. Explaining the discomfort she is about to feel, the doctor asks, "Does this all make sense?” Ruth quietly replies, “I’m a wrestler.” She stares at a painting of clouds on the ceiling as the procedure begins.

KEEPING IT REAL QUOTIENT

During the roller rink birthday party scene, there’s this lovely moment when extremely introverted goth Sheila (a so-called She-Wolf who occasionally sleeps in the woods) finally appears to be having fun despite having been suckered into this party plan. Rollerskating with her teammates as they cheer her name, she lets out a celebratory howl, and the others join her. This camaraderie shows how far these women have come as a team, despite all the differences that set them apart when they first met. But the moment turns bittersweet when Ruth pulls away from the group, looking very upset. She can’t fully enjoy that moment with her teammates because she has a secret, one that could destroy the bonds she’s built with them.

That sort of subtlety is what makes this abortion story just wonderful. The conflict doesn’t center on whether or not Ruth should abort. It’s the pregnancy itself that threatens all the work she’s done. For the sake of the team and her emotional wellbeing, Ruth must keep her situation secret. But keeping a secret from a tight-knit group of 14 women is — both in this episode and in real life — quite difficult.

To give a bit of background, the series begins with the entire team learning that Ruth had sex with Debbie’s husband Mark - which becomes apparent when Debbie (a beautiful and talented former actress who’s just become a mom) comes by the gym to kick Ruth’s ass. After seeing that spectacle, Sam asks Debbie to join the team as their starring player and Ruth/Zoya’s nemesis. But being nemeses in the ring requires a strong working relationship. At this point in the series, Ruth is not only starting to develop a new sort of trust with Debbie, she’s just beginning to earn respect from all these other women who first came to know her as a home-wrecker.

Especially given that Debbie is trying to work things out with Mark, absolutely no good could come of everyone learning Ruth is pregnant with his offspring. For career and personal reasons, this is indeed the wrong time and the wrong baby. Abortion is the obvious best answer to her dilemma, but it is not the primary source of drama in this story. Ruth’s main challenge is keeping this short-lived pregnancy under wraps and she handles that task heroically, though it obviously pains her to do so.

I don’t often single out actors in these reviews, but I have to give a shout out to Allison Brie* for her excellent performance as Ruth. She says little about her situation throughout the story, but pain, panic, and confusion are so clearly written on her face in those quiet moments when no one is looking. Her funny banter with Sam (Marc Maron) in the clinic scene felt natural and made me laugh pretty hard (especially her joke about abortion in the Soviet Union). His asking her if this is what she wants came off as purely kind and not judgmental, and she doesn’t seem to feel the need to justify her decision on any ethical level. But when you see her in surgery, her expression looks like the perfect mix of physical discomfort, relief and sadness, which were certainly feelings I had when I had an abortion. No matter how sure you are about this decision, getting pregnant by accident sucks and having to hide it from other people (whether out of consideration or fear of judgment) can make the situation even harder. It’s a lot of emotion to convey in one brief shot, and Brie does it splendidly.

GRADE

A This isn’t a typical abortion story. The drama doesn’t center on abortion as a moral choice. Ruth’s unplanned pregnancy and her decision to terminate aren’t just thrown in as an opportunity to discuss a controversial and/or woman-centric issue. This situation is a turning point in her character’s development. Ruth committed a terrible sin by sleeping with her friend’s husband, and quietly ending her pregnancy is the most noble and caring choice she can make. But it is also the most practical, because it allows her to keep pursuing a new career she loves.

* Brie is also the voice actor behind Diane, the protagonist from Bojack Horseman’s fantastic abortion episode “Brrap Brrap Pew Pew”.

- by Tara

[remembertae]

The Fosters “Mother”

(Photo: ABC Family)

S2 E6 Jul. 21, 2014

WRITTEN BY: Joanna Johnson and Thomas Higgins

SYNOPSIS

20 weeks into her first pregnancy, Lena Adams Foster calls her doctor to complain about a headache that won't go away. When she later speaks to her wife Stef, Lena doesn't mention feeling ill. But shortly after that, their adopted daughter Mariana calls Stef to tell her Lena threw up and fainted. Lena is ordered to bed rest and constant blood pressure monitoring, but must still deal with the daily stress of their five kid household (in addition to raising Mariana and her twin brother Jesus, Lena and Stef also care for foster siblings Callie and Jude, as well as Stef's son Brandon). Once Lena's blood pressure returns to normal she assumes the pregnancy will be alright. While snuggling in bed, she tells Stef she wants to name their daughter Francesca (a.k.a. Frankie).

However, at her next doctor's appointment Lena is diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. Dr. Hillcroft tells Lena that for her own safety, the fetus should be delivered. However, the fetus cannot live outside the womb until 24 weeks, and even then it has only a 35% chance of surviving. Lena has faith her fetus will be okay and wants to do bed rest until 24 weeks. While the doctor won't recommend doing this, she states that the choice is Lena's. In private, Dr. Hillcroft encourages Stef to let Lena have some time to process this. Stef admits to Lena that she doesn't have faith in this working out, then lets the kids know that things don't look good for the baby.

Lena's mother Dana arrives at the hospital and embraces her sobbing daughter. Lena confides in Dana that she longs to have a blood connection to one of her kids, as she is the only person in the household who isn't biologically related to another family member. She worries that her adopted/foster kids and stepson will never love her as much as she loves them because she isn't their birth mom. Dana says that every mom feels this way because part of parenting is accepting that your children aren't always going to love you as much as you love them; that's how you put them first. After more hugs, Dana exits Lena's hospital room and gives Stef a solemn nod.

