The Abortion Episode.

[Miffer]

That's how it's known isn't it? The episode of the show that deals with abortion. I watched the best example of this I have seen last night and tt made me think of other episodes. The terrible Sex and the City episode, the 'groundbreaking' Grey's Anatomy example, the tired trope of booking the abortion only for the 'heartwarming' reveal that she changed her mind.

The one I watched last night was Bojack Horseman. There was so much awesome in the episode I don't know where to start. Luckily somebody did it for me remembertae.tumblr.com/post/150006664725/bojack-horseman-brrap-brrap-pew-pew

I think my favourite thing about this was the fact that the story wasn't about the characters abortion. Indeed there was no story there. She wanted one, her husband supported her, she had it, she didn't regret it. There was no big exploration of why she wanted one, no weighing up the pros and cons, no doubt, no sad husband bemoaning the death of his 'baby;. It was simply her choice and this was how it was presented to us.

So what says you feminist MNers? What are your favourite examples of this? Or do you think there are none? Is the concept of "The Abortion Episode" problematic?

tend

"that said, she pretty much is the Awful Warning character - based on a woman Marc Cherry knew of who had killed her children, I think he said..." Ha ha! what does it say about me that she was the character in Desperate Housewives that I most identified with? I particularly loved the episode where after cherry picking the good bits of parenting for far too long, her husband finally gets cornered into doing some actual childcare - so she deliberately gets the hyperactive twins hyped up on sugar before she goes out.

I still remember (old gimmer here) the episode of Cagney and Lacey that tackled abortion - with the twist that I think everyone in the audience expected Cagney (single woman with lots of sexual partners) to be the socially liberal one - but in fact it turned out Lacey was the one who'd had an abortion, and Cagney, being Catholic, was opposed to them. Can you imagine a TV series these days where one of the lead characters would be allowed to have had an abortion without it being portrayed as "major character flaw"/"angsty back story which explains all her current psychological problems", but simply as "I wasn't in a place where I could have a child, so I had an abortion"?

I have had an abortion. It was forced in that my family threatened to disown me and my mum (previous mh issues) threatened suicide. I don't feel guilty as I was 19 and quite frankly an idiot. However it did leave me with a medical condition that meant carrying further children very,very difficult. I think this is an issue that is often ignored,you may recover emotionally or indeed not feel emotional at all but there can be lasting physical repurcussions for some women. Personally I would never want any woman to feel guilty about an abortion but neither do I think we should be blasé about it.

The UK series Skins had a character who had an abortion, and it was in a story arc where I really expected them to go down the "kept the baby and now it's lovely" storyline. Instead they were very realistic about it and it was overhyped or emotional either. I think it was well done in a show aimed at teens.

People might enjoy the Episode called 'Holly's Choice' from the US series China Beach. As I recall, it was shot backwards, after the central character had chosen a termination, and put the 'pro-life' and 'pro-choice' camps' positions eloquently and, at the same time, with almost full-frontal honesty. I don't recall any moralising on the behalf of the scriptwriters. It wasn't a pretty episode, though, and I recall being quite unsettled by it because my favourite character was 'pro-life' and because the decision had a range of consequences for friendships and trust. It was not portrayed as an easy decision, and there was no ending that saw things being worked out happily for all. Mind you, I haven't seen it for a long, long time.

They never show the hideous throngs of religious protestors who congregate outside abortion clinics in the US in TV / film...

I think abortion is still pretty taboo in both the US and the UK. It's not something generally discussed, and is seen as something to be hushed up. Given this, it's not surprising that it is used as a plot device in a more or less sensational way, surely?

I think the social messages we get about abortion in the UK are that it's OK if you really have to, but you have to feel bad about it and you have to angst long and hard over it. I think that the reason some women suffer guilt etc afterwards is because of this social pressure for it to be a big deal.

No you are not always going to regret what lead to it.

I had an abortion and I felt nothing but glad that I had the option. I didn't have any sorrow about the circs that lead up to it (much wanted pregnancy so all my choice) but I was hugely glad that I could have an abortion (medical reasons). Equally I could have had rather joyful unprotected sex and got unlucky. I wouldn't feel that I should "regret what lead to it". I would like the right to think - "oh bugger, but thank goodness I'm in charge of what happens next".

I totally agree with your point OP. Abortion can be a good thing. Not the best of a bad job but a good thing. But we are not allowed to say that.

Of course many women struggle with the decision and afterwards but many don't. We only ever see the struggle portrayed - not the other story.

I loved the Bojack 'abortion episode'. Don't have much to add but found it refreshing.

"but simply as "I wasn't in a place where I could have a child, so I had an abortion"?"

IIRC, this was how Carrie viewed her abortion in the SATC episode.