Checkmate, Pro-Choicers

[LilMissMetaphor]

Joan Holloway decided to have her baby. She'd already had several abortions.

Slightly tipsy posting, sorry in advance. I thought this said Josh Holloway decided to have her baby. I want to have Josh Holloway's baby.

[sassycupcake]

Up the Down Staircase had a plot line about the aftermath of a student's illegal abortion. The student was noted on the daily attendance sheet to have died of an AB which she had induced with a knitting needle, I think. This was in the book; don't know if it made it to the screen.

Love With The Proper Stranger had Natalie Wood seeking an illegal abortion. She didn't go through with the termination, though, when she saw how dangerous and dirty the procedure was. Mad Men has also had a plot line about illegal abortion although it would have occurred in a doctor's office. Joan Holloway decided to have her baby. She'd already had several abortions.

There were some films in the pre-Code era that dealt fairly frankly with abortion, but their names escape me at the moment. Abortion was one of the things banned by the code.

edited for riffle

Have we mentioned Dirty Dancing? Because it's basically a PSA for why abortion should be safe, legal, and performed by licensed physicians.

[CanadianHippie]

Slightly tipsy posting, sorry in advance. I thought this said Josh Holloway decided to have her baby. I want to have Josh Holloway's baby.

If Josh Holloway had a baby after several abortions, I don't think he'd need your help.

[alba]

Umm...actually it is. Sometimes it might be from non-consensual sex, but it's either one or the other. For the most part, pregnancy results from consensual sex. Having sex doesn't mean you'll get pregnant, but it you get pregnant, sex had to be involved.

Pregnancy is not ALWAYS a result of consensual sex; therefore it "isn't necessarily the product of consensual sex". I'm not sure what about that wasn't clear to you.

ETA: Battlestar Galactica also deals with abortion stuff in one season, both in terms of attempting to force abortion and prohibiting it. Unfortunately, it's a major character who's doing all the anti-choice stuff (even though she's philosophically pro-choice) and I kind of lost all respect for her by the end of that season, especially as the series never dealt with the consequences of banning abortion. All the same, the series treats pro-choice as the default and the anti-choice as desperate measures of a dwindling civilisation in a futile war, so, contrary to Rebecca's belief, it treats it as normal.

[Maul the Koala]

I thought of another novel, Revolutionary Road. The main female character dies from a botched abortion attempt. This was set in 1955. Excellent book. I've never seen the movie.

[PokaDot]

Well no shit. I thought non-consensual sex=rape was obvious. Guess I was wrong to assume people here know that. And since most people who have IVF want to be pregnant, it's highly unlikely they'll abort. Outside of that, sex is required for a pregnancy to occur and it was either consensual or it wasn't. If it wasn't, it's rape. However, most women who get pregnant got that way through consensual sex. Consent equals a mutual agreement between parties amongst themselves to be specific.

It's possible to get pregnant without having sex and without having IVF. It's called premature ejaculation.

[holothuroidea]

It's possible to get pregnant without having sex and without having IVF. It's called premature ejaculation.

???

It's possible to become pregnant anytime semen comes in contact with the vaginal area and vulva, which is possible without penetration. (The most common ways are from anal sex and mutual masturbation).

Premature ejaculation is an issue apart, though. That is when ejaculation happens before a person would like. Did you mean to say that you can get pregnant if your partner doesn't ejaculate because of pre-ejaculate fluid?

Pre-ejaculate fluid does not contain semen unless there was semen present in the urethra beforehand. Generally, if a man has urinated since the last time he ejaculated there will be no semen in the pre-ejaculate fluid.

[PennySycamore]

I thought of another novel, Revolutionary Road. The main female character dies from a botched abortion attempt. This was set in 1955. Excellent book. I've never seen the movie.

I haven't seen the film either although I wanted to. I did know about the abortion in Dirty Dancing. I think there was also an abortion plot line in the TV show Marcus Welby, MD. A couple who'd lost a baby to Tay-Sachs were confronted by what to do in a subsequent pregnancy. There have also been many Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episodes that have dealt with abortion.

