Another Perspective on Abortion in Television

In last week's episode of Mad Men, Joan Harris is shown as having kept her baby which she had out of wedlock with Roger Sterling. This episode reveals the often contentious role of abortion in television. There are many depictions of heroines having unwanted pregnancies such as in Sex and the City and Secret Life of the American Teenager but up until recently finding an network television depiction of a completed abortion you'd have to look to 1972's Maude.

In class we discussed abortion as part of an ongoing culture war involving media and christian/conservative values where media watchdogs such as the AFA and Parent Television Council influence media depictions making them taboo. This results in less narratives surrounding abortion and even less where the characters go through with it. While I agree with this argument I believe we don't account for artistic license, that the trend away from abortions has more to do with plot than political statement.

Mad Men's non-abortion is less about pro-life politics than plot considerations. Series creator Matthew Weiner points out that Joan supports abortion, "We already know she's had a bunch. Two, she admitted to the doctor." Her decision for Weiner is not about moral considerations but a desire to start a new chapter of her life "to me, I felt she's 34 years old, she knows there may not be another opportunity, so she'll take the risk."

An abortion can carry a single episode while a baby provides an ongoing narrative and a seasons' worth of material. Maternity is a prominent narrative hallmark  and represents a major milestone in a character's life which families can relate to. It represents change and ensures that things will never return to the way they were in the narrative. It can also be considered much less political then a show which dwells and focuses around the concept of abortion for an season.

This season Joan's decision to have the baby reveals more plot twists. It helps reveal her husband's predatory nature, will he figure out the baby is not his, how the office will run with Joan on maternity leave, and how this will effect Roger.

Weiner could have continued the story with the abortion but Joan's decision on Mad Men show that on screen, advancing the plot is more important than making a political statement and introducing a baby.