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I've been meaning to do a thread on the recently aired @nbcsvu abortion episode. It was full of misinformation and racist stereotypes. Law & Order has unfortunately been a vehicle for abortion stigma and misinfo, but this episode was a lot. @SVUWritersRoom https://twitter.com/SVUWritersRoom/status/1347170712759521280?s=20
The @lawandordertv franchise has a long history with abortion stigma. They've done dozens of episodes involving abortion, including the murders of abortion providers and using abortion as a means to cover up a crime. And lately there's been more misinformation about abortion.
In 2017, @gesisson and I wrote about the various tropes in @lawandordertv episodes, including:
— murdering providers as justifiable homicide
— detectives unable to do their job bc of anti-abortion views
— people who have abortions as victims & villains https://medium.com/the-establishment/law-order-has-a-long-and-ugly-history-of-stigmatizing-abortion-5531eaad9c6e
— murdering providers as justifiable homicide
— detectives unable to do their job bc of anti-abortion views
— people who have abortions as victims & villains https://medium.com/the-establishment/law-order-has-a-long-and-ugly-history-of-stigmatizing-abortion-5531eaad9c6e
We've also seen characters like @Mariska's Olivia Benson shift from unapologetic defender of pro-choice values to vessel for anti-abortion myths and talking points like abortion regret and labeling people who have abortions as dangerous villains.
Facts: https://www.ansirh.org/news/99-women-say-they-feel-relief-not-regret-5-years-after-having-abortion
Facts: https://www.ansirh.org/news/99-women-say-they-feel-relief-not-regret-5-years-after-having-abortion
In the episode that aired on January 7th, 'Sightless in a Savage Land,' a 13yo biracial girl is reported missing by her South Asian foster family. The detectives begin looking for her and checking in with her Brown mom who is a sex worker and white disabled veteran dad.
The young woman, Nydia, turns up at an emergency room because she was outside hemorrhaging blood. Here's where the misinformation starts and doesn't really stop.
Detectives Benson and Rollins meet with the ER clinician and discuss Nydia's situation:
Detectives Benson and Rollins meet with the ER clinician and discuss Nydia's situation:
Clinician: She was hemorrhaging. Her tox screen shows misoprostol and mifepristone.
Benson: The abortion pill.
Clinician: We had to do a D&C. She was at least eight weeks along.
The thing is, there's no tox screen to tell if you've taken medication abortion pills.
Benson: The abortion pill.
Clinician: We had to do a D&C. She was at least eight weeks along.
The thing is, there's no tox screen to tell if you've taken medication abortion pills.
You might think "that's just a little thing," but the reality is that if people self-manage their abortions—which is criminalized—and go to the ER for care, they should know that they don't have to self-incriminate. They can say they had a miscarriage. https://twitter.com/AbortionStories/status/1321231885884923910?s=20
Because @nbcsvu @SVUWritersRoom included that simple line, people seeing this episode who self-manage their abortions may think the ER is not a safe place to go for care in the event they have a complication.
7% will self-manage ( https://www.ansirh.org/research/research/seven-percent-us-women-will-self-manage-abortion-their-lifetimes) https://twitter.com/AbortionStories/status/1320035777213059072?s=20
7% will self-manage ( https://www.ansirh.org/research/research/seven-percent-us-women-will-self-manage-abortion-their-lifetimes) https://twitter.com/AbortionStories/status/1320035777213059072?s=20
. @SVUWritersRoom wrote that Nydia was hemorrhaging, which is also inaccurate. There is bleeding from medication abortions as the pregnancy passes, but the risk of blood transfusion is 1 in 1000, so it's unlikely that she would hemorrhaging. It only makes abortion seem dangerous.
Other shows like Chicago Med have show patients hemorrhaging after a medication abortion but it's not an accurate narrative. As @gesisson always says, if you need an abortion, don't get it on TV because it's astronomically more dangerous than in real life. https://slate.com/human-interest/2017/04/abortion-is-20-times-more-dangerous-on-tv-than-it-is-in-real-life.html
One of the storytellers I've worked with did have to go to the emergency room after self-managing her abortion and it was because she had low iron deficiency, not because abortion pills are dangerous. Other narratives are possible. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a33393312/abortion-covid-19-pandemic/
These simple bits of misinformation work to stall progress to make medication abortion more accessible by telling the public it's dangerous when it's not. Millions of people in the US and all around the world have abortions via pills on their own and with a provider each year.
Back to the @nbcsvu story! Then Benson and Rollins question Nydia about her pregnancy and if she took the pills intentionallly. Nydia says she did not and that she wanted to continue her pregnancy. They're insinuating that abortion is a means to cover up a crime, not healthcare.
This also sets up for the common @lawandordertv narrative of justifiable homicide—that it's okay for a vigilante to murder someone (often a provider) in defense of the person having the abortion who is a victim. https://medium.com/the-establishment/law-order-has-a-long-and-ugly-history-of-stigmatizing-abortion-5531eaad9c6e
They also found a few seconds to throw some anti-sex work stigma by asking Nydia if the man interviewed earlier is her boyfriend. "No, Chili’s a pimp," Nydia says. "You think I’m like my mom? That’s disgusting."
Again this serves to preserve her innocence and make her a victim.
Again this serves to preserve her innocence and make her a victim.
Later, once the detectives realize that Nydia's foster father Ajay has committed statuatory rape, they start wondering how they can prove it.
Deputy Chief Christian Garland: Can we try for fetal DNA?
Benson: Well, we can but it’s a complicated process and it doesn’t always work.
Deputy Chief Christian Garland: Can we try for fetal DNA?