When we next see Lena, she is waking up in her hospital bed after surgery. To her surprise, a little girl named Layla is watching her. When Layla's mom comes around to collect her wandering child, the little girl leaves her stuffed unicorn for Lena and tells her that its name is Frankie.

Later at home, the Adams Fosters gather in the yard to plant a cherry tree in Frankie's honor. Flanked by her mother, wife, and children, Lena appears to be at peace.

KEEPING IT REAL QUOTIENT

I was excited to review this episode for a couple reasons - 1) because it deals with a woman aborting for her own health and safety, and 2) because the pregnant protagonist is a woman of color (WOC are severely underrepresented in television abortion stories). The only other show we've reviewed that dealt with a potentially life-saving abortion was a particularly awful House episode in which the pregnant woman (who is suffering from Mirror Syndrome, which is extremely rare) boldly puts her life at risk for the slim chance of saving her fetus. In The Fosters, we encounter a more common situation. Pre-eclampsia affects 3-5% of pregnant American women and the only "cure" is to immediately deliver the fetus, regardless of its viability. Like the protagonist from the House episode, Lena is initially determined to have her baby despite the risks. But instead of allowing her reckless determination to lead to some unlikely outcome in which both she and the baby survive, the writers chose instead to have family members urge her to terminate. This, to me, is a way more honest and humane resolution to such a tragic situation.

Interestingly, Lena's surgery is never explicitly described as an abortion though that's precisely what it is. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I appreciate that we the viewers are meant to assume she would abort in this situation. There's no need to moralize or politicize her decision because it's the only sound choice, and I'm certainly glad we never had to watch Lena anguish over some undeserved guilt trip. She isn't averse to termination because termination is inherently bad. She just really, really wants this baby.

On the other hand, I expected a bit more frankness from a show that features progressive queer moms who frequently engage their kids in open discussions about sex and contraception. At one point, Callie tells her boyfriend that Lena "lost the baby," which implies she had a miscarriage. It would have been cool to see Callie clarify that Lena aborted, and perhaps touch on why it was crucial in this situation. This show doesn't veer away from discussing complicated topics like homosexuality, teen sex, or drug use, and they generally present these issues in a thoughtful, non-preachy, open-minded manner. Completely avoiding the a-word seems like a missed opportunity to say something interesting about another complex topic.

It was definitely cool to see this rare representation of a woman of color pursuing abortion, and to have it not treated as something shameful or bad. African-American women like Lena (who is technically biracial - her mother is black and her dad is white) have been especially underrepresented in TV abortion stories.* But it didn't feel like Lena's blackness was particularly relevant to this tale. Of the six non-consecutive episodes I watched leading up to this one, I noticed that race and racism weren't discussed as much as homosexuality and homophobia; the only example I encountered was when Latina daughter Mariana dyed her hair blond to fit in with the white girls on her dance team. This isn't to say that the show should have handled Lena's story differently. But I think it points to a larger issue of how people of color's experiences are portrayed in scripted TV shows, when they are portrayed at all.  

The tree-planting ceremony was a nice finish to the story, a very fitting tribute from a groovy non-traditional family full of very sensitive people. It was definitely a better ending than that Frankie the Unicorn business, which I think was intended to give us hope for Lena getting pregnant again. But that felt more like a forced smile at the end of a sad situation.

GRADE

B This isn't the boldest representation of abortion, but it is compassionate and quite moving. I love that Lena's family is so instrumental in convincing her to terminate, and that they succeed by reaffirming her role as a mom. I do wish the narrative had been clearer about the fact that this was, indeed, an abortion story. I look forward to watching and reviewing The Fosters's more recent abortion episode, which I'm guessing deals with the topic more explicitly.

* In real life, 30% of those who abort are African-American. But according to this research from 2015, 90% of those who abort on TV are white.

- by Tara

[remembertae]

Murphy Brown “Uh-Oh” Part 1 - 3

(Photo: CBS)

S3 E26 May 20, 1991 / S4 E1-2 Sep. 16, 1991

WRITTEN BY: Diane English & Korby Siamis

SYNOPSIS

42-year-old national news anchor Murphy Brown is shocked when radical activist ex-husband Jake shows up at her Washington D.C. office. After spending decades abroad, Jake has returned to D.C. so he can work within the political system. He wants to settle down and remarry Murphy. She and Jake spend a romantic week together, during which he proposes several times. Just when she’s about to accept his latest offer, Murphy’s ex-boyfriend Jerry shows up at her door, also looking to rekindle their past affair. Murphy struggles to choose between the two men over the next several days, all while complaining of an incessant headache. One day she accidentally invites both guys to lunch. When she gets fed up with their quibbling, she abruptly leaves the restaurant. Later at home, Murphy examines a home pregnancy test and looks extremely stressed out.

When Murphy next appears at work wearing goofy slippers and a frazzled expression, her coworkers worry. Best friend Frank confronts her privately and she reveals she’s pregnant. He panics and doesn’t know what advice to give. Murphy recognizes this might be her only chance to have a baby. But she wonders how it would impact her career or if she would lose her journalistic edge. She tells Frank, “I know I have the right to make this decision. I just didn’t expect it to be this hard.” Hoping the first pregnancy test was a fluke, Murphy heads to the pharmacy to purchase more test kits. Unfortunately, she runs into boss Miles, who spots the kits in her shopping basket. He immediately melts down, wondering how an unmarried pregnant anchor woman could survive on primetime news. Murphy tells Miles she’ll let him know the results in the morning. Later at home, we see all her tests have come back positive.

