{"id":33594,"date":"2013-01-24T07:37:15","date_gmt":"2013-01-24T13:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=33594"},"modified":"2014-11-14T17:24:18","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T23:24:18","slug":"nbcparenthoodteenpregnancyabortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/01\/nbcparenthoodteenpregnancyabortion\/","title":{"rendered":"NBC’s ‘Parenthood’ Addresses Teen Pregnancy and Abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"'Parenthood':

‘Parenthood’: Drew Finds Out His Girlfriend Is Pregnant And Wants An Abortion<\/p><\/div>\n

In its four season history as a television show, NBC\u2019s Parenthood <\/em>has addressed issues that are honest, relatable and believable. From addiction to special needs children to infidelity to being a single mother to cancer to infertility issues to adoption to a soldier\u2019s return from Afghanistan and more, Parenthood <\/em>has not shied away from tough topics. I\u2019ve been impressed with how delicately and thoroughly they\u2019ve addressed most issues. But a couple of weeks ago and leading into this week, I have been deeply disappointed.<\/p>\n

During their January 8th episode, \u201cSmall Victories,\u201d NBC\u2019s Parenthood <\/em>attempted the controversial and difficult topics of teen pregnancy and abortion. From the moment Drew is told by his girlfriend Amy that she is pregnant, the viewer was drawn into a major teen crisis. After a visit to the Abortion Clinic, and with anxieties and concerns of both the present and future, Amy tells Drew her decision.<\/p>\n

“Well, there\u2019s only one option, right? \u2026If I have this baby, my life is over,” she told him.<\/p>\n

“It doesn’t have to be over,” Drew countered. “We could start a life. I can go to college. I can get a job. There are plenty of people who can help us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Drew and Amy are high school seniors whose their parents and other adult mentors are noticeably un-involved and relatively oblivious to their lives. A high school teacher, who was engaged to Drew\u2019s mom let\u2019s her know he\u2019s concerned about Drew and Amy. Yet when the mom, Sarah, discusses what\u2019s happening with Drew, he passes it off as college anxieties, which she accepts and moves on.<\/p>\n

At his insistence he be there for her, Drew drives his Amy to the Abortion Clinic to obtain information and set a date for the procedure. He later confides in his older sister about what\u2019s happening in his life, even asking her for money to help pay for the abortion he doesn\u2019t want his girlfriend to get. She reassures him that everything will be okay, that it\u2019s not entirely his fault and that \u201cit happens.\u201d He shares with her, \u201cI don\u2019t want to give it up, but I\u2019m trying to respect how she feels. It\u2019s just hard\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his feelings, he accepts money to help his Amy obtain an abortion, drives her to the abortion appointment, waits in the waiting room while she has the procedure and drives her home.<\/p>\n

At the end of the episode, we see Drew grappling with the emotions of what has just been done, the loss of his child and so much more. And he seeks out his mother for comfort with gut-wrenching emotion. But it is too late.<\/p>\n

And that’s how the storyline pretty much ended with the exception of one, small moment in the season finale (I’ll get to that later).<\/p>\n

For me, my disappointment with the most recently episodes of NBC’s Parenthood <\/em>began with the timing of the episode, two weeks before the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Additionally the title of the episode, \u201cSmall Victories\u201d makes me cringe. The name seems like a cruel joke, as if the idea of the \u201cvictory\u201d of the death of a small innocent child is positive.<\/p>\n

My disappointment in the episode “Small Victories” is related in part to the character Drew, who claimed to want the child, but did little to attempt to keep the baby. Unfortunately, it is a reflection of our society in that many fathers do not believe they have much of a say in whether an abortion happens or not, since it\u2019s \u201cnot their body,\u201d Additionally, by law, fathers are excluded from participating in the abortion decision. These two things highlighted a very real concern in our legal system, that as a father, Drew was powerless to delay Amy\u2019s decision, even by a week. And so Drew spends little time discussing with Amy what he truly wants, only addressing it once with her.<\/p>\n

Additionally, it was frustrating to see Drew\u2019s character not do what teens should do when they have a difficult situation they are dealing with- talk to a parent and\/or a trusted adult. The one time Drew does ask Amy about talking to her parents, she says, \u201cI don\u2019t know. They just like, see me in this certain way.\u201d<\/p>\n

