Ellen Goodman: Hollywood’s Thumbs-Down on Abortion

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Hollywood’s Thumbs-Down on Abortion

Posted on Jan 2, 2008

By Ellen Goodman

BOSTON—I hate to release my inner fuddy-duddy this early in the year. So I’ll blame this rant on having spent the last afternoon of 2007 in a movie theater with a bag of popcorn and a row of tweens.

I went to see “Juno,” the indie comedy about a hip and sarcastic 16-year-old who gets pregnant after what she calls “premeditated sex.” In a rush of wit and grit, she decides not to have an abortion and picks a couple to adopt the baby. The story waddles inevitably to a happy ending and a slew of reviews praising the film for skewering the pieties of both sides of the family-values debate.

I enjoyed this the way you enjoy the bubbly on New Year’s Eve that leaves you with a hangover the next morning. I had the sense of being co-opted into tacit approval of a goofy, romantic story only slightly less plausible than the actual transformation of its author, Diablo Cody, from stripper to screenwriter.

Please allow me a fuddy-duddy disclaimer. I am aware that reel life is not real life. Zoey 101 is not, alas, Jamie Lynn Spears. And “Juno” isn’t meant to be a documentary.

But we are in the midst of an entire wave of movies about unexpectedly pregnant women—from “Knocked Up” to “Waitress” to “Bella”—all deciding to have their babies and all wrapped up in nice, neat bows.

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In “Knocked Up,” pregnancy from a one-night drunken stand transforms a slacker babydaddy into a grown-up. In “Waitress,” pregnancy empowers a woman to escape from Husband Wrong to Mr. Right. And in “Bella,” it’s the belly that leads her into the heart of a warm Latino family.

Here is a cinematic world without complication. Or contraception. By some screenwriter consensus, abortion has become the right-to-choose that’s never chosen. In “Knocked Up” it was referred to as “shmashmortion.” In “Juno” the abortion clinic looks like a punk-rock tattoo parlor.

I am supposed to go with the flow and not point a scolding finger at cultural propaganda. But fuddy-duddy be damned. Sitting behind those tweens—girls somewhere between preschool and pubescence—I wondered what was being absorbed through their PG-13 pores.

Need I remind you of the news that teenage pregnancy rates have gone up for the first time since 1991? It’s expected that 750,000 teenage girls will get pregnant this year. With, by the way, some help from boys. We’ve spent about $1 billion on the taxpayer scam known as abstinence-only education. And Jamie Lynn Spears announced her pregnancy, saying, “I was in complete and total shock and so was he.”

Whatever the cost to actual teenage mothers, it isn’t paid by their stars. The only one paying a price for Spears’ pregnancy is OK! magazine, which reportedly put up $1 million for her pronouncement. (I’m OK! You’re OK! Even if you’re 16 and pregnant.)

I don’t want to return to those wonderful yesteryears when Dan Quayle took on Murphy Brown. But we’re navigating some pretty tricky cultural waters here.

On the one hand, liberals who want teens to have access to contraception and abortion don’t want to criticize single mothers. On the other hand, conservatives who want teens to be abstinent until marriage applaud girls who don’t have abortions.

So we have Mike Huckabee saying that Spears made the “right decision” and Wendy Wright of the Concerned Women for America praising movies that show women rejecting abortion. We have liberals who feel like fuddy-duddies darkening the rosy scenario of the motherhood fantasy movies.

There’s an unstated compromise that historian Stephanie Coontz of Evergreen State College sees being acted out by the culture: “Social conservatives are backing off on the condemnation of single mothers. Social liberals are backing off on the idea that it’s possible to have an abortion and not be ruined by it.” This is best expressed by Hollywood, which wants to be all things to all audiences.

Is it still OK to ask whether this cultural “compromise” ends up compromising the future of those kids in my theater?

When Spears told the world she was pregnant, it was described repeatedly, infuriatingly, as a “teachable moment.” It appears that parents are required to create an alternative PowerPoint presentation. Against the endless loop of hip and comic stories, parents are expected to write the crawl—the stuff about relationships, about birth control, about becoming an adult before you become a parent. We’re supposed to write the real-life postscript to Hollywood’s happily ever after.