Jake returns to Murphy’s place that night. She tells him she’s pregnant with his child and not sure what to do. He assumed she’d called him over to refuse his marriage proposal and admits he was a bit relieved by that prospect; turns out Jake isn’t really cut out for D.C. He wonders if they could make a family work, but she can tell neither of them have changed and they’d face the same marital woes they encountered before. Murphy wonders aloud if she could raise a child alone, which makes Jake laugh. She becomes defensive, and though she hasn’t made a decision, Jake can sense she’s seriously considering having the baby. He affirms that the choice is hers but admits he can’t be there as a father. Murphy says she understands. Jake thanks her and leaves.

The next day at work, Murphy tells the news team she’s pregnant with Jake’s baby but that he’s left the country. Corky offers to escort her to a doctor who will “take care of things”, but Murphy says she’s decided to have the baby and raise it alone. Again, all of the men panic.

Out at lunch, Murphy confides her situation to restaurateur/father of eight Phil, who tells her she has a tough journey ahead but that she’ll be alright. When Jerry shows up to meet her, he doesn’t believe her pregnancy news at first. As she suspected, he’s no longer interested in getting back together now that there’s a baby in the picture. But he offers to help her out however he can as a friend, which cheers her up.

Murphy later goes home to find housepainter Eldin (who’s been working on her place for three years) packing up to leave for good. He assumes she’s chosen either Jake or Jerry, and he doesn’t want to be in the way when her new man moves in. Murphy reveals that the only new addition to the home will be a baby, to which Eldin reacts with unmitigated joy and hugs. Pleased that he’s actually happy for her, Murphy asks Eldin, “Do you think I’ll make a good mother?” He replies, “No, but I will,” and gets to work painting the nursery.

KEEPING IT REAL QUOTIENT

I loved this program when I was a teenager* and probably watched these episodes when they first aired, but I had no recollection of Murphy ever contemplating abortion. This story arc is more memorable for what happened after she gave birth to son Avery at the end of season 4, when U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle famously took her character to task for, “mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone.” In the season 5 premier episode, audio from Quayle’s speech was used in the show to make it appear as if the Vice President were targeting a national news journalist as opposed to a sitcom character. All this real life debate about conservative “family values” vs. a more liberal concept of what makes a family – not to mention the meta goodness of incorporating Quayle’s comments in the storyline – completely overshadowed any memory I had of Murphy seriously considering termination at the outset.

But what I love most about the beginning of this pregnancy arc is that abortion is treated as the obvious choice for her character. The assumption is subtle, so subtle you kind of have to look for it. It’s implied in her initial conversation with Frank, who frenetically tells her, “I think you should definitely not have this baby… No, have it… Have it, but look into adoption. Is any of this helping you?” Though no one ever utters the word “abortion” during this three-part episode, there’s no doubt what a phrase like “definitely should not have this baby” means. There’s also that moment when Corky says she’ll take Murphy to a “back alley” doctor for the procedure, leading to the episode’s most pointed joke -

Murphy: Corky, there is no back alley. Women in this country legally have a choice. At least I think they still do, I haven’t checked the paper today.

Corky: I’m sorry. I’m from Louisiana.

I found that joke a bit corny (also sad, as it is now more relevant than ever). Perhaps at the end of the Reagan/GHW Bush years, a TV character vaguely stating “women legally have a choice” with regard to her own unplanned pregnancy seemed more bold than stilted, but it falls pretty flat now.

But Murphy herself isn’t flat. She’s a wonderfully complex character, which is what makes her set of choices so complicated and interesting. Before she knows she’s pregnant, she already has a tough choice deciding between a leftist guy who’s romantic, dedicated and aligned with her politics (Jake), and a funny conservative guy who challenges her while also offering the less-daunting prospect of a non-marital relationship (Jerry). After she learns of her pregnancy, there’s this great dream sequence in which she walks down a hallway, peering behind different doors. Behind one she sees Jake, behind another is Jerry. Behind the third door is a nursery full of babies; Murphy’s grimace in response to that sight is probably the funniest moment in the whole story. As she admits to both Frank and Jake, she really doesn’t have any maternal instincts yet. For her to fear what the onset of those instincts might do to her career makes so much sense for her character. This is a staunchly independent woman who clearly never intended to breed.

The way the men in her life react to her situation creates more pressure in a way that’s both very maddening and very believable. The guys at work make her pregnancy all about themselves and their sense of panic. It isn’t fair that her very personal decision should have so much impact on their careers, but realistically, it would. (Can you imagine how conservative politicians and TV viewers in the early 1990s would react to a real-life unmarried newswoman getting knocked up?) It would be best for her mostly-male coworkers if Murphy quietly aborted her fetus and everything went back to normal. Choosing abortion would also improve her chances with both Jake and Jerry, neither of whom want anything to do with a baby.

But seeing how all these dudes disappoint Murphy just makes her change of heart more believable. The “last chance for a baby” trope already rings true to me in most cases, even for a character as unsentimental Murphy. You also get the sense that she really doesn’t want to grow old alone, hence her entertaining Jake’s marriage proposal even though marriage scares her. So instead of choosing to be in a long-term relationship with either of these inconsistent romantic partners, she chooses a child. Given who she is and what she desires, her choosing motherhood over abortion ultimately makes sense to me.

GRADE

B+ I love this episode for clearly demonstrating that parenting is a way more complicated and fraught long-term decision than termination, especially for single women. I think the writers could have been clearer about abortion being one of her options. The choice to abort is implied, never explicitly examined. But neither is it stigmatized. I appreciate that.

*The Monday night Murphy Brown/Designing Women comedy block on CBS had a big impact on my budding feminist worldview

- by Tara

[remembertae]

I just saw this and had to tell you right away. The PILOT of Starz's The White Princess is an abortion episode. This is not a drill!

