Confession

I have a confession to make -- I watched a Sex and the City episode. Now, you might wonder -- 'Who cares?', but for those who know me -- I am known to say that Sex in the City exemplifies and encourages everything that is wrong with women today. And I vowed not watch it -- but I happened to catch an episode called 'Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda' that is all about women and abortion. And it struck me how callous these character were about abortion. Let me give you an example.

In the episode, the high powered career woman Miranda gets pregnant by an ex boyfriend and decides to abort her child. The sweet housewife Charlotte is trying to get pregnant but cannot, so she is devastated when she hears that Miranda is getting an abortion. The writer and narrator Carrie Bradshaw admits that she had an abortion to her girl friends, but won't admit it to her boyfriend, because she does not want him to judge her. The sexpot Samantha admits she had two, doesn't care, and then goes on to gush details of whatever sexual liaison she had the night before. The only redeemable character is Carrie's boyfriend, who thinks it's horrific that Miranda won't tell the father of the baby that she's pregnant and wants an abortion.

But Samantha and Carrie have a conversation about abortion that just knocked my socks off how callous it was. It went something like this:

Carrie: "I had one when I was 18, I mean it was a waiter's kid. Like I could ever have a waiter's kid. I mean, can you believe I could have a 13 year old right now?"

Samantha "Honey, you did the right thing at the time. And you have to think about yourself! Everyone has had one, I mean I had two!"

Carrie: "I know, I guess I did do the right thing, I mean, I simply could not have been the mother to that waiter's child. I mean, it was a one night stand!"

Finally, Carrie concludes this: "As we drive along this road called life, occasionally a gal will find herself a little lost. And when that happens, I guess she has to let go of the coulda, woulda, shoulda, buckle up and just keep going."

Wow. Is that the only conclusion? Is Carrie Bradshaw the representatives of most women's views about abortion? Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture? I guess to some degree, Carrie is right -- sometimes we do need to let go of those 'might have beens,' but is abortion just one of those things? I certainly don't think so. So, I guess my initial conclusion about that show is right -- indicative of many things wrong with women today....