Once again, adults are being called to teach against the cultural tide. Think of it as a casting call for designated fuddy-duddies.

Ellen Goodman’s e-mail address is ellengoodman(at)globe.com.

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By Chris, January 10, 2008 at 11:22 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Frank, unfortunately, YOUR point fails to realize that the hardships that carrying a fetus to term, and thus, forcing the mother to support it’s life, is an action, that is caused by the mother (as well as the father)! It’s akin to grabbing my neighbors arm, and forcing him to punch me in the face…and then blaming him for my bruise, and wanting to terminate his life! I have a hard time buying into women stating that the fetus doesn’t have rights b/c she is sustaining its life, when she (as well as he) is the one that initiated that situation. The government forces deadbeat dads (in theory) to support their unwanted children until age 18…how is that not infringing on his civil rights, how is that any different?

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By Conservative Yankee, January 6, 2008 at 10:20 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

“Also no matter how you try to spin it you are in essence saying death is better than poverty.”

In some cases ...yes, I for myself, would pick death over some forms of poverty…. BUT few people in this country admit this type of poverty exists, much fewer have experienced it.

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By Frank, January 6, 2008 at 7:29 am Link to this comment

Mel, you state that we can’t prop up one persons civil rights by denying another person’s theres, but you miss the rather obvious point that forcing a woman to carry an unwanted fetus (technically a parasite) is doing exactly that.

When a fetus can sustain itself and support it’s own life without someone else (the mother) being forced to carry it in her womb, THEN that fetus has rights as an individual. Until then, it is not an individual and has no ‘rights’ of any kind.

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By Conservative Yankee, January 5, 2008 at 6:59 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Mel, January 4

“Thomas Jefferson once famously stated my right to swing my fist ends at the other mans nose,”

Actually, that was Ben Franklin who stated “Your right to punch ends where my nose begins.” I would suggest that your right to legislate ends where the body of another begins….that, (IMHO) would be at the first layer of skin… hence the uterus.

“Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness” may be harder to find for an unwanted child relegated to the “tender mercies” of today’s foster care system. Fully 1/3 of children placed in foster care end up up in prison at some time in their adult life. 50% are at some point “homeless” 72% have mental problems serious enough to limit their employment potential.

Funny though, I haven’t heard the “right to life” movement out in the streets advocating for a better life for foster children….

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By Mel, January 4, 2008 at 8:01 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Im pro-life in all circumstances. The only gray line I argue with myself over is in medical emergencies, such as uterine cancer or entopic pregnancies which will result in the definite death of either the child or mother or both. But Ive becoming increasingly disappointed with the prolife movements tired rhetoric.

The National Organization for Women is always yelling about reproductive rights. From the beginning, they have argued that the government should not tell you what you can and can not do with your own uterus. The National Right to Life, however, counters this by saying they are dedicate to protecting life from conception until natural death. Thats all and well and good, but lets fight fire with fire. If NOW is going to hoot and holler about rights, then lets change our tactic.

Its all about civil rights.

A couple hundred years ago, John Locke wrote about mans right to life, liberty, and property. The main idea in his writings is not that we have these rights because of what state we live in but because we are human. It doesnt matter if youre born in Manhattan or Pyongyang, North Korea. It doesnt matter if youre black, white, brown or rose-beige. We all have these rights. The great thing about being born in America is that our government recognizes that ALL people have these rights.

From the moment of conception, new DNA is created. You can tell a human embryo from a monkey by genetic analysis. That embryo is decidedly human. Because of this, that embryo has the right to life, liberty and property (later amended to the pursuit of happiness by Thomas Jefferson while writing the Declaration of Independence). The DNA exists; therefore that embryo has the right to a life unterminated by abortion.

Many ethicists argue about whether life begins at conception or first breath. This is, in reality, a moot point. It doesnt matter. If we only value things that are arguably alive, then why do we, as a society, spend thousands of dollars on funerals? Memorial services have become increasingly ornate. Military burials are wall to wall pomp and circumstance. Even the homeless are given respectful burials at government owned cemeteries. Nearly every state in the union has laws against necrophilia as a form of abuse. It is socially taboo. Respect for the dead is ingrained in our society. And yet unwanted developing fetuses are not given the same respect.

