Longtime ABC medical soap opera “Grey’s Anatomy” made headlines for featuring abortion in one of their recent plot lines.
In last week’s episode, a patient named Sierra came to the hospital because she was pregnant and spotting; when told the baby was healthy and she wasn’t having a miscarriage, Sierra was upset. She said she felt “dark… exhausted and defeated,” and had previously experienced postpartum depression with her previous pregnancies. “I love my kids. I want to stay alive for them,” she told Jo Wilson, one of the doctors on the show. “I can’t do this again.”
So Wilson, along with intern Jules Millin, walk Sierra step-by-step through the abortion with her husband on the phone throughout. Afterwards, Wilson told Millin what a great job she did, saying she “saved that woman’s life,” and that “Sierra is better off for it.”
Some responding to the episode commented on social media that “this is why abortion is healthcare.” But despite framing an abortion as life-saving, there are actual, medically-approved treatments for depression, both during and after pregnancy. And killing a child isn’t one of them. Induced abortion — the direct, intentional killing of an undelivered human being — is not medically necessary, and a woman is not “better off” because her doctors committed an abortion instead of providing her with actual health care. A woman feeling suicidal ideation doesn’t need abortion; she needs psychological care, especially given the psychological risks of abortion.
Of course, “Grey’s Anatomy” — as well as its showrunner, Shonda Rimes — has long been pro-abortion. After the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization draft ruling leaked, the cast responded with a PSA telling women to get on birth control and have abortions now, while they still could. Women were told to stock up on pregnancy tests and check to see if they were pregnant every month.
“You’ll need to know as soon as possible if you’re pregnant,” the PSA said. “Every four to five weeks may seem like a lot, but time is of the essence with the law. If you find out you are pregnant and do not want to be, you have very little time. Do not shut down. This will be hard, but you can’t delay. Speak to someone you trust. There are ways to seek care privately, even if you need to leave your state to do it.”
Another of Rimes’ shows, “Scandal,” featured the character Olivia Pope having an abortion, drinking a glass of wine, with “Silent Night” playing in the background. Numerous other shows have begun featuring abortion positively as well — undoubtedly a response to the abortion industry’s push to get the entertainment industry to do its bidding in attempting to “normalize” abortion to mainstream audiences.
