Third and (probably) final note on Brothers & Sisters and the "A" word

So last night's Brothers & Sisters, continued the previous episode's code of "what do you want to do?" "I'll support your decision" (again, not exact quotes) and think they used the phrase "do you want to keep it?" without use of the actual word "abortion."

And, of course, Rebecca wants to keep the child so Justin, starting off their lives right by lying, said he did too. I wish the writers had had some guts on this issue. It would have been a far more interesting and thought provoking plot line if they'd reversed the roles and had her not want the baby and vice versa. Oh well.

Brothers & Sister Follow Up, will they use the word "Abortion"?

So, as I wrote about the other day, TV has been squeemish about mentioning that women have the right of choice when it comes to pregnancy in this country.

I posited that it would interesting to see whether or not Rebecca on Brothers & Sisters would at least consider or discuss getting an abortion. Well, this week we saw a little progress. She had a scene with her father (who she barely knows) and confided in him about her delicate condition. To which there were lines like "what are you going to do?" and "I'll support you no matter what" (not exact quotes).

I hope they have more courage than that in the coming episodes.

Is Abortion Still Legal on Network TV?

A friend of mine recently pointed out that despite the fact that Maude had an abortion on a sitcom in 1972, as did Erica Kane on All My Children a year later, abortion seems to be a more of a taboo topic today than it was more than three decades ago (whereas the best we could get for gay characters in the’70s was Billy Crystal as Jody on Soap).

I have to admit I was disappointed that Desperate Housewives stayed away from the topic, considering all the other things they've delved into over the years. When Lynnette got pregnant with her fourth and fifth children this season, it wasn't even discussed as a possibility that she wouldn't have them (the characters, unlike the Solis family aren't even Catholic). I'm informed that another show I watch only occasionally did the same thing. On Law & Order: SVU Stabler and his wife, two characters heading towards divorce, with several older/grown children never even considered abortion when she got pregnant a while back.