Thomas Jefferson once famously stated my right to swing my fist ends at the other mans nose, meaning that we can all exercise our freedoms so long as they do not infringe on the freedom of anyone else. Abortion, while exercising the womans right to treat her body how she wants, infringes on the fetuss rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

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By Thomas Billis, January 4, 2008 at 4:21 pm Link to this comment

Movies are for morons.I am sure the people who saw “Reefer Madness” came away with sa true picture of Marijuana.Reality is if a sixteen year old gets pregmant abortion is the first topic the parents will discuss.Then if the decision is made to have an abortion the democrat will go to the local abortion clinic and the republican will pay for a"ski trip"to Europe.The every child is a gift from God is so ludicrous that I debunk it in my title.If parents were not so afraid of the “sex talk"themselves they might end up with normal sexually adjusted children who would also realize that the movies are for morons.Who knows they might even read a book.

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By Lynai, January 4, 2008 at 3:23 pm Link to this comment
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Lets see, your upset because Hollywood, known for it’s social concious (sarcasm) actually made a few movies that contridicted your views and were thereby out of touch, shocking!

Science says life begins at conception, it is not disputed. It is also not disputed that the life inside a woman’s womb is human life.

So go ahead, make all the justifications you want: 1. too many teen pregnancy (oh gosh, we must kill more unborn)

2. Baby will grow up poor and unloved (by all means, all the poor and unloved are not worthy of live, we must take them out)

3. Pregancy is too hard on a woman’s body (by all means, anything that might be hard on your body should be aborted) by logical connection, sex should be stopped to, because it can lead to bodily hardship.

4. Its the woman’s body no one elses (uhhh, except the one she elects to have torn apart)

5. Abortion is difficult for the mother (it makes much more sense then to tear apart the unborn to make sure she feels better)

That people would get so upset about a movie that chooses life over death really says alot. I want to say, it’s just a movie, but obviously, it has struck a cord and a good cord was struck.

To the person that said unborn life isn’t really human life, it’s not human. Well, let me tell you that is the exact arguement that the Supreme court made when it upheld slavery. You have joined a great club.

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By LOLBBQ, January 4, 2008 at 1:09 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Pro-choice! Woman’s right to choose! Pro-choice! Woman’s right to choose!

*woman chooses not to abort*

OMG wrong choice!

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By Derrick, January 4, 2008 at 11:50 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Of Course I believe that abortion is the choice that should never be chosen. I strongly believe in keeping abortion legal for a variety of reasons. Should there be restrictions on abortion. Perhaps, but I’ve never felt comfortable supporting any. I consider myself pro choice. However I don’t approve of abortion I believe that it is a selfish and stupid choice and I would use every legal and ethical means to persuade a woman not to abort my child. As a man I accept that I have no say over a womans abortion choice and I accept that as fair. I do after all have the choice not to sleep with women who would abort a child. However accepting a womans right to abortion does not require me to like it. It also would not require me to forgive her for it.

Of course I believe that “parents are required to create an alternative PowerPoint presentation. Against the endless loop of hip and comic stories, parents are expected to write the crawlthe stuff about relationships, about birth control, about becoming an adult before you become a parent. Were supposed to write the real-life postscript to Hollywoods happily ever after.”
That is what parents are for, DUH.
Or would you prefer that a bunch of strangers raise your children for you.

