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Last week's episode (#7, "Unexpected") of A Million Little Things, which I watched tonight, disappointed me in a couple of ways.
First of all, the previews for the next week's episode have been misleading and confusing.
Watching the episode prior to this one, I thought we had already seen the part about Regina being pregnant, and the rest of the gang finding out about it. So I was confused it being shown again. But apparently that had only been shown in the preview, and when it plays out in the actual episode, we find out that she isn't really pregnant.
In the preview for today's episode, they had shown Ashley giving Delilah the letter Jon had left for her. I was looking forward to finally finding out what is in that letter. But no, it was all a sneaky trick. We still don't know what is in that letter.
In today's episode, Delilah decides to have an abortion. They actually show her in the operating room, getting an abortion. I was impressed by that*. (Although it seemed odd that she would be having a surgical operation, versus getting an abortion pill, as it didn't sound or look like her pregnancy was far along.)
But then, as she is being driven home, we find out that she didn't go through with it after all. She changed her mind, apparently as she was on the operating table.
So the episode switches from being a brave portrayal of a character undergoing an abortion to just another one of those shows where the character decides that she can't bear to do it, and that she'll be happy to have an unexpected baby after all.
Even worse, the way in which it was shown makes women look fickle-minded. As if a woman would make the hard decision to have an abortion, make the appointment for it, go all the way to a clinic, and all the way to lying on the operating table, and then end up changing her mind at the last minute.
That kind of a portrayal implies that it would be good for society to put more roadblocks in the way of women getting abortions (or even outlaw it), because it implies that women are likely to change their mind and regret having an abortion, if they do go through with it.
In this episode, we also find out that Regina has stated that she does not want kids. That makes Rome's actions in the last episode seem rather questionable. He was like "I know you're pregnant, that's wonderful; here, let me go buy some cute baby things." As if becoming pregnant would change someone's mind about not wanting kids. Sure, it is possible, but certainly not to be assumed.
*I couldn't remember any other TV show where a character went through with an abortion. Although there was the Gray's Anatomy episode, which I may have seen (or maybe I only saw the one with the miscarriage).
I may have seen a couple of these shows too:
https://bust.com/tv/193228-tv-best-abortion-portrayals.html
I'm pretty sure I've seen several TV shows other than these, where the character goes to an abortion clinic, but then changes her mind:
https://theweek.com/articles/476169/how-tv-shows-deal-abortion-timeline
First of all, the previews for the next week's episode have been misleading and confusing.
Watching the episode prior to this one, I thought we had already seen the part about Regina being pregnant, and the rest of the gang finding out about it. So I was confused it being shown again. But apparently that had only been shown in the preview, and when it plays out in the actual episode, we find out that she isn't really pregnant.
In the preview for today's episode, they had shown Ashley giving Delilah the letter Jon had left for her. I was looking forward to finally finding out what is in that letter. But no, it was all a sneaky trick. We still don't know what is in that letter.
In today's episode, Delilah decides to have an abortion. They actually show her in the operating room, getting an abortion. I was impressed by that*. (Although it seemed odd that she would be having a surgical operation, versus getting an abortion pill, as it didn't sound or look like her pregnancy was far along.)
But then, as she is being driven home, we find out that she didn't go through with it after all. She changed her mind, apparently as she was on the operating table.
So the episode switches from being a brave portrayal of a character undergoing an abortion to just another one of those shows where the character decides that she can't bear to do it, and that she'll be happy to have an unexpected baby after all.
Even worse, the way in which it was shown makes women look fickle-minded. As if a woman would make the hard decision to have an abortion, make the appointment for it, go all the way to a clinic, and all the way to lying on the operating table, and then end up changing her mind at the last minute.
That kind of a portrayal implies that it would be good for society to put more roadblocks in the way of women getting abortions (or even outlaw it), because it implies that women are likely to change their mind and regret having an abortion, if they do go through with it.
In this episode, we also find out that Regina has stated that she does not want kids. That makes Rome's actions in the last episode seem rather questionable. He was like "I know you're pregnant, that's wonderful; here, let me go buy some cute baby things." As if becoming pregnant would change someone's mind about not wanting kids. Sure, it is possible, but certainly not to be assumed.
*I couldn't remember any other TV show where a character went through with an abortion. Although there was the Gray's Anatomy episode, which I may have seen (or maybe I only saw the one with the miscarriage).
I may have seen a couple of these shows too:
https://bust.com/tv/193228-tv-best-abortion-portrayals.html
I'm pretty sure I've seen several TV shows other than these, where the character goes to an abortion clinic, but then changes her mind:
https://theweek.com/articles/476169/how-tv-shows-deal-abortion-timeline