LOL thank you!! I love me some abortion episode pilots. Adding to my list...

[remembertae]

Beverly Hills, 90210 “Nancy’s Choice”

(Photo: FOX)

S6 E19 Jan. 30, 1996

WRITTEN BY: John Eisendrath and Meredith Stiehm

SYNOPSIS

California University student newspaper editor Susan has been nominated for a Collegiate Press Club Award. Her boyfriend/newspaper colleague Brandon believes she’s sure to win for last year’s notorious feature story about an anonymous young woman (“Nancy”) who had an abortion. The two discuss her odds as they walk into the newspaper office, where they find Susan’s ex-boyfriend/ex-editor Jonathan hanging out with all his former colleagues. Unbeknownst to Brandon, CU has invited Jonathan to the awards dinner since he’d served as editor when “Nancy’s Story” was published. Brandon assumes Jonathan is attending the dinner as Susan’s date and jealously stomps out of the office, even after Susan assures him there’s nothing going on between her and Jonathan.

Later at the student union, Jonathan and Susan chat about the awards. She wonders why he came for the ceremony. He insists he’s there to support her, adding, “Who else knows how much you sacrificed for this story?” Susan winces and Jonathan apologizes, but Brandon approaches before they can discuss things further. After Jonathan leaves, Susan explains to Brandon that Jonathan never approved of Nancy’s story because he’s pro-life and thinks Susan “infringed on her privacy.” When Brandon asks if she did, Susan admits to pushing Nancy to tell her tale, but also believes the story helped her subject heal. When Brandon wonders why Susan cares so much what Jonathan thinks, she explains that he was her mentor and his disapproval hurt. And when she admits she’s still bothered by Jonathan’s disapproval, Brandon stomps off again.

Brandon asks his friends Steve and Clare to come to the dinner so he doesn’t have to deal with Jonathan alone. But then he and Susan bicker more later when she refuses to print his column until he does more reporting. Taking her editorial decision personally, Brandon tells her to have fun at the awards with Jonathan.

On the evening of the awards, Brandon dons a suit but heads to a local diner, The Peach Pit, instead of the dinner. Peach Pit proprietor Nat asks Brandon why he’s ditching the ceremony. Brandon can’t figure why Jonathan came back to town to celebrate Susan’s nomination for a story that caused their break-up. Nat tells Brandon he’ll never get an answer if he doesn’t show up for the dinner and compete for Susan.

Brandon arrives at the awards dinner right before Susan’s category is announced. After he sits down, someone at their table asks Susan what her article was about. She answers, “It’s about a woman’s right to choose.” Steve asks why it’s never the man’s right to choose, to which Clare and Susan both make snarky remarks about men never getting pregnant. Jonathan chimes in to say he doesn’t believe men or women should be able to choose. Brandon asks, in open ear shot of their entire table, if Jonathan broke up with Susan over the article. But before he can answer, Susan is announced as the best feature story winner.

Susan nervously accepts the award on behalf of all women who’ve faced Nancy’s difficult decision. “If Nancy were here tonight,” she says, “I can’t say she might not regret her choice. The effects are that profound and the consequences are that lasting. That’s why winning this award is very special – it honors more than choice, it also honors courage.” She leaves the stage visibly unnerved.

Brandon and Susan take a walk after the awards. He suggests she tell Nancy about her win, to which she replies, “I’m Nancy.” Brandon guesses correctly that Jonathan was the fetus father. She explains that after her sister died in a tragic accident the year prior, she and Jonathan got drunk and had unprotected sex. And when Jonathan learned of the pregnancy, he asked her to marry him. Susan gets weepy telling her story and Brandon embraces her. She asks him if he’s now turned off by her and he assures her that he’s not.

Jonathan approaches the two of them and Brandon lets them be alone. Jonathan is still upset he never had any input in Susan’s decision. She says she wasn’t going to change her life over a mistake, to which he angrily responds, “That’s a great way to talk about a child!” Susan claims he was pro-choice until he didn’t have one. Despite his resentment, Jonathan says he can’t help but forgive Susan and congratulates her for her award win.

Back at the banquet hall, Brandon hands Susan her award and tells her, “Doubting your decision doesn’t mean you made the wrong one.” All Susan can say is, “He forgave me. Now if only I could forgive myself.” She asks Brandon to hold her and he does.

KEEPING IT REAL QUOTIENT

I find this tale very interesting within the context of Beverly Hills, 90210’s previous abortion stories - season 2’s episode about reformed “bad mom” Jackie’s unplanned pregnancy and season 4’s two-episode arc about college freshman Andrea’s oops fetus. In a way, one could interpret this episode as the alternate reality Andrea might have experienced if she’d chosen abortion instead of birthing baby Hannah and marrying fetus father Jesse.

Susan and Andrea are remarkably similar characters - intelligent, intense (one might say “uptight”), proudly feminist women who serve as newspaper editors at different points in the series. Both women have a somewhat competitive relationship with Brandon, and are attracted to him. Both characters are accidentally impregnated by their non-Brandon college boyfriends and, at least at first, both choose abortion. When Andrea pursues termination despite Jesse’s pro-life stance, he threatens to break up with her. Between the prospect of losing him and the shame of terminating her offspring (she tearfully apologizes to her fetus the night before her appointment), Andrea changes her mind, marries Jesse and has her baby. The outcome of her choice is complicated. Hannah is born premature and suffers serious health problems during her infancy. Andrea struggles with balancing parenting and her studies. Jesse proves to be a judgmental, pushy, yet not particularly helpful father/husband. Both he and Andrea end up cheating on each other and consider divorce. Though they patch things up enough to keep their family together, one has to wonder if she might have been happier having an abortion and telling Jesse to kiss off.