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By Steve, January 4, 2008 at 10:50 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Conservatives have a difficult time with the idea of single motherhood, at least I know I do. It is certainly not optimal for the child. At the same time I can’t see abortion as an option to avoid single-parenthood because I see it as murder. Since a child is biologically distinct from the mother at the moment of conception (whether it is viable or not on its own), I don’t believe it is a matter of “a woman’s body” at that point. I believe mature people must be responsible for their actions. So, I certainly believe in a woman’s right to choose. I just believe that once she’s pregnant, she’s made her choice. Ms. Goodman seems to be lamenting the fact that these movies don’t show these fictional young women aborting their children the way she knows all “real women” do. Would it make her more comfortable to see a young girl make a bad choice (and underage and/or uncommitted sex is a bad choice) that results in pregnancy and then escape the consequences of that bad choice at the expense of someone else - namely the unborn child?
Admittedly, the rise in teen pregnancy is not a good thing, but blaming the rise solely on abstinence-only education is a little one-sided. There are other possibilities. Couldn’t amoral sexual how-to classes masquerading as sex education actually encourage sex among some teenagers and therefore increase teen pregnancy? Additionally, could the influx of millions of illegal aliens from a culture that accepts teenage motherhood as a norm possibly be another cause for a statistical increase? And wouldn’t a real world decrease in teenager abortions also cause an increase in teen pregnancy?
I certainly agree that teens should be taught about contraception for their own safety as well as to prevent unwanted pregnancy, but they should be encouraged to wait until they are old enough to make better decisions about such life-altering activities and old enough to take full responsibility for their actions. If they create a new life, they should be responsible enough to either take care of it or to see that it is taken care of through adoption. A teen’s parents need to take an active role in educating their child about making good life-choices and taking responsibility for their actions. This is what parents are for, not just for donating the genetic material to make another human being.

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By dissenter, January 4, 2008 at 9:33 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

yup, getting pregnant when your not married is just a puff ball of cuteness…hopefully one thing that might come of this pro-pregnant propaganda is that we will get rid of the odious term “unwed” to describe women who get pregnant when they are not married. and why is this choice/no choice issue always spotlit without asking about the many married, non-teenage women who are faced with pregnancy and many times choose, or try to choose, not to continue. why are single mothers always portrayed as slightly dumb teenagers? some single mothers are almost thirty when they have their children. i know many single mothers young and old, who have chosen to keep their children and have gone on to raise great new citizens despite the mother being in the horrible state of “unwed” (not unlike “undead”? in a society that alas, still puts such value on one’s marital status in order to have any status at all)...i think Ellen Goodman is on the right track to critique the irresponsibility of making it look like it’s just “golly gee whizz, ain’t this just so much fun to be preggies”...it does fly in the face of everything people have done to try to bring some brain cells into the process, even the people who are advocates of abstinence are one step above this “hollywood” pregnancy is simple and fun.

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By jo, January 4, 2008 at 6:31 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

I hate to tell you this, but the body was DESIGNED (or evolved - take your pick)to have babies. Very rarely are there physical complications if a woman gets her checkups.
How else would a species continue? If all women took your advice, the humans would die out - which would please the hyper-greenies no end.
Is it hard to give up a child? Yes, it is. Millions of people around the world, though, are blessing their unknown biological parents for the sacrifice they made to give them a good life.
As for child abuse, statistics show that more kids who are abused were wanted and planned for than were ‘accidents’. One of the big causes of child abuse is a broken home - mom living with guy not child’s biological father.
You are right, don’t get pregnant, but don’t compound it by killing a child. Yes a child - fetus is Latin for little one, not amorphous blob of tissue.

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By purplewolf, January 4, 2008 at 12:39 am Link to this comment

Driving Bear:

“I understand you very clearly. You feel that American Women should have the right to force their views onto another person(the child in the womb)*.” No, you don’t understand very clearly. I do believe that it is a personal decision that should involve the woman,the fetus’s father, is he is still around, the doctor(s)and their personal beliefs in whatever spiritual/religious or not views they live by. Others who are total strangers, who have no connections to this situation should not have their rights forced upon others whether as to whether they have an abortion or not. I don’t believe in it for birth control, but there are times when there is a medical reason for this. No one forces another to have an abortion except the American government when dealing with the Native American population in the past. This is true. I am certain you will choose to not believe this also.

It is the people like you who force their views onto others. If you do not believe in this, don’t do it. But what gives you the right to force others to live by your beliefs only? Are you supporting them, do you know them, and if they came up to you and asked for help, would you? Let’s say you you want to do something and I am against. Should I be allowed force you to comply to my wishes or demands? Hardly. Let’s say you want to join the army and go and fight in Iraq and kill anyone who does not believe as you do and I happen to disagree with that, should I deny you that right?

