The topic of abortions has always been a controversial one. People tend to stray away from the discussion in fear of an argument breaking out. I, however, believe it is something that needs to be addressed. That is why I liked watching the videos of John Oliver discuss abortions and the backlash surrounding them and why women should be able to make the choice about their bodies. When he started talking about how people are allowed to stand outside of abortion clinics, women health centers, and Planned Parenthood’s and basically harass those going in and try to guilt them into not getting an abortion, it reminded of a scene in 13 Reasons Why in the most recent season. In the episode, the character named Chloe had gotten pregnant by her ex-boyfriend when he raped her. She made the decision to have an abortion and the episode focused on her decision to have one and the steps she took in order to get one. At one point, she goes to a place that she thinks does the procedure, but actually tries to convince her to not have one. Later on, she goes to an actual place to get one and goes with her friend, Zach. As they are walking in, there is a group of Pro-Lifers telling her to not do it. A women in a yellow safety vest approaches them and appears to be an escort working for the clinic. However, as they approach the door, she start telling her to not do it and places a fake fetus in her hands. Zach then pulls her away and they go inside. It then cuts to Chloe laying down and you watch her as the procedure is done.

The reason I bring this up is because I have never seen a show do anything like this before. I wasn’t mad about it by any means. I was glad they showed this. They obviously didn’t show the actual procedure, but you could hear everything and you watched how this impacted the character. I think this is important to show what kind of backlash people receive for this as well as this isn’t an easy decision for anyone to make. In the episode, Chloe went back and forth between wanting an abortion and just keeping the baby. People tend to think that this an easy decision for some to make, but it really isn’t. And some people may say, if you double think it or feel bad about it, then maybe you shouldn’t do it. My rebuttal to that is we do a lot of things in our lives that are hard. We also think about most decisions we make before we actually make them. Also, abortions can happen for a multitude of reasons and ultimately I believe women should have that option.

What I really wanted to address is that I think it is good that shows are beginning to show stuff like this. Television is a big part of so many lives and a lot of people are influenced by shows. This is why I like when television shows are able to show both sides of controversial topic as well as be able to show those who are impacted by certain things.

I am attaching a few links. One is a link to an article with an interview with the actress who plays Chloe in 13 Reasons Why and how she felt the scene was an important one to show and how it’s important to show this kind of thing on TV (https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/krystieyandoli/13-reasons-why-abortion). Another link is one talking about other shows that have had characters have abortions in their episodes (https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/how-television-depicts-abortion). The last link is to the clip from 13 Reasons Why (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JvOCNnQmQ0).

I would also like to mention that I am not trying to sway anyone’s views on abortion. While I am personally Pro-Choice, I am not gonna hate anyone for what they view and I will hear you out if you are Pro-Life. I respect the views of others even if I don’t agree with them:).