Shonda Rhimes’ Shows Treated Abortion Matter-Of-Factly When Few Shows Did

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By the early 2010s, Shonda Rhimes had created and was running three hit shows on ABC: “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice” and “Scandal.” In a time when there were just a handful of TV shows that had featured abortion storylines (and often on “very special episodes”), all three of her shows depicted abortion matter-of-factly, demonstrating how it’s a part of many people’s everyday lives and shouldn’t be so highly stigmatized.

On “Private Practice,” OB-GYN and neonatal surgeon Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) was both an abortion provider and someone who herself had previously gotten an abortion. And twice on Rhimes’ shows, audiences saw lead characters (and in even more of a rarity, both of them women of color) getting an abortion on prime-time television.

In the years since, there has been a marked increase in TV shows that have featured abortion storylines. Yet, even now, these episodes are striking in their clarity and frankness. On “Grey’s” in 2011, surgeon Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) has an abortion, an obvious choice for her as a character. A few years later, in a 2015 episode of “Scandal,” political fixer Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) gets an abortion that goes virtually unmentioned before or after, like a footnote in the show. Moreover, when being a woman who doesn’t want children still feels like a third-rail issue, both storylines are also significant in their depictions of women who unquestionably do not want children — and therefore, are forthright and unwavering in their decision to have an abortion.

As Rhimes recalled in an email to HuffPost, there was never a question her shows would portray abortion.

“I feel strongly that abortion should be portrayed on TV — especially on medical shows like ‘Grey’s’ and ‘Private Practice’ — even though it is in direct conflict with my own personal experience,” said Rhimes, who, in 2017, was named a member of Planned Parenthood’s national board. “Personally, I would never make the choice to have an abortion, but I would fight for any other woman’s ability to make that choice for herself. That is what choice means. My shows portray the entire spectrum of health. Health includes showing women having agency over their own bodies. And I feel strongly about women’s health and I truly believe in choice. More people should.”

Rhimes’ complex road to…