On the example given about the governor having the end authority over a woman’s reproductive system and it’s control. I am not wrong. The person whom I used as an example did exist at the time I mentioned. I did not lie and the governor was the person who held the power to decide for or against this procedure to save this woman’s life. THAT WAS THE LAW AT THAT TIME IN MY STATE. Currently this law is obsolete. By the way, she did have a medically legal therapeutic abortion and later went on to have other children. As I said in the other article, this took place in the years before Roe vs Wade was even heard of.

*And the fetus that you call a child is not considered a legal child by the government until it is born as you are not able to claim it as a tax exemption until it is born. Until then the pregnant person can only be counted as one person and not more than that. If you do not agree ask the IRS, they will set you straight.

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By purplewolf, January 4, 2008 at 12:32 am Link to this comment

Driving Bear:

“I understand you very clearly. You feel that American Women should have the right to force their views onto another person(the child in the womb).” No, you don’t understand very clearly. I do believe that it is a personal decision that should involve the woman,the fetus’s father, is he is still around, the doctor(s)and their personal beliefs in whatever spiritual/religious or not views they live by. Others who are total strangers, who have no connections to this situation should not have their rights forced upon others whether as to whether they have an abortion or not. I don’t believe in it for birth control, but there are times when there is a medical reason for this. No one forces another to have an abortion except the American government when dealing with the Native American population in the past. This is true. I am certain you will choose to not believe this also.

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By driving bear, January 3, 2008 at 11:50 pm Link to this comment

I understand you very clearly You feel that American women should have the right to force their views on to another person ( the child in the womb). As for your red herring about governors being the one’s to decide on abortion to save the mother’s life , this a total lie. the current laws were late tern abortions are banned like in Kansas the decision needs only the opinion of two doctors who are not connected Financially to agree it is needed to save the like of the mother.

Also the birth control issue is in no related to the Abortion issue. Birth control should be available to all over the age of 18. However I don’t think the government should pay for it and it should not given out in schools. If you are under 18 no birth control without written consent of the parents.

Also no matter how you try to spin it you are in essence saying death is better than poverty.

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By purplewolf, January 3, 2008 at 10:45 pm Link to this comment

DB:
I do not advocate murder as a cure for child abuse, but I will tell you that in some cases it would have been better than enduring too many years of child abuse, even for a wanted child. If you have never been there to bad, you missed a real learning experience.

Peoples sex lives should be private and why anyone feels they have the right to force others to live the way you want is totally invasive. If you do not believe in birth control and/or abortion, don’t use them. But what gives you the right to dictate how others should live. Do total strangers come into your house and tell you how to live, what to do, how to raise your kids? I don’t think so and if they did you probably would really be incensed and highly offended. You would say, what gives them the right to tell me how to live. And you would be right. No one has that right to tell others how to live their own personal life. It is up to the people to decide for themselves. Besides if you can’t trust a woman with a choice, how can you trust them with a child?

Since it looks as if you are commenting on my comment. At the time it was posted it was the second post for this story and not toward the bottom of the list. I am not telling anyone to abort an unwanted fetus, even if you think that is the message, go back and reread my comment. The only comment where abortion was mentioned was:“in the days before abortion was legal. Birth control was limited.” It does not state that abortion replaces birth control. It stated that it was limited.

Would it be better to have birth control methods available to those who do not want an unwanted pregnancy? Since some feel that even birth control pills are another way to murder a potential yet to be fertilized egg, or would you prefer that the person is denied birth control methods, gets pregnant and has a baby that is unwanted. Even in wanted babies there has been an abuse rate of 90% at one time or another in that childs life. Now common sense should tell you that if it is unwanted, that abuse rate will be higher. Your next excuse will be to say it can be put up for adoption. Not all babies are adopted, so it is not really a solution for that unwanted baby.

Once abortion is denied, a now legal medical procedure, it will be up to the government and not doctors to decide if a therapeutic abortion will be allowed to save a mothers life, as it was in the past, the governor or some other stranger would have the right to decide to allow or deny the procedure. The woman means nothing to this stranger who decides the medical fate she will end up with and if she happens to have a governor who is anti abortion, better pick out her casket now. Don’t think it can’t happen. WRONG. This very thing happened to a person I knew of in the late 1960’s and the governor was the one, not the doctors, who decided if this medical care was to be allowed, and these are not doctors who decide this. Then it’s just a short step to ban all birth control methods. And we all know how well the governments abstinence programs don’t work. We will end up with more shocked teenagers just like Jamie Spears and her boyfriend.