[ilovetchotchkes]

I haven't seen the film either although I wanted to. I did know about the abortion in Dirty Dancing. I think there was also an abortion plot line in the TV show Marcus Welby, MD. A couple who'd lost a baby to Tay-Sachs were confronted by what to do in a subsequent pregnancy. There have also been many Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episodes that have dealt with abortion.

I can think of at least 4 off the top of my head...

[shesinsane]

Have we mentioned Dirty Dancing? Because it's basically a PSA for why abortion should be safe, legal, and performed by licensed physicians.

Bad example, as that selfish dancer could've given up her sole means of employment for a few months and given that healthy white baby to a Christian couple to raise. ;)

In the forced-birth world, all but a few abortions are done for "convinence", like a dancer not wanting to lose her source of income. Penny wasn't being physically harmed by her pregancy, the fetus didn't have some horrible diagnosis, etc, it was all about her not wanting to drastically alter the course of her life for an unintended pregnancy.

While it's true the story is a great example of the methods/dangers of illegal abortion, those who oppose abortion would see a perfect example of why it should be outlawed. Sure the baby would've been born to a single, unemployed (and likely broke) mother, but that's what adoption is for. Don't pay any attention to what devestation this pregnancy would've done to the life and career of the up-and-coming dancer, forced birthers do not care the owner of the uterus, only about the fetus contained within.

I'll wager a lot of them would argue that Dr. Houseman should've left Penny alone to die, like the baby she had killed. :roll:

[StarrieEyedKat]

Degrassi has had a couple of abortion storylines involving teens.

[PennySycamore]

Viewer alert:

The film The Group is on TCM as I write. Haven't seen it in years, but there's a subplot that deals with abortion. Those FJites on the Left Coast may be able to catch it. The Grouo deals with a group of women who went to a woman's college together in the 30s.

[kb2]

Viewer alert:

The film The Group is on TCM as I write. Haven't seen it in years, but there's a subplot that deals with abortion. Those FJites on the Left Coast may be able to catch it. The Grouo deals with a group of women who went to a woman's college together in the 30s.

Also, Netflix!

[fakepigtails73]

Viewer alert:

The film The Group is on TCM as I write. Haven't seen it in years, but there's a subplot that deals with abortion. Those FJites on the Left Coast may be able to catch it. The Grouo deals with a group of women who went to a woman's college together in the 30s.

Sorry for bringing up this topic, but the movies mentionned here made me think of 2 other ones with abortion as its main theme:

"If These Walls Could Talk"...HBO movie with a great ensemble cast: Demi Moore, Catherine Keener, Sissy Spacek, Anne Heche, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Cher...

3 stories re: abortion through the 50s, 70s and 90s. If you're still against legal abortions being the law of the land after watching this...Trust me, that movie is hard to watch at times.

The 1st story with Demi Moore is gut-wrenching while the 3rd one with Cher is horrifying.

If you like foreign subtitled films there's the French 1980 movie "Une Histoire de Femmes" ("A Women Story"), based on a true story that happened in German-Occupied France in 1943. The synopsis is about a woman, Marie-Louise,who makes some money in those hard times by performing abortions in her house, in the town of Cherbourg. Her husband being a drunk loser, she gets a young lover in his 20s and doesn't hide it. The town people start to gossip about the many new things that Marie-Louise buys, about her friends being hookers that bring their clients in her house and about some rumours that she'll get rid of an inconvenient pregnancy. The penalty for doing abortions at the time were very, very severe. In the end she gets arrested and ends up on the guillotine.

It's a film by Claude Chabrol with Isabelle Huppert in the main role. Great film, if you have a movie-rental place that has a good selection of foreign films you'll find it there, as it came out on DVD recently. Otherwise, well, there's the internet...

[Roli]

Sorry for bringing up this topic, but the movies mentionned here made me think of 2 other ones with abortion as its main theme:

"If These Walls Could Talk"...HBO movie with a great ensemble cast: Demi Moore, Catherine Keener, Sissy Spacek, Anne Heche, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Cher...