This could have been a key teaching moment for the audience of Parenthood<\/em>, yet they did not take the moment to help teens see there are more options to available to them then just taking care of a crisis, life-altering situation by themselves.<\/p>\n

The episode did a good job showing the extreme isolation teens can feel when in a crisis, to the point of not even talking to parents about the situation, and it was positive to see Drew confide in his sister. But despite Drew confiding in his sister, who did comfort him in his turmoil, his sister did little to help him reach his desired goal of keeping the child and instead helped him end the life of his child by providing him with money for the abortion. Yes, Drew was trying to respect what his girlfriend wanted by seeking help for money for the abortion, but ultimately he ended up sacrificing and being disrespectful to one life as a result of trying to be respectful to another.<\/p>\n

Another key moment I was appalled at was the portrayal of the abortion clinic, Planned Parenthood. Now, I\u2019ve never been in an abortion myself, yet the seemingly cheery and helpful atmosphere of the clinic was unconvincing in its portrayal of a place that helps and comforts people in times of crisis pregnancy, including pregnant teens.<\/p>\n

A clinician (presumably a doctor) sits in a room with the teens: \u201cIf you decide to continue the pregnancy we\u2019d be happy to refer for prenatal care. Of course there are resources for teen moms who decide to raise a child. Now adoption is also an option for you to consider\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

As music plays and drowns out the clinician, indicating how overwhelming all the information is to the two teens, the looks on their teens faces says it all. They\u2019re overwhelmed. They\u2019re undecided. They\u2019re too young to be making a decision like this.<\/p>\n

Throughout the episode, I did appreciate the show of emotional turmoil related to the overwhelming task of deciding how to proceed and the difficulty of the decision. Teen pregnancy and abortion are difficult topics. Yet they were topics that I\u2019ve dealt with in real life through friends and in ministry, from friends who I found out later had abortions and pregnant teens in ministry. And they are never simple to resolve issues as this episode made it seem.<\/p>\n

This simplicity in how to resolve the \u201cproblem\u201d of a teen pregnancy is the primary reason why I was concerned with the episode \u201cSmall Victories.\u201d It is the true that both teen pregnancy and teen abortion happen. Yet teen pregnancy is not a \u201cproblem\u201d with only one solution. And the show has addressed so many difficult topics over the course of its four seasons, and most if not all those topics have spanned over many episodes. And so, before I decided completely how I felt about NBC\u2019s Parenthood <\/em>addressing the topics of teen pregnancy and abortion, I waited for the next two episodes.<\/p>\n

And now I can say I am overwhelmingly disappointed with how cavalierly NBC\u2019s Parenthood <\/em>addressed the issue of teen pregnancy and abortion overall. In the two episodes that followed \u201cSmall Victories,\u201d the topic was only momentarily touched upon in the season finale. The show made it appear as though abortion solved all the teens\u2019 problems and helped them realize they dreams, because as the teens met up and talked on Amy\u2019s porch one night, they shared about their acceptance into their dream colleges. NBC\u2019s Parenthood <\/em>made it seem that abortion solved all their problems and was able to put them in a nice, clean and neat little box that can be put away on the shelf not to be dealt with again.<\/p>\n

What would the Catholic Church say about how the situation was handled by the people in this episode? First, it’s important to note that as Catholics aren’t called to judge anyone, including persons who have had (or allowed) abortions, but recognize wrong in actions.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d consider it a moral wrong for Amy to have an abortion, but we\u2019d also consider both Drew and his sister morally in the wrong, because of their participation, by helping another person obtain an abortion. We\u2019d consider his sister morally at fault for the abortion because of the money she gave her brother and because she did nothing to prevent the abortion. But we\u2019d consider Drew even more morally responsible than his sister, because he helped provide money and did nothing to prevent the abortion but actually drove Amy to the abortion appointment.<\/p>\n

But even more important than addressing the wrongs would be offering those involved love, forgiveness, mercy and support for all men and women dealing with the after-effects of abortion, which NBC\u2019s Parenthood <\/em>did not feel it necessary to completely address. Project Rachel<\/a>, a compassionate and confidential ministry helps woman and men experience spiritual and emotional healing after abortion.<\/p>\n