With Susan’s story, we get an idea of how Andrea might have fared had she just gone through with it. And, no surprise to me, it looks like Susan’s decision was a good one. Jonathan is a jerk (to the point that he makes bratty Brandon look like a great guy in comparison). Essentially, it seems he offered Susan the same ultimatum Jesse gave Andrea - marry me and have this child or I break up with you. And if that weren’t enough manipulation, now he’s trying to sabotage her new relationship. Why ever would she be inclined to birth a baby she doesn’t want just to be with this guy, when instead she can continue pursuing her academic goals and be editor of the newspaper?

And yet, Susan remains plagued by shame. Not only does she second-guess her decision to abort, she still cannot forgive herself. For what? The abortion itself? Or getting pregnant in the first place? A decent narrative that centers the abortion-seeking character would answer that question, but the writers dumbly assume Susan must feel guilty about something, even if they don’t explain what. Her point of view feels so un-feminist. She internalizes Jonathan’s disapproval. And when she tells Brandon the truth about “Nancy”, she needs to know he doesn’t see her as damaged goods. There’s this moment after Brandon asks her (very judgmentally) how she got knocked up by accident, only to check himself and say she doesn’t owe him an answer to that question. But then Susan says, “Yes, I do.” No, you really don’t! People fuck up and get pregnant by mistake literally all the time. This “mourning my dead sister made us forget the condom” bit is overkill, but the writers probably thought we needed that maudlin detail to feel any sympathy for her. Because unlike Andrea, she actually went through with the abortion. And so she must do penance.

I’d somehow missed this episode when it originally aired and knew nothing about it until it was recently highlighted on the Beverly Hills, 90210 podcast “Again with This”. In her scathing recap, host Tara Ariano commented on the fact that both Jesse and Jonathan were eager to raise their girlfriends’ babies, noting, “This seems statistically unlikely that, of this sample, it would be one hundred percent anti-choice on the dudes’ side.” I’ve discussed the “overzealous fetus father” trope before, and how I believe it’s way overrepresented in the dozens of abortion episodes I’ve reviewed for this site.* Making the male partner disagree with the abortion-seeking woman is such a hackneyed source of abortion conflict, but the trope doesn’t have to be done this poorly. Again, in a smarter story, we’d have more discussion about Susan’s claim that Jonathan became anti-abortion simply because he didn’t have any input (we might have wound up with something like Mimi-Rose and Adam’s story from Girls). Or perhaps, if Susan had to be at odds with Jonathan, she could have been more secure in her decision, as Jackie was when she discussed her past abortion with daughter Kelly back in season 2. But no. Instead, there’s this sense that Susan should want her ex and her beau’s forgiveness. She may have dodged premature motherhood and an unhappy marriage, but vague, inexplicable guilt is her trade-off for maintaining that freedom.

GRADE

D+ I’m glad Susan had her abortion. Her stupid, unnecessary guilt trip (that does not suit her character) sucks, but it’s still better than her starting a family with Jonathan. That’s about all this dopey, lazy, stigmatizing episode has going for it.

Including this episode, we’ve reviewed 51 abortion stories. In 35 of those stories, the fetus father is made aware of the pregnancy. In 20 of those 35 stories, the pregnant woman either considers or goes through with an abortion, and the fetus father disagrees with her choice.

- by Tara

[remembertae]

I know this isn't really your purview, so feel free to ignore this, but I thought it might be of interest to your followers! I've been on a major Buffy the Vampire Slayer kick in light of the 20th anniversary of the pilot's original airdate, and poked into the comics that Joss Whedon continued the story in after the show ended. Turns out that in BtVS S9, issues 5 and 6, Buffy herself faces an unplanned pregnancy and chooses to terminate. Wow! Cops out with a false positive in #7. >:( But still!

There are some really bad late '90s/early '00s abortion episodes, which got me wishing that Buffy had dealt with this topic. Glad to know it happened somewhere in the Buffy-verse!

[remembertae]

Party of Five “Before and After”

(Photo: FOX) S2 E18 Feb. 20, 1996 WRITTEN BY: Amy Lippman & Christopher Keyser SYNOPSIS Teenager Julia Salinger has just visited a physician and confirmed she's pregnant. Her boyfriend Justin meets her outside the clinic; she tells him she's scheduled an abortion for the following afternoon. He's annoyed she made a decision without his input, but she says she needs to just get it over with. Later at school, she brushes off his attempts to discuss the matter further and refuses to let him join her for the procedure. She says her older brother (and legal guardian) Charlie has already agreed to take her.