3 stories re: abortion through the 50s, 70s and 90s. If you're still against legal abortions being the law of the land after watching this...Trust me, that movie is hard to watch at times.

The 1st story with Demi Moore is gut-wrenching while the 3rd one with Cher is horrifying.

If you like foreign subtitled films there's the French 1980 movie "Une Histoire de Femmes" ("A Women Story"), based on a true story that happened in German-Occupied France in 1943. The synopsis is about a woman, Marie-Louise,who makes some money in those hard times by performing abortions in her house, in the town of Cherbourg. Her husband being a drunk loser, she gets a young lover in his 20s and doesn't hide it. The town people start to gossip about the many new things that Marie-Louise buys, about her friends being hookers that bring their clients in her house and about some rumours that she'll get rid of an inconvenient pregnancy. The penalty for doing abortions at the time were very, very severe. In the end she gets arrested and ends up on the guillotine.

It's a film by Claude Chabrol with Isabelle Huppert in the main role. Great film, if you have a movie-rental place that has a good selection of foreign films you'll find it there, as it came out on DVD recently. Otherwise, well, there's the internet...

Another foreign language, subtitled film that deals with the subject of illegal abortions is "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days", a Romainian film that won the Palme d'Or and an award at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Set in Communist Romania. Very good and rather gritty.

[PokaDot]

???

It's possible to become pregnant anytime semen comes in contact with the vaginal area and vulva, which is possible without penetration. (The most common ways are from anal sex and mutual masturbation).

Premature ejaculation is an issue apart, though. That is when ejaculation happens before a person would like. Did you mean to say that you can get pregnant if your partner doesn't ejaculate because of pre-ejaculate fluid?

Pre-ejaculate fluid does not contain semen unless there was semen present in the urethra beforehand. Generally, if a man has urinated since the last time he ejaculated there will be no semen in the pre-ejaculate fluid.

I probably didn't express myself properly. I was thinking more along the lines of what happened to JD on scrubs. Meaning, that it can happen, and one doesn't need to have penetration, sex, IVF or whatever to get pregnant.

[Roli]

"Chastity is 100% effective at preventing pregnancy and is 100% moral. That’s all people need to know."

I don't think that worked for Mary...

I replied with "Remaining "chaste" is not a defence against sexual attack. Women are still at risk of being raped (and therefore becoming pregnant) whilst acting with perfect chastity." but I suspect I will be ignored. :roll:

[FireIsCatching89]

Another foreign language, subtitled film that deals with the subject of illegal abortions is "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days", a Romainian film that won the Palme d'Or and an award at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Set in Communist Romania. Very good and rather gritty.

Skins, season two.

[jaynie]

Skins, season two.

I was going to mention that. I especially liked that Jal made the best decision for herself and wasn't wrapped up in angst about it forevermore, and none of the other characters acted like it was a bad thing. I know some angst followed because of the Major Sad Plot Point, but it was nothing blamey or overly regretful.

...*puts Skins on the re-watch list*

[lilah]

Degrassi and Everwood had episodes about teens getting abortions.

[Bellatrix]

I was going to mention that. I especially liked that Jal made the best decision for herself and wasn't wrapped up in angst about it forevermore, and none of the other characters acted like it was a bad thing. I know some angst followed because of the Major Sad Plot Point, but it was nothing blamey or overly regretful.

...*puts Skins on the re-watch list*

And let's not forget that Chris suffered from genetically acquired subarachnoid hemorrhage. His brother had died at young age from it, so did he... Of course this is not an absolute reason not to have children but Jal's termination did bring a sense of relief to the sadness of the final and tragic outcome regarding Chris.

[luckystone]

There was abortion in a couple of episodes of "Six Feet Under" but it was portrayed in a weird way. The girl went ahead with the decision and all seemed fine but then she had some kind of hallucination/real spiritual experience where she saw a dead woman she knew take her baby and say she'd take care of him in heaven.

[OddlyAmused]

Friday Night Lights had a storyline about a girl having an abortion. She and the people closest to her were okay with it, but the boy's mother found out and caused one of the main characters who gave her the information about clinics to undergo a school board review and to be pressured to leave her job.