So, I rarely participate in live tweeting an event (well, except for Texas Longhorn sports), but during and after the episode \u201cSmall Victories\u201d on NBC\u2019s Parenthood <\/em>, I couldn\u2019t help but check out what others were saying about the episode. The response, of course, was mixed. But many in the cyber world were also like me, upset with the abortion. Some men shared they too, had an experience like Drew\u2019s character, with a woman obtaining an abortion they did not agree with. The response on blogs and in news hasn\u2019t been overwhelming, but as expected, those pro-choice advocates are applauding the episode. And those of us pro-life advocates are concerned.<\/p>\n

And now you\u2019ve read my thoughts on the episode. What are yours?<\/p>\n

See clips the episode, “Small Victories” from NBC’s Parenthood <\/em>, titled \u201cA Big Problem for Amy and Drew\u201d here:
\nhttp:\/\/www.nbc.com\/parenthood\/video\/a-big-problem-for-amy-and-drew\/n31272\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In its four season history as a television show, NBC\u2019s Parenthood has addressed issues that are honest, relatable and believable. From addiction to special needs children to infidelity to being a single mother to cancer to infertility issues to adoption to a soldier\u2019s return from Afghanistan and more, Parenthood has not shied away from tough… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[289,55,51,193,1344,720,251,67,432,1345,1343],"class_list":{"0":"post-33594","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"tag-abortion","8":"tag-catholic-2","9":"tag-catholicism","10":"tag-love","11":"tag-nbc","12":"tag-parenthood","13":"tag-planned-parenthood","14":"tag-pro-life","15":"tag-pro-choice","16":"tag-project-rachel","17":"tag-teen-pregnancy","18":"entry","19":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41660,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/09\/join-austins-40-days-life-efforts\/","url_meta":{"origin":33594,"position":0},"title":"Join Austin’s 40 Days For Life Efforts","author":"Elizabeth","date":"September 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I've told the story before of my first experience standing outside of Planned Parenthood during prayer vigil. It was the summer before I graduated and was completing an assignment for a photojournalism class. I'd supported pro-life organizations and prayed at prayer vigils, but never directly on the sidewalk outside a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pro-Life Waco","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/IMG_6684.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4498,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2011\/09\/really-knowing-both-sides-review-unplanned\/","url_meta":{"origin":33594,"position":1},"title":"Really Knowing Both Sides (Review: “Unplanned”)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"September 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I pray every time I pass a Planned Parenthood. I have also prayed outside Planned Parenthood clinics that do abortions here in Austin and back home in D.C. I pray for a world where no one will desire abortion. I don't think making abortion illegal will change hearts, but it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/6292042_73459e213d-300x231.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10701,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/02\/komen-breaks-ties-with-planned-parenthood\/","url_meta":{"origin":33594,"position":2},"title":"Komen breaks ties with Planned Parenthood","author":"Martina","date":"February 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"VS This story broke early Tuesday afternoon as I checked my FB feed and saw \u2013 no, not from a fellow pro-life Catholic \u2013 the story was linked up by one of my most pro-choice {and not to mention, agnostic} friends. I kind of chuckled to myself at the irony\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/planned_parenthood_logo-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":33248,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/01\/four-words-ill-never-forget\/","url_meta":{"origin":33594,"position":3},"title":"Four Words I’ll Never Forget","author":"Lauren Gulde","date":"January 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Four years ago, my son Jonathan found me sitting in front of my laptop, tears running down my cheeks. I had read an email and had been stunned to tears and silence. I was in shock with joy. The email was about Abby Johnson, the director of our local Planned\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ACNM"","block_context":{"text":"ACNM","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"fourwords","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/fourwords-630x420.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":29189,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/12\/a-morning-opposing-the-abortion-giant-reflections-from-the-sidewalk\/","url_meta":{"origin":33594,"position":4},"title":"A Morning Opposing the Abortion Giant – Reflections From the Sidewalk","author":"Elizabeth","date":"December 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It was only 9:37 a.m. on a muggy summer morning in June 2011 and I\u2019d already had one of those mornings that forces you to stop and think about who you are and the world around you. It started off as a photojournalism project. Just a simple photostory. 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