In truth, Charlie has no idea Julia's pregnant until he discovers her home pregnancy test in the trash. When he confronts her, she admits she's pregnant and having an abortion but tells him not to worry because Justin is taking her to the clinic. The next day Julia goes to the clinic alone but when the nurse calls her back, she abruptly leaves. She finds Justin waiting outside and tells him she's not sure she wants to abort. He's befuddled, which she reads as disappointment, so she storms off in anger. The next day, an emotional Julia returns to the clinic for advice and runs into her brother Bailey's girlfriend Sarah. After Bailey learns about the run-in, he asks Julia if she and Justin are planning to have sex and encourages her to be safe. He's shocked when she says she's pregnant. Later, Justin comes by the Salinger house to tell Julia he's willing to raise a baby with her. After he leaves, she talks with Charlie about carrying the pregnancy to term. She wonders if giving the baby up for adoption would be a more "moral" choice than terminating. He refuses to answer that question, but doesn't argue with her when she supposes that pregnancy would interfere with her college prep plans. When she talks about keeping the baby, he says they'll support her but he isn't sure she's ready to be a mom. She argues that he's adjusted to being a young dad (in addition to serving as legal guardian to his younger siblings, he also adopted baby brother Owen after their parents' untimely death). But Charlie reminds Julia that he was 24 at the time, and had at least "lived a little." A panicked Julia calls Justin to the house, and they have an off-camera discussion. Tween Salinger sister Claudia later finds him crying in the backyard. Claudia heads to Julia's bedroom to ask what's wrong with Justin, spots Julia's pregnancy literature from the clinic, and quickly deduces that her sister is pregnant. When Julia won't say that she's keeping the baby, Claudia freaks out. She later tells Julia she can't believe she'd consider aborting when their baby brother Owen was also an accident. Julia tells Charlie she's scheduled an abortion for the next day. He confides that he once took his college girlfriend to have an abortion, and that he felt bad about it at first but the feeling went away. However, Julia doesn't believe that she won't carry a sense of guilt forever. Justin comes by again and tries to comfort Julia but she tells him he'll never understand how this is affecting her. The next morning, Julia tries confiding in Sarah because she needs a lady to talk to. But Sarah begs off because she was adopted and doesn't feel comfortable with Julia's decision. Meanwhile, Justin comes by and insists upon taking Julia to the clinic. Bailey blocks Justin, who has a tantrum because nobody cares how he feels. Surprise - Julia has a miscarriage before she gets to the clinic. Later at home, she apologizes to Justin for having been mean to him and they make up. He thinks that having a miscarriage must have made things easier for her. But she says it doesn't because she would have made the choice to abort anyway, and no matter how things end it's still hard.  Though Justin is relieved that it's over, she still feels sad. Later, Charlie tells Julia he's sorry that he can't be their mom in this situation. She reminds him that the mistake was all hers and he needn't apologize. KEEPING IT REAL QUOTIENT The best thing about this dreary, laborious episode is that it clearly demonstrates how stigma and shame compel abortion-seeking individuals to feel shitty about themselves. Julia torments herself over this decision even though she has no desire to be pregnant or raise a child. The only reason she's considering choices other than termination is because she thinks abortion might be immoral, and that she'll carry a terrible guilt with her for the rest of her days. Sadly, she's not completely wrong. It's really hard to not feel bad about having had an abortion, especially because talking about it openly is still considered distasteful, if not downright evil. I never regretted having an abortion, nor did I ever consider it an immoral act. But until I started discussing my experience openly, I carried the guilt of having made the initial mistake. How could I have been so foolish, getting pregnant by mistake at the ripe age of 22? In fact, it's a common mistake that people of all ages and backgrounds make all the time. Telling my story, reading other stories from the "1 out of 3" women who've also had abortions, and engaging in open dialog about this topic helped me get over that bad feeling. But if you're in a position where you don't feel like you're allowed to discuss your experience, it's easy to harbor feelings of self-recrimination. And why would Julia want to talk openly about her situation when she has unsupportive friends and family like Sarah and Claudia? I'll give Claudia a break for being young, but when she tells her older sister, "If you do this, there are people who are gonna say that it's murder. And you have to tell me what to say when they say that about you," I couldn't help hollering at the screen, "You tell them to fuck off!" As for Claudia's notion that Julia shouldn't abort because it's an insult to their little brother, who was also an "oops" baby - I'm sorry, what? I know this character is just a tween, but that seems more like 8-year-old logic. Obviously, most abortions are chosen because the pregnancy was unplanned. Also, your mom choosing to abort instead of bearing a fifth child would have been a totally legit decision. Even I (the sixth of seven children, and most definitely an "oops" baby) can understand that. So neither do I have any sympathy for Sarah's "OMG what if my birth mom had aborted me?" angst. This idea that one person's situation and set of options is transferrable to another person's life creates so much dumb conversation around the subject of abortion. Suddenly, the pregnant person's choice isn't about them anymore. It's about someone else's mom or baby brother. How irritating that we're supposed to take Claudia and Sarah's judgments seriously. Justin's point-of-view throughout this episode struck me as pretty authentic. He's trying very hard to be the good guy, to support whatever decision Julia makes. But he wishes the situation were more about him. He wants Julia to ask what he wants, to let him be there for the procedure. She spends lots of time explaining to him that this is only happening to her, and that he's not going to be dealing with the residual weird feelings she's bound to experience. And of course she's right, because he's quite eager to move past it all after she has the miscarriage. I think it's hard enough for some guys to relinquish control over an unplanned pregnancy, so oftentimes their coping mechanism is to treat it as a fleeting experience that stops being a big deal as soon as the pregnancy is over. Anyway, I could see why he found Julia's behavior hurtful, but I could also see why she found him incredibly irritating. Julia's only confidant with any sense is Charlie. He actually does a great job of helping her consider all her options without judging or telling her what to think. But he's also wise enough to remind her what she'd be giving up by becoming a parent, and refuses to let her compare her situation to his own (did ya hear that, Claudia and Sarah??). Of course, the miscarriage is a total cop-out. I'm guessing the writers inserted it because they didn't know how to deal with the horrid taint on Julia's soul had she actually gone through with the abortion. But just to be sure she doesn't get off without some sort of punishment, they added that bit about her still feeling guilty because she would have terminated otherwise (shades of Dawson's Creek). We don't have to talk about abortion this way. I'm glad that contemporary shows like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and  Bojack Horseman are helping us move away from such stigmatizing depictions of unplanned pregnancy, but watching this episode reminds me that there's decades of dumb discourse that must be undone. GRADE D Julia's inner torment feels very real, but this episode is so self-unaware that the stigma and shame brought upon her appear inevitable. I give some credit for the nuanced portrayal of a well-meaning but unhelpful boyfriend, as well as the sensible older brother/guardian. Points deducted for the miscarriage of convenience. Also, this episode is just so boring. How many times do we need to see Julia tell Justin that he just doesn't understand? - by Tara

