If I didn’t know better I’d think the television show Law & Order hates abortionists? In the past ten years Law & Order and its spinoffs have depicted the murder of more abortionists than have actually occured in real life.
The NY Times reports that the “ripped from the headlines” show is going to depict the murder of a late-term abortionist being gunned down. In church. You know, there’s a fine line between “ripped from the headlines” and lazy unimaginative writing.
But this is the third time the show has tackled the abortion issue. Wanna’ know how it was depicted in each of the three. Says the New York Times:
“Law & Order” has twice before addressed abortion, in 1991 with “Life Choice,” a first-season episode about the bombing of an abortion clinic, and in 1995, its fifth season, with “Progeny,” which also focused on the murder of a doctor who provided abortions.
And now they’re recreating Tiller’s murder.
Just so you know that there’s been one abortionist killed in the past ten years. One. Gee, don’t pro-choicers ever do anything bad? I seem to remember a pro-lifer who was killed pretty recently. But no “ripped from the headlines” story about that, huh? And every week some jerk does violence to their pregnant girlfriend in order to force them to get an abortion in real life. But to be fair those stories don’t even get the headlines to rip them from in the first place.
NBC has been pushing the episode to gin up publicity calling it “the most controversial episode of the series.” HA! Controversial to depict religious people as nuts? And abortionists as saints? That’s practically the viewpoint of every show on NBC – which might explain why the network ranks dead last among the four major networks.
October 23, 2009 at 12:51 pm
On July 29, 1994, Paul Hill, a former Presbyterian minister and leader in "Defensive Action" killed an abortion doctor and his bodyguard outside an abortion clinic.
In 1995, Lawn Order did a show about a pro-life leader killing an abortion doctor.
In May, Dr. Tiller is gunned down in a church and now Lawn Order is doing a show about an abortion doctor being killed in Church.
Seems like they are "ripping from the headlines" to me, only the turnaround is a little faster this time than in '95.
October 23, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Stopped watchning this show a while ago, couldn't stand the Catholic bashing. Whenever a production company needs to use religion in the story line, it always seems to use a Catholic church set up for Mass in the middle of the day, candles lit, lights on and ready to start Mass. And the priest always has on a Roman collar, nuns in habits. I guess the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic is the only recognizable religion.
October 23, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Actually, I think I remember a L&O episode about a girl who had her boyfriend beat her (in the abdomen) in order to kill the baby in her womb–as a sort of "budget abortion." The cops and the lawyers were, understandably, uncomfortable with what this girl and her boyfriend were trying to do. The attempted abortion was stopped only because someone in the hallway of the apartment building happened to hear her screams of "Don't . . . stop!" which sounded like she was telling the boyfriend to stop when actually she was, through her pain, telling him not to stop. The D.A. (or assistant) didn't want the girl and her boyfriend tried for attempted murder because, as she cravenly put it, it might set a precedent which would interfere with the protection of women's "reproductive rights." I honestly don't remember the final outcome of the story. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure it was a L&O: SVU episode–before Alexandra Cabot's character left for "witness protection" after someone tried to kill her.
October 23, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I've always loved reruns of Law and Order, and the SVU spinoff. (The CI spinoff is too boring.) Actually, the Church is not always portrayed in an unfavorable light, although the Detective Stabler character tends to be a caricature of himself when displaying his Faith. And he didn't date around when separated from his wife, but tried to get back with her.
As to falling ratings, this is happening to all the "Big Three" in recent years. People have more options, and they're not all shows about New York City.
Besides, lately I've been watching reruns of NCIS more often. Mark Harmon kicks @$$, and I love it when he slaps people in the back of the head.
Wish I could do that at the office.
October 23, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Maybe we should just watch the episode before passing judgement. The promotional clip suggested that maybe it won't be like the other episodes. Who knows, we may be surprised.
October 23, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Besides, you mention that 1 abortion provider was killed in the last 10 years. By my math, 1995 was 14 years ago, and 1991 was 18 years ago. How many abortion providers were killed in the last 14 and 18 years?
October 24, 2009 at 10:43 am
I had a roommate who liked the Law&Order series so I ended up getting into SVU… I stopped when I realised just how bad it was to be watching that show and also working in a domestic violence/sexual assault shelter. But it always pissed me off how they portrayed the Church. Sometimes yes there were good Catholic characters, but it's very clear that the writers have no clue about what true faith really means– even their "respectful" episodes show little to no understanding.
And L&O always rips from the headlines. Understandable but not necessarily appropriate.
October 25, 2009 at 3:28 am
The episode was actually very well-done and balanced. Having seen the earlier L&O episode of an abortion doctor killed in his home, this was completely different.
I'm glad that I caught the NRLC communication recommending watching it after seeing your post:
http://www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/Oct09/nv102309.html
October 26, 2009 at 11:24 pm
That is one of the reasons we cut the cable. There is a growing anti Catholic/christian mentality that is growing right beside the push for abortion, assisted suicide, and all forms of immorality. You know what, we haven't even missed it.
October 27, 2009 at 7:07 am
I can not believe the sentiment in this comment forum, and this article. If you haven't actually watched the episode, then at least pause the free clip available on NBC here: http://www.nbc.com/Law_and_Order/video/clips/dignity/1169056/, and read all the commentary underneath. You'll see outcries, but from pro-choice public promising to boycott NBC.
Hands down, this was the best coverage in secular entertainment of the abortion issue I have ever seen. Yes, they do draw a very close line to the Tiller murder, but the defense also uses a key witness during the trial, a mother who gave birth to her baby diagnosed with fatal encephalophy, watching her baby die in her arms – dying with dignity. I'm almost certain this draws another parallel to a real-life story that debuted on American news.
No where else on television will you hear statements like 'dogs and cats have more rights than the unborn', will you see characters who defend the pro-life stance with their colleagues (even defending cases of rape), and hear the *specific statement* that Roe v. Wade should be reconsidered – twice. It's almost *too much* to think that the main guest star was Richard Thomas of Walton family fame, 'John-Boy'. This is hardly the liberal ploy!
I think it's safe to say that Law & Order's 'Dignity' does a much better job of presenting the abortion issue than any of it's former abortion episodes, and far more effective than Family Guy's 'Ziggy the Zygote', or House's 'Fetal Position'.
Watch this episode, and listen to the dead silence of jaws dropping everywhere. Trust me.
August 18, 2010 at 7:50 pm
I am so impressed for what this article so this Law and Order is kind of ironic because they kill abortionists and alter the order and the law.