You know the show Family Guy. It’s essentially a funny/distasteful half hour animated sitcom made to make you cringe and laugh. I’ve never seen a whole episode. But, recently Fox refused to air an abortion themed episode of the animated series and that, of course, has given the show sudden attention from the media.
Family Guy creator Seth Macfarlane was incensed enough by the censorship that he held a stage reading of the script, ironically at the Ricardo Montalban Theater. (Montalban was a pro-life Catholic.)
Here’s essentially what takes place in the episode, according to the Washington Post:
Peter asking a couple unable to conceive, “Which one of you has something horribly wrong with you?”; an antiabortion advertisement implying that if abortion didn’t exist, the Three Stooges might have found a fourth; and some Hitler and Osama bin Laden attention-getters.
The episode, in which Griffin matriarch Lois becomes a surrogate mom for a college friend and her husband, really focuses on the “will she/won’t she” abortion question only in the third act, after the couple dies in a car accident. What follows is a trip to a family-planning center, where Peter, initially encouraging his wife to end the pregnancy (and thus avoid her crazy-while-pregnant phase), is stopped by a group of antiabortion activists who try to change his mind with a video featuring Ziggy the Zygote, who just wants a hug.
A rousing family debate takes place, including baby Stewie and dog Brian. Lois makes an impassioned speech about the importance of bringing children into the world no matter the circumstances, and Peter abruptly cuts her off with, “We had the abortion.” Cue credits.
The whole thing seems like a p.r. attempt to me as they’ll likely include the episode in the season’s DVD set giving people a reason to go out and buy it.
But here’s the thing. I wish Fox would’ve shown it. I want them to show it. Why not? Make a movie about it. And then come out with a Blu-Ray DVD with extras. Make a spin-off sitcom about three wacky nurses who work at an abortion clinic.
I think for too long we’ve been told that abortion is too incendiary to discuss. It’s too hot a topic. Can you think of any other issue where Hollywood says this is “too hot a topic” to exploit for profit? The reason for the silence is not capitalistic. It’s ideology.
Big Abortion alone is allowed to stay behind the curtain away from public scrutiny.
I say we should talk about abortion. Heck, show one on television. You want America to become a pro-life nation overnight, show a live late term abortion. Don’t do it when kids are watching and put warnings up beforehand. But do it.
Right now, pro-lifers can hardly even get an ad on television showing cute babies. The logic of the left is priceless. Follow if you will: the fetus is a meaningless blob of tissue that we think it’s OK to rip apart and kill thousands of them per day. But if you show a picture of what we actually kill you’re some kind of sicko who should be on Homeland Security’s watch list.
Why can’t we show aborted fetuses on television? If it’s just a meaningless blob of tissue, what’s the problem with showing it? It’s because they’re afraid that the American people will see a baby and not the blob of tissue they’ve been told about.
Pro-abortion types want to keep the womb off limits from technology and abortion off the public’s radar. That’s why the ordinary ministers of the media don’t cover pro-life marches. Why would they? Big Abortion is a multi-million dollar industry that heavily supports their chosen political party.
One of the liberal mantras is always ‘we need to bring sunlight” to every issue. They “spotlight” racism. They “highlight” the extreme protesters at townhalls. But no light is ever allowed to shine on the abortion industry. It is allowed to operate in the dark unseen, unnoticed and unchecked. They like it that way. They need it that way.
August 15, 2009 at 7:22 pm
(The article I'm referencing is the one Personal Failure linked…not Matt's) Matt… you're dead on with your post. But than again, I'm also for showing pictures of aborted babies too. We showed the world pictures from the concentration camps to get across the idea of something so horrendous that words couldn't capture adequately, so we used pictures. Same idea. And I agree with you on this post.
August 16, 2009 at 6:12 am
When I served in Gulf War I and convoyed down Highway 80 after the primary assault which turned it into Kuwaits "Highway of death", many of us took pictures of the scene, including dead Iraqi soldiers. There were at times when we had to take pictures of our own fallen comrades, but out of respect we never took pictures of their faces. This seems particularly poignant here. I think the horrors of aborted children is worth documenting and showing. But out of respect I would prefer their faces or at least eyes were obscured out of respect. Maybe it's just me.
August 17, 2009 at 12:14 am
My sister-in-law was told that she would most certainly lose her unborn child because of a cervical problem coupled with severe birth defects. She was counseled strenuously by her doctors to consider a late term abortion.
Already heartbroken, she told me that aborting her baby would only add to her pain. "That wouldn't do my heart any good," she said.
She carried Baby Bailey until she was able to deliver, very prematurely, and will always live with her grief. But how much worse would it be to carry that grief AND the knowledge that you took your own child's life?
I urge you to think this through a lot more, Personal Failure.
You're not being logical.
August 17, 2009 at 7:52 am
I love these pandering articles (and from the Boston Globe – arguably the worlds most pro-Catholic newspaper on the planet). I also felt it was particularly meaningful how Gretchen says, "Even my Catholic father says it was OK". Which means it MUST be OK since he apparently speaks for Catholicism, and as she points out was "never particularly pro-choice". So, that makes her decision absolutely right. See?
August 17, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Matt you should post the picture of the baby holding the doctors hand during surgery while in the womb.
August 17, 2009 at 6:58 pm
I definitely agree… now I will say one thing for those awful teen dramas on stations like the CW… I used to watch One Tree Hill, which isn't exactly a standup act as far as morals go…. but they dealt with unwanted pregnancies a couple times and were pretty blatantly pro-life about it. Thought it was interesting and was really glad that at least if kids are watching this stuff, it does occasionally have a good message
August 18, 2009 at 12:48 am
Yeah, look at what an uphill battle its been for CatholicVote to get airtime! People know the truth, and its so devastating, they don't want to message repeated. This is how the Holocaust continued for YEARS. And the devastation of the lives in that history is small compared to the loss of life at our time and place. Keep praying my friends. Truth hurts, but like any cancer treatment, it is pain that is endured to preserve life!
July 16, 2010 at 11:48 am
I don't think this is a left or right issue. Some left wing people are pro-life, some right-wing people are pro-choice.
I'm not sure what a abortion industry is. I can assure you that abortion is not glamorous for doctors or their patients. There is no advertisements for abortions either. There are pro-choice and pro-life campaigns that back parties.
I agree that people shouldn't be scared to discuss abortion but I don't think this issues as simple as they might appear to you. This is just my 2 cents.
P.S. This name is what my baby niece calls me. My sister was originally going to get an abortion. I'm glad to have my niece in my life but am still pro-choice. I think a woman has a right to her body.