Oh my freaking frizzle fudge!!! (and more angry gibberish!)
I’m so mad about the last two episodes of Bump! Let me count the ways...
For the past few episodes they’ve made it obvious that Hailey is not intending to keep her pregnancy because she is callous, superficial, and letting her boyfriend make the choice for her (because of course, that is the situation in which a woman that would choose abortion). But that alone wasn’t what got me. It was in episode 5, when they coerce Hailey into getting an ultrasound without her boyfriend. Of course, when she sees the image she has an instant change of heart. This is like a sidewalk/CPC counselor’s wet dream- show women a picture of a fetus or a baby and they’ll get all gushy and forget about the next few months of pregnancy, the next 18 years of financial support, and the rest of their life being changed forever.
Then, to top it off, the producers ask Hailey “If you had to choose between the baby and Jason, who would you choose?” The worst part about this is that Jason is sitting right there! Who in their right mind would ever ask that to one person in a couple unless they are deliberately trying to break them up? Even if I asked a woman whether she would choose her boyfriend or her dog, I would still be throwing a wrench in the spokes of that relationship.
It seems that all the characters in the show think they know better than Hailey does and they’re going to do everything to make Hailey make the “right” decision. That smells of anti-choice more than anything to me.
Also, when did this interviewer get the right to call her pregnancy a “baby” and speak about it like it is a person (or at least a self-sustaining animal)? Granted, these interviewers are not trained as options counselors, but maybe that’s why they shouldn’t be talking to these women about important decisions. A trained counselor would know to mirror the language that the patient uses about their pregnancy. Hailey has said nothing to personify her pregnancy, so shame on “the producer” (or rather the producer of Bump+) for throwing that in there. Classic anti-choice tactic.
In episode 6, the producers practically force Katie into having her ultrasound because it is part of the contract. Katie comes in knowing she wants to terminate and NOT wanting to see her ultrasound, but they insist that she does it anyway. Katie didn’t look at it, but how sad that she actually had to consciously keep her eyes away from it. Many anti-choicers claim that every woman should be forced to have an ultrasound before her abortion. They cannot make her look at it, but they can put it right in front of them, forcing them to turn away or close their eyes if they don’t want to see it, as if these women are doing something wrong by not wanting to see it. If we torture women about their choice, maybe they’ll end up doing exactly what we want them to…
The 6th episode goes even further and starts to demonize abortion. The doctor says he is “a coward” to perform abortions. Why exactly is he too much of a coward? Maybe it is because he is scared of getting attacked by anti-choicers. Because otherwise, there’s nothing particularly brave about practicing medicine when you are a doctor. Do you have to be brave to give heart surgery to patients who need it?
Furthermore, Katie asks if the procedure will hurt and if it will make it difficult for her to conceive again. Instead of being educated on the procedure and giving Katie (and the web audience) medically accurate and unbiased information about abortions, the doctor is wishy-washy. “It’s a complicated procedure. I’m not sure I could honesty answer that question.” He also says that the possibility of never being able to conceive again is something Katie has to consider… even though he says that it shouldn’t be affected under normal circumstances. I would have loved to see some figures thrown into the show there about how abortion is a safe medical procedure, and even safer than carrying a pregnancy to term.
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