Benson: Well, we can but it’s a complicated process and it doesn’t always work.
This "fetal DNA" thing is something that @nbcsvu has put in several episodes and not only is it ridiculous for fiftyleven reasons but also because by the time they consider this the embryo would have been disposed of. But again, it treats an abortion as evidence, not healthcare.
Benson: Nydia said she wanted to keep that baby. Look it is possible somebody slipped her these drugs without her knowledge.
DA Carisi: Yeah easy enough to get online. I’ll start with a warrant for her computer and his.
Again, positing the abortion is a tool for crime.
DA Carisi: Yeah easy enough to get online. I’ll start with a warrant for her computer and his.
Again, positing the abortion is a tool for crime.
Carisi says he'll get a warrant to search the computer. But what's more likely is that people who self-manage their abortions will be prosecuted by overzealous DAs who want to criminalize pregnancy and abortion.
Later, the detectives are comparing the evidence they have.
Rollins: TARU went through Ajay’s computer. He tried to delete his history, but they were able to recover recent searches for New York state abortion clinics, RU-486, misoprostol, mifepristone...
Rollins: TARU went through Ajay’s computer. He tried to delete his history, but they were able to recover recent searches for New York state abortion clinics, RU-486, misoprostol, mifepristone...
Benson: So he slipped her the abortion drugs.
Rollins: Nydia told me he made her smoothies.
Benson: Call Carisi. Get a warrant for that blender. Pick up Ajay.
@nbcsvu isn't first to run with a right wing narrative that men will slip women pills in a smoothie. Hey @blackmirror!
Rollins: Nydia told me he made her smoothies.
Benson: Call Carisi. Get a warrant for that blender. Pick up Ajay.
@nbcsvu isn't first to run with a right wing narrative that men will slip women pills in a smoothie. Hey @blackmirror!
In @blackmirror's Arkangel episode, the mother puts Plan B aka emergency contraception into her daughters smootie and then the daughter has an abortion. But Plan B doesn't cause an abortion. Basic facts and science.
https://mashable.com/2018/01/04/black-mirror-emergency-contraception-abortion/ https://rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2018/01/08/scarier-fiction-black-mirror-stumbles-abortion/
https://mashable.com/2018/01/04/black-mirror-emergency-contraception-abortion/ https://rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2018/01/08/scarier-fiction-black-mirror-stumbles-abortion/
Of course, there have been cases where men have tried to force their partners to have an abortion by giving them medication abortion pills, in the case of Trump advisor and cable news commentator Jason Miller... https://www.thedailybeast.com/jason-miller-out-at-cnn-after-report-he-slipped-woman-abortion-pill
...but how medication abortion works is that you take the mife on the first day followed by four misoprostol pills the following day, and they have to dissolve in your cheeks. The smoothie thing is right wing fan fic.
@nbcsvu is writing fan fic for the anti-abortion movement.
@nbcsvu is writing fan fic for the anti-abortion movement.
As the investigation moves on in this episode, the police enlist former DA Barba who now does cases with the Innocence Project to help because again, they're justifying that it's okay that the white vet father murdered the Brown foster father because he allegedly raped girls.
I won't get into the racial dynamics of this episode, but will say that there's a lot there about justifying a white military vet and father killing a Brown man in defense of girls and the narrative that Brown men are just raping girls all over.
In court, Barba questions Sgt. Tutuola:
Defense Attorney Barba: But, it was your job to investigate Ajay Sharma? Do you have any doubt that Ajay Sharma raped Nydia Davis repeatedly, got her pregnant, and administered the abortion drugs which almost got her killed?
Defense Attorney Barba: But, it was your job to investigate Ajay Sharma? Do you have any doubt that Ajay Sharma raped Nydia Davis repeatedly, got her pregnant, and administered the abortion drugs which almost got her killed?
"administered the abortion drugs which almost got her killed?"
Again, alleging that medication abortion is dangerous and almost killed her. Medication abortion is one of the safest medications we have. It's safer than Tylenol. They're relying simply on stigma and misinformation.
Again, alleging that medication abortion is dangerous and almost killed her. Medication abortion is one of the safest medications we have. It's safer than Tylenol. They're relying simply on stigma and misinformation.
Barba presses again, focusing on the lack of care and that the abortion was dangerous:
Barba: So for 10 years as an ACS supervisor, Ajay Sharma raped girls in his care and neither ACS nor SVU found out about it until Nydia Davis was found hemorrhaging in the street? Why?
Barba: So for 10 years as an ACS supervisor, Ajay Sharma raped girls in his care and neither ACS nor SVU found out about it until Nydia Davis was found hemorrhaging in the street? Why?
This episode is a lot and uses a lot of anti-abortion tropes and misinformation. I wish the @SVUWritersRoom would either reach out to @gesisson, @StephHerold, or me, or literally anyone who understands abortion provision before writing these episodes or just don't write them.
The misinformation is being spread to millions of people and it's actually very important that @nbcsvu @SVUWritersRoom gets this right because people who need abortions are watching and they deserve medically and legally accurate information should they need to seek care.
Abortion is safe. Abortion is healthcare. It doesn't exist to cover up a crime as @lawandordertv @nbcsvu would have you believe. Your viewers are people who have abortions. Tell our stories accurately. So many shows can do it. We deserve better than this. https://medium.com/the-establishment/law-order-has-a-long-and-ugly-history-of-stigmatizing-abortion-5531eaad9c6e
If you want to see which other shows and films cover abortion, including @lawandordertv @nbcsvu episodes, check out @gesisson & @StephHerold's Abortion Onscreen research: http://abortiononscreen.org