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By Joe, January 3, 2008 at 7:49 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Didn’t see the movies, so I don’t know whether the issue of parental notif came up. Any views on abortion aside, if a doctor performed any type of surgery on my minor child without my permission, I would beat him badly.

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By driving bear, January 3, 2008 at 5:53 pm Link to this comment

Every Child is a gift from GOD. However what man does to this Gift(child) either good or bad is up to man. Are you advocating murder as a cure for child abuse. That what is sound like to me.

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By purplewolf, January 3, 2008 at 1:57 pm Link to this comment

In the last year or so I have noticed more commercials, television shows and reading material which push toward having more babies.The reality of having a baby is never addressed. It is portrayed as once the little critter is here all your problems will go away, love will be perfect and money is never a problem, etc. Unfortunately, reality is very often much more cruel in the real world.

In 1969 at age 16 I worked for the Red Cross in a local maternity ward. We had a 13 year old mother there the first day I worked. We also had girls as young as ten pregnant in the days before abortion was legal. Birth control was limited. The human body may be able to create a baby from age 10 on up, but if anyone thinks that these girls are ready to nurture a baby properly, they are delusional. Shame on Hollywood and the tv networks for this irresponsible idea of perfect teen motherhood.

Yes, I saw Murphy Brown, as well as the other series of an unwed mother, can’t rmemeber the name of the TV show, but the woman, not a teenager, was from a rich family and had a paid male nanny for the baby and an upscale apartment and didn’t need to work to survive. Unlike the real teens who see this and think it will be the same for them. It is the baby who suffers in the long run. It is well known that the younger a girl is when she has her first child, her chances of being poor are greatly increased and often leads to an endless cycle of having more babies born into poverty. Don’t count on Prince Charming Rich Guy to come along and take care of everything either. It only happens in fairy tales.

Hollywood would do the teens a big favor if they actually did stories of what really happens to those who continue their pregnancies and what happens to them after these babies were born, then perhaps it would be a real wake-up call to all those who thinks it’s cool to get pregnant and have a baby.

And to all those who feel it’s a gift from God, or as the saying that was popular when my child was born: That God gives babies to those he thinks deserve them. Ask yourself this, why are some of those babies abused, beaten and often killed by a father, a boyfriend or the mother. Why are others born into neglect and poverty or illness. If God, whom the C.C.‘s claim knows everything before it happens, gives babies out as a reward, then why does he give them to people or situations that are not ideal in which to subject a helpless baby into.

The real truth is not every baby will go to a home where it is truly wanted, can be afforded, or be taken care of properly. That only happens in Hollywood and fairy tales.

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By terradea, January 3, 2008 at 11:47 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Being pregnant is not good for a woman’s body. Giving birth can seriously damage a woman’s body forever. This is reality. Giving a baby up for adoption can damage a woman’s mental and emotional health. Keeping a child can hamper, if not ruin, a single mother’s future economic health. Unexpected pregnancy is a terrible thing, yet Hollywood promotes it as fun and funny and just another routine situation to deal with. Wake up girls! Stop being so stupid. Don’t. Get. Pregnant. If you get pregnant, don’t have that baby. Abortion may cause some women emotional damage, but it’s not anywhere near the emotional, mental and physical damage that a pregnancy and giving birth and giving a baby away will cause. Main message: Don’t get pregnant. Use birth control. And, by the way, you better start fighting to keep your access to birth control because girls, you are losing that right very quickly.

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By May, January 3, 2008 at 11:27 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

In the state of Mississippi the majority of births were to single mothers this past year. Hardly an ideal for children. Is this an example of the “family values” constantly being touted by conservative politicians? It seems a pretty high price to pay for eliminating personal choice. Countless children born into low-income, single parent households. The parenting skills exhibited by the entire Spears family should result in horror at yet another member procreating, instead a 16 year old deciding to have a baby is heralded as “the right choice?”

