Abortion rights talk meets reality on The Shield

[Morethings index for The Shield]
Season 2, Episode 10 "Coyotes"
Air date: 3-11-03

Danny and Julien's story with the pregnant Latina who wants to kill her ex-boyfriend's baby presents a tough social situation. Seeing her stretched out eight months pregnant and purposely getting herself cut up in a knife fight has to hit you.

It's never brought up exactly, but when you see this, would you still think this woman should be recognized to have a right to kill that child? Really? If I were a judge with this woman and her story in front of me, I'd be looking for a reasonable legal excuse to ORDER an emergency c-section delivery.

Note how this situation reflects deep into other social issues, but not by being set up for such purpose. They didn't work up a story line about abortion. Indeed the word is never used. They appear to have written the story mostly as a reflection on Danny, and her personality and life situation. We get the other social ramifications as a natural outgrowth of character based storytelling rather than being bludgeoned with "issues."

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Article Author: Al Barger

Unreformed hawkish Hoosier hillbilly Al Barger runs the still squeezin' down the psychodelic Kentucky moonshine at More Things. What with the paranoid religious visions, the Pentecostal music, visions of God and anarchy running amok and such, somebody …

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