[remembertae]

East Los High  - Jessie’s Story

(Photo: Hulu) S1 E13 - 24, released 6/18/13 WRITTEN BY: Mary Feuer, Chris Franco, Zoila A. Galeano, Evangeline Ordaz, Joaquin F. Palma, Carlos Portugal, Shelley Acosta Smith, and Sasha Stroman SYNOPSIS East Los Angeles High School junior Jessie vomits before her dance group performs. Afterward, she approaches choreographer Cristian -- with whom she had a secret one-night stand -- and tells him she might be pregnant. He blames her for not using birth control and denies having any responsibility for her situation. Jessie later learns she is pregnant and visits a clinic to get some advice. The doctor presents her options - raise the baby, give it up for adoption, or terminate.

At home, Jessie's mother Lupe is livid after discovering her daughter's pregnancy test. Lupe guilt trips Jessie for getting knocked up as a teen (just as she did) and ruining her college ambitions. When Jessie says it's still early and she has "options," Lupe says, "You mean an abortion?.. You know we don't believe in that." Lupe's one consolation is that Jessie's nice boyfriend Jacob (who, like Lupe, has no idea Jessie slept with Cristian) will be a good, responsible dad, unlike Jessie's father. Meanwhile, Jacob is planning to break up with Jessie so he can be with her cousin Maya, who lives with Jessie and Lupe. Jacob is shocked when Jessie tells him she's pregnant. They had sex only one time (he assumes she'd been a virgin until that point) and he used a condom. Jessie says it must have broke. Jacob asks her to consider terminating, as he was planning to attend the University of Indiana on scholarship. Jessie is torn. Later, Jacob's disappointed father Hernan tells his son he'll have to step up and take care of the baby. Then Lupe -- who's been diagnosed with terminal cancer -- begs Jacob to marry Jessie as a favor to her. He agrees and later proposes to Jessie, though he is actually in love with Maya. Knowing how her fiancee and cousin feel about each other, Jessie begs Maya to leave her home forever. In the weeks leading up to the wedding, Jessie must reckon with the possibility that she may not finish high school, much less attend college. Jacob's heart breaks over the loss of his scholarship and Maya's sudden disappearance. With nowhere to go and no other family to take her in, troubled Maya turns to stripping, drugs, and alcohol; she eventually overdoses and winds up in rehab. Meanwhile, Lupe's doctor speaks to Jessie about her pregnancy in private and tells her she needn't go through with it. But Jessie can't imagine acting against her dying mother's wishes. Even after Lupe passes away, Jessie intends to marry Jacob, especially once she learns it's too late to have a pill abortion. Jessie and a newly sober Maya reunite for Lupe's funeral, along with Lupe's sisters Paulina (a successful fashion exec) and Reina (Maya's drug addicted mom). Reina can tell Maya and Jacob have a thing and encourages her daughter to forget about him; the two make plans to leave town the day of Jessie and Jacob's wedding. But before they leave, a heartsick Maya sneaks into the church just long enough to see Jessie walk down the aisle. Shortly after Maya bolts, Jessie stops the ceremony and tells Jacob she needs to speak to him in private. She finally admits to him that she had unprotected sex with Cristian, who is the actual fetus father. Now off the hook, Jacob immediately leaves the church to find Maya. Jessie later confesses her situation to Tia Paulina. Paulina tells her niece it isn't too late to have an abortion. Jessie says, "Good girls don't have abortions." Paulina responds, "Yes, we do," and tells Jessie all about the abortion she had as a teen, which she never regretted. A few weeks later, Jacob and Maya graduate high school. Paulina delivers the keynote address at their commencement, which is all about life being a series of choices. As she speaks, we see a montage in which Jessie visits a clinic with Maya at her side and has a surgical abortion. In an epilogue, we learn that one year later Maya and Jacob are still together and Jessie is going to college to study medicine. KEEPING IT REAL QUOTIENT I watched the whole first season of this series because I had no idea where the abortion story would begin or end. It's usually easy for me to glean that information just by scanning reviews, but this program (which features an entirely Latino cast) doesn't appear to get a lot of English-language press. I had no idea that Jessie's unplanned pregnancy would stretch over 12 episodes, or that so much drama would hinge upon whether or not she births this child. Beginning in the first half of the season, there's this other unplanned pregnancy story about Jessie's friend Ceci, a homeless teenage girl who gets pregnant by accident and faces enormous struggle after she decides to keep the baby. When Ceci speaks to the same clinic doctor whom Jessie would later visit, the physician explains California abortion laws in clear, non-judgmental detail. This was when I began to notice that East Los High isn't just a steamy teen soap. It's also full of these handy public service announcements about preventing and dealing with unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. In fact, this production is bankrolled by a nonprofit organization called Population Media Center, whose mission is "using entertainment-education for social change". Essentially, PMC commissioned a group of producers to create an engaging scripted drama in response to high rates of teen pregnancy among Latinas, While exploring the sex lives of these young characters, the writers sprinkle in useful facts relating to sexual health, such as how various forms of contraception work, the difference between medical and surgical abortion, and how to use Plan B. Oftentimes the delivery of these messages can be a bit clunky. Sometimes the action pauses abruptly so the producers can deliver an important public service announcement to the teen viewing audience. But it helps that the action surrounding these messages is very entertaining in ways you'd expect a teen soap to be, with all the sex, love triangles, and dark family secrets that keep viewers like me hooked. But unlike a teen soap in the vein of Beverly Hills 90210, which focuses on the lives of wealthy, white teens living in one of the country's poshest zip codes, East Los High is gritty and sometimes very harsh in realistic ways. My favorite thing about Ceci and Jessie's stories is that, in both cases, neither fetus father has any interest in raising a child. I find it odd that in so many TV depictions of unplanned teen pregnancy (see 21 Jump Street, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Parenthood, Friday Night Lights, and the aforementioned 90210) the boy wants the girl to keep the baby. On East Los High, the boys' responses to their sex partner's unplanned pregnancies range from, "That's not my problem," to, "Please have an abortion." Not one fetus father on this show wants to get stuck parenting a kid they didn't plan, and that sentiment certainly tracks more with my personal experience and the real life abortion stories I've witnessed. I also love that we see an unflinching portrayal of how an oops pregnancy can upend so many lives. Obviously, Jessie and Jacob are sacrificing their ambitions to do the "right" thing. And of course, their impending marriage quashes Jacob and Maya's chance for romance, which is sad because they have this intense bond forged by their working relationship (talented cook Maya has helped revive Jacob and his father Hernan's failing taqueria). When Maya leaves her family's home and dives into this other work situation that makes her miserable, her disappearance not only breaks Jacob's heart but also threatens his family's business. Some of these melodramatic developments can feel a bit contrived -- it is a soap opera, after all -- but none of it is unbelievable. In Jessie and Jacob's case, this fetus is causing lots of problems for both them and their love ones. The only person who is at all relieved at the thought of these two kids marrying is Lupe. To be honest, she really got on my nerves. As an ex-Catholic, the scene in which she confronts Jessie about her pregnancy made me angry in a very familiar way. Here we see the cycle of guilt and martyrdom at work. Lupe is enraged with Jessie for getting pregnant young, because she assumes her daughter would have learned by her example of constant suffering and sacrifice. At the same time, she won't even consider "allowing" Jessie to abort (though as physicians on the show repeatedly note, Jessie doesn't need her legal permission).  When Jessie tells her mom, "I didn't know what to do! You never told me what to do," Lupe ignores her, saying, "At least you won't have to raise this baby alone." As far as she's concerned, Jessie must resign herself to a life of working multiple, low-paying jobs as punishment for having sex. There is no joy in her daughter's situation. According to Lupe's worldview, her daughter is damned if she aborts, but she's also damned if she becomes an underage mom. Jessie's only chance at redemption is sacrificing her dreams by bearing a child she doesn't want, and setting her own kid up for future guilt trips by marrying a guy she's not that into. I find Lupe's martyrdom rather self-serving, in a demented way. But again, it's familiar to me and very real. Given all this, it makes sense that Jessie pretends Jacob is the fetus father. When she confesses the truth to him, she admits, "I wanted it to be yours so bad. I even convinced myself it was." And why wouldn't she? Especially after her mom dies, his presence as a spouse and father would be the main difference between her and Ceci, who has to live in a shelter for teen moms because she doesn't have anyone to help her. 