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By h, January 3, 2008 at 9:46 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

i have been a bit taken aback by this trend myself. i recently watched _waitress_ and couldn’t find a reason why the protagonist immediately tells her doctor that she *will* have this baby. she makes this decision while she’s trying to get out of an abusive, loveless marriage and save money to start her own life and even though she feels no affection for the fetus even in the last trimester. at the end, we see the triumph of maternal affection but, i would argue, only because she’s attained financial security by deus ex machina. unfortunately, for most us, money doesn’t fall from the sky to solve our woes.

we need a film that presents abortion as an option that’s taken and that doesn’t end in ruination or serve as a marker of moral failure. kudos to _six feet under_ for having taken that route, the only movie/show that immediately comes to mind. yes, it was painful; yes, she was sad; yes, it was the best decision.

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By Conservative Yankee, January 3, 2008 at 8:21 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

While having a baby as a rich teenager may lead to a happy ending, having a baby as a poor (maybe unwanted yourself) teenager is NOT OK? So OK I open myself up to attack from the left… Who Am I to judge?

BUT despite my screen name, I feel an abortion (for those who need, accept, and are not co-opted…is an acceptable alternative.

Most “unwanted” babies do not wind up in a loving home. Where they do find themselves growing up is a place where most US citizens do not go, or want to…

The best indicator that a child will spend time in jail as an adult is placement in foster care.

Oh well, prison is one of our few growth indrustries…so maybe that’s a “happy ending” ....for someone?

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By i,Q, January 3, 2008 at 4:58 am Link to this comment

Although i favor a woman’s right to the option, i can’t say that Jamie Lynn should have an abortion; why would she? She is finally out of her sister’s shadow and on the cover of Ok! magazine. It’s trailer park poetic justice, super-sized, and she’s going to need that baby to keep her on the cover of the gossip rags and on the tongues of newscasters from CNN to MSNBC. And the exclusive photos of the newborn infant should more than pay for the nannies and lawyers her debacle will require.

It is difficult to take the position that each and every human life is not a precious gift endowed by God to be special and magical and somehow better than every other amalgamation of living matter. i mean, really, God made all of this planet for us to be masters over, so that we might nurture every human spirit with the love and compassion He showed in creating us… or we could wage warfare on one another, increase profits of the few while increasing the poverty of the many, fail to educate our children on the joys and responsibilities of intercourse, then overpopulate the planet while we exponentially increase consumption of the natural resources we rely on and seem to take for granted.

i’m not sure that tweens would want to go to see that movie, but the religious conditioning so many of us receive before we are cognitively prepared to think critically is just as fantastic (more so) as any Hollywood fare, and far more dangerous than a few movies coaxing the dollars out of the family values wallet. At the top of my list of dangers is the inflated sense of entitlement Christianity seems to impart. Never mind the 35 million cows slaughtered for the hamburger most eat without a second thought, there’s a single mother who isn’t ready to bring a child into this hypocrisy we call society who needs to have the fear of hell put into her.

i suppose that i wouldn’t be able to write this if i had been aborted, but then, i also wouldn’t have an opinion one way or the other on the subject. And the stubborn, willful disbelievers in reality should be comforted that all those fetal souls go directly into Uncle Jesus’ and Grandaddy God’s loving embrace, bypassing the suffering of this life, never witnessing and being ashamed by the self-righteous who take it upon themselves to judge who of humanity is worthy of heaven and to condemn the rest of us to a lake of eternal fire. By the logic of those who wait until after death to actually live, the aborted fetus’s reward is now.

i take a more pragmatic view of life, and i see humanity as an element in a global system, and if we want to avoid a catastrophe which could potentially end humanity altogether, we should take thoughtful steps to manage our population. There are much less invasive ways to avoid unwanted pregnancies, and if we were more practical with our children, giving them information and support rather than avoiding the subject (or leaving it to Hollywood movies) and hoping for the best, abortion could be drastically minimized as well as other concerns like disease or poor technique.

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By weather, January 3, 2008 at 3:45 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Hollywood is where phony and fraudulent get to date arrogant, cheap, greedy and shallow. May their union be consumated and blown dry into the desert of Ugly America called Las Vegas.

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