I think it's shameful that you write that abortion "reality" coverage is more suited to print than film.

You are really blind to your own bias. Abortion reality is suited to film. It is worth film. And it's patronizing to say it's not under the guise of protecting women. They never even sought women who chose abortion for the film. They never asked.

MTV and others have covered gay teens, transexual teens, drug-using teens, prostitute teens, teens who date much older adults, teen who ran away from dangerous religious cults, teens who get birth control without parental consent, criminal teens - all of which open some fear to the participants to being honest. Some of these activities are illegal. It's pretty patronizing of you to say that in the case of abortion, you decide it's inappropriate because it will follow them the rest of their lives. Teens have participated in reality shows for all of the situations I listed above. They courageously participated anyway.

If they have the right to chose an abortion, they have the right to sign a consent form for reality coverage.

It sounds like you want to defend your first opinion more than actually care about what young women may want (and I'm sure they could find a teen that wants coverage of her choice). By your argument, it's awful for a film company to even try, and I'm sure if a funder is reading your opinion, you are one more brick in the wall from such reality being funded.

It's ridiculous that women writers like Amy continue to support the thought that abortion on film, well, there's not much to tell that would be compelling on film and it's unsuited for film. Perhaps, we can continue to use the word "smash-mortion" in this conversation.

Until we come out of the closet as we have for other issues, abortion will continue to be the most misunderstood choice with bad information. It will take courage, but "nice girls do" have courage. And I'm sure that if a reality show covered the experience on MTV, it would be watched by many and secret copies would be boot-legged.

When one of my teens visited a gyn, i was told to leave the room. I did. But later, I questioned myself -- why did I do that? This is my child and I know the doctor probably asked if she's had sex or have had abortions, whatever. I never questioned my daughter about what the doctor asked. My mother took my 15 year old niece to a doctor who asked her to leave the room. My 87 year old mother refused. Why have I not inherited her good sense? The system will bully parents if we allow them to.

Abortion is not an option unless the life of the mother is endangered. Abortion is a bloodbath of viable fetuses -- many itching arms await newborns for adoption. I am sickened by the white liberal women cold mentality of their private "tupperware" or "incubator" womb which is being invaded by an alien -- namely a juicy little baby. Why not just get all your tubes tied and call it a day?

I was reminded that abortion figured into TV shows and movies in the 70's and 80's (I'm thinking of "Maud" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", respectively) in ways that it just isn't now.

Has there been an example of a storyline on a current TV show where an abortion was treated as matter-of-factly?

"But frankly, abortion stories are better suited to print than film anyway. Unless there’s some sort of crazy complications, there’s not a whole lot of action."

Even though I thank Amy for this piece, as a long time abortion counselor, I disagree with the above statement. There are as many emotional complications in choosing abortion as there are in choosing to continue a pregnancy. I have talked to enough teenage girls through the years to be able to share the subtleties of their situations. There are the moms pressuring them to continue the pregnancy, as in "how dare you abort my first grandchild"? Or, "you know cousin Ginny has had 4 miscarriages, so you should have this baby and give it to her". Or, I refuse to participate in this murder". How about the young woman with the basketball scholarship who will be the first of her family to attend college and who is the idol of all her young cousins because she is not going to be "a statistic" as they call it. Usually these girls have to make their decisions on their own because they have so much pressure from others who are telling them what they "ought" to do that ultimately, they decide all alone. Then there are the boyfriend issues: don't have it because I'm not ready to be a dad and am leaving for college/marines/an out of state job next month. Or, do have it because I want to be a dad even though I am not much of a dad to those other three; you're different. Or the teenager who already has one child, wants to go back to school to complete her schooling and is faced with fear of "acting like God, choosing which one lives and which one does not".

Believe me, these are high drama cases, and, as Amy pointed out, they represent a large number of pregnancies. Even if a teen does continue her pregnancy, she still may have considered abortion. These kinds of stories give support and understanding to the hundreds of thousands of teens who choose abortion every year. Let them speak for themselves. The stigma of abortion will never end until more women who have had an abortion speak up. It is normal for women to have an abortion even if the media does not acknowledge it. The accepted statistics indicated about 37-40% of American women will have an abortion before they reach the age of 45. There is no longer a need to keep it hidden and shameful. Check out some of the earlier submissions on the blog below.