Fortunately, Jessie does have another ally - Tia Paulina. As a jet-setting business woman, Paulina cannot always be there for her nieces. But when she is, she comes with clear-eyed, thoughtful advice about safe sex, and encourages these girls to envision their futures beyond locking down a husband. I pumped my fist heartily when she revealed her own abortion story. The writers did really good job of explaining how this woman of faith processes her termination. When Jessie asks her aunt what the hardest part of her abortion was, Paulina says, "I just wondered if there was a spirit that was getting ready to come and be with me. And I had to tell that spirit to wait. That was hard. But at the same time I was happy too, because there was something that I could look forward to in the future." It's really important for young people who believe in God to see examples of faithful adults who are okay with abortion. This isn't something we often see on television. For that and all the other reasons mentioned above, Jessie’s story is really special.

GRADE A- Most of my issues with this story arc are aesthetic. It drags for a long time. The abruptly interspersed Very Important Messages Regarding Teen Sex can be distracting. The slut-shaming aspect of Maya's strip club misadventures -- especially the way her surly coworkers are portrayed -- is a bit insulting and kinda square. But for all its melodrama, this first season of East Los High speaks a lot of truth about abortion, teen pregnancy, and teen motherhood. None of the principal characters are demonized for the difficult choices they make (for instance, Ceci comes out the other end of her teen mom story with more dignity than she had at the beginning). This is a very compassionate and thoroughly considered tale. And I also like that I didn't predict how it would end. - by Tara

[remembertae]

I really love ur blog-- have u ever written anything about one tree hill? They touched upon abortion a few times (season 1, season 4, season 6) but always seemed to portray it pretty negatively in my opinion

Thank you, and thanks for this great tip! All I know of One Tree Hill is the classic clip of the dog at the hospital innocently nabbing a human heart, lol. I look forward(?) to exploring their takes on abortion.

[remembertae]

Google tells me CBS has three more: Cagney & Lacey, The Young & The Restless, and As The World Turns. If episodes where characters are revealed to have had abortions in the past count, Criminal Minds had one in 4.17, Demonology! The only other interesting thing I found was that NBC actually holds the distinction of having the first TV abortion episode in 1964, on Another World. Character has illegal abortion, then murders fetus father and marries defense attorney.

Thanks for doing this research! I’m especially excited to hear about Cagney & Lacey and Criminal Minds. 

Soaps are a reliable source of abortion stories (in fact, it occurred to me after I posted about the low number of CBS shows on my site that Dallas had an abortion plot). I don’t cover daytime soaps, because those are hard for me to access and I haven’t been an avid watcher in over 20 years. But I love me some prime time and streaming soaps! In fact, my next review will be about Hulu’s teen soap opera, East Los High.