Abortion is a safe, everyday occurrence. Finally, Hollywood is beginning to reflect that.
Abortion is safe and common — but for too long, TV and movies didn’t reflect that. When abortion was shown, it was often a dramatic decision, done in a back alley and usually harming a woman’s health. According to Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), abortions depicted on TV are 20 times more dangerous than they are in real life.
Take “Dirty Dancing” (1987). Although it’s a groundbreaking movie for its time, Penny’s abortion is a spectacle of pain, with the abortion provider described as a ‘guy with a dirty knife and folding table’. Because the story takes place before Roe v. Wade made abortion legal, Penny’s forced to unsafe options — though the movie does treat her decision with compassion. More recently, many movies and TV shows portray abortion as an agonizing decision that the character ultimately doesn’t go through with, like in “Juno” (2007) and “Sex and the City” (2001).
Luckily, this has begun to change. Abortion is not only becoming more common on TV, but it’s increasingly portrayed as an everyday life decision experienced by people of all sexualities and ethnic backgrounds. One of ANSIRH’s researchers, Gretchen Sisson, told the New York Times that in 2019, “You’re definitely seeing more of the matter-of-fact ‘I am pregnant, I don’t want to be, I’m going to have an abortion.”
TV producer Shonda Rhimes has been a pioneer in depicting abortion on screen. Christina, played by Sandra Oh, one of the main characters on Rhimes’ show, “Grey’s Anatomy,” never wanted kids. When she gets pregnant in the show’s eighth season (2012), she decides to have an abortion, despite pressure from her husband not to. Christina never apologizes for her decision. She is financially secure, a doctor, and married — and she has the right to have an abortion, like every person should. Kerry Washington’s character Olivia Pope in Rhimes’ other show, “Scandal” (2015), also goes about getting an abortion in a matter-of-fact way, with barely 2 minutes of screen time dedicated to the procedure. Rhimes’ shows have opened up the way for other abortions to be depicted on screen.
“Shrill” (2019), Lindy West’s autobiographical show, put abortion front-and-center in the first episode. West’s abortion marks a turning point in her life — it’s the first decision she makes on the show where she sets boundaries for herself. Abortion is also the right decision for “Jane the Virgin’s” (2018) Xiomara, the mother of the show’s titular character. She is a 40-year-old woman who does not want any more kids. When she becomes pregnant, she, like West, chooses to have an abortion. Although her very Catholic Venezuelan mother initially disapproves, she ultimately accepts the decision. “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (2016) offers another sympathetic depiction when Paula, who already has two kids and is pursuing a law degree, chooses to get an abortion.
TV shows are also starting to reflect the diversity of people who have abortions. “Made in Heaven” (2019) is the first depiction of a South Asian woman discussing a past abortion on TV. “The Bold Type” (2019) marks the first time two young queer women talked about a past abortion on TV. Anyone who has had a uterus can have an abortion, but Hollywood is only starting to show this. Even in 2019, 65% of women onscreen who have had an abortion are white.
“Portrait of a Woman on Fire” (2020), a recent film by French filmmaker Céline Sciamm about a romance between two women, understands that abortions are too rarely shown in art. Inspired by writer Annie Ernaux’s complaint that abortion isn’t depicted in art museums, despite it being such an everyday event, the couple at the center of the film paint a woman having an abortion.
Like the painting done in Portrait of a Women on Fire, the TV shows and movies on our list add a portrait of abortion to a still too-empty gallery. Abortion is a part of everyday life. It is an extremely safe procedure, and a choice many women make without drama or agony. The increase in matter-of-fact, safe abortions shown on-screen means that art is finally beginning to imitate life.
