a sitcom set in a abortion clinic

I like Black Comedy but I think this might be a bit too black for me. Wish the OP luck though. That being said, may I suggest a character who keeps odd vynil toys in his office? I don't know why but that seems funny to me at least.

I'd watch this. There is no such thing as "too dark" in comedy. <.<

Hey that's a great idea, the world can all ways do with more whimsy.

I'll give Fairchild a lighthearted grandfatherly mentor from the Pre Roe era. Some one to play off the more earnest characters and handle the tricky late term abortions.

edited 10th Feb '11 4:35:35 AM by joeyjojo

Hey, for this you might want to read up on blogs, articles, research papers, etc. to get some insight. You might also want to look outside the clinic. For instance, I think the interactions between the protesters outside (which can be quite nasty) and the volunteer escorts who help women get through the mob, is interesting. What kind of things to the protesters do/say to the people coming in? What services does the clinic provide besides abortion? Most Planned Parenthoods, for instance, offer a wide range of services such as contraception, prenatal care, fertility awareness, cancer screenings, std treatments. Only a few actually provide abortion care. Also everyone has a home life. Most people, especially the protesters but the clinic staff too may be religious. And what to the families of these people think of their work? Do the protesters picket at the doctors' and staff's private homes? And who owns the clinic? If the the clinic is being rented, the protesters can put pressure on the landlord to kick the doctor out (it's happened IRL) What's going on with politics in the store? In real life, there's an ongoing war on women. It's gotten really bad lately with bills to defund Planned Parenthood, and even a bill proposed in South Dakota the effectively legalizes killing doctors who perform abortions. What about clinic violence? Clinics are often subject to threatened and actual violence. Bombings, arsons, shootings. It happens.

I guess I'm in a mood to think about this as I'm currently writing a book about a family planning clinic. It's (hopefully) funny in places, but it's mostly a drama.

Oh, since you mentioned anti-choice people having had justified abortions, you might be interested in this:

The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion http://mypage.direct.ca/w/writer/anti-tales.html

As far as I know, these are true accounts.

Again, I recommend reading up on blogs written by clinic staffers, escorts, protesters, and blogs written by women who have had abortions. I especially recommend everysaturdaymorning.wordpress.com http://www.45millionvoices.org/ and http://abortionclinicdays.blogs.com/ (I have a MILLION more if you're interested.)

Also, it couldn't hurt to actually visit a clinic yourself, or, better yet, volunteer at one.

Edit: Another angle I just thought of - antis often set up fake clinics and park them next to the real clinic and place misleading adds in phonebooks and newspapers trying to trick women into going there by mistake. You can learn about those here. http://cpcwatch.org

I hope this helps. :)

edited 22nd Feb '11 8:02:10 AM by juliewashere88

You're writing something similar? The world just keeps on getting smaller doesn't it?

It's gotten really bad lately with bills to defund Planned Parenthood, and even a bill proposed in South Dakota the effectively legalizes killing doctors who perform abortions

God the South is just plain sickening sometimes. There was another thread about how they were trying to cut down on the number of tax payer funded abortions by redefining rape. It is a war all right. D:

There is so many interesting stories to cover with the running of a clinic. It's fascinating. The clients, the protesters, and most of all the staff. Who would be fearless enough to dairy risk violent reprisals for the sake of other women? It's quite daring to stick your head out like that.

Frankly I'm too much of a gutless wonder to cross the picket line and lend a hand at the local Planned Parenthood.

P.S. thanks for the 'moral abortion' link. Unbelievable stuff. You can understand a women being torn at the dissonant between her ideals and her situation, but a woman having a abortion so she can remain the president of right to life association ? What. The. Hell.

The last letter from the catholic woman who became an abortion provider herself was very touching though. Quite sweet in a way

edited 23rd Feb '11 10:56:25 PM by joeyjojo

Have a character who has cancer and can only cure it if she gets an abortion.

I like this idea. It's original, and can find a place among other famous comedies.

Indeed, it is a small world. Don't worry though, I doubt our stories would be following the same direction. Mine is more of a high school/ young adult drama novel. It's not just defunding PP in the right's war on women, they're also trying to discriminate against private insurance companies that provide abortions, raising taxes on such companies. The company is forced to either drop abortion coverage from their plans, or charge customers more, even if those customers don't use their coverage for abortion. You're right about the southern states leaning more towards insanity, but the north isn't exactly utopia either. The state I mentioned, South Dakota, is actually a northern state. And it's not alone. As I hear it, Ohio is/was considering revising their contrition to bastardize the word person so as to include fetuses and embryos, thereby banning abortion. There is a lot going on.

Also have a reluctant character walk out in the middle of an appointment, and then have the characters go running after her.

Some women do change their minds. But there isn't any reason anyone would go running after her. Not the staff, anyway. Contrary to popular belief, they aren't trying to sell abortion.

Hell, sometimes people will even be screened out if the staff senses that the client isn't sure in her decision. For one thing, it's a liability. Secondly, most clinics are non-profit and offer many services apart from abortion, including care for women who wish to KEEP their pregnancies, such as prenatal care.

Now, an antsy boyfriend or parent (especially if the client is a minor) might be another matter. The protesters outside will definitely chase, that's what they do.

A few users have made comments about this topic being dark or immature. But how can it be? Surely it's not that it deals with healthcare, Scrubs does that. Abortion IS healthcare, no matter what some people think about it.

In the US 1 in 3 women will have an abortion in her lifetime. Some will have more than one. Many of these women were already mothers at the time. Some went on to become mothers later.

The point is, there is absolutely no reason that such a common medical practice should be taboo or seen as dark, or immature, or off-limits except when bowing to prejudices of religious extremists and misogynists. "Be careful what you put on the air, you might offend some bigots!"

For now, controversy could both help and hurt your story. It'll get attention, but it would also make networks worry about image.

As for myself, I dream of the day that abortion isn't seen as anything controversial, but as the every-day part of life that it is. </speech>

edited 23rd Feb '11 5:57:37 PM by juliewashere88

There ought to be one character who's a total nut and routinely flip flops between both positions (Life Choice Revolving Door?)

^Do you mean a staffer or a patient? An unreliable staffer like that could cause a lot of internal drama in the clinic and be a serious problem for clients. A client like that wouldn't so much be a problem for the clinic, but that woman would have to know that she's on a time limit. Clinics won't perform abortions past a certain number of weeks.(I think 18 is the most common week limit, but I could be wrong.)

Comedy, if done properly, can never be too black.

As for myself, I dream of the day that abortion isn't seen as anything controversial, but as the every-day part of life that it is.

Agreed. whether one is for or against it, it's a fact of life. It's my main reason for making it a workplace sitcom. To remind people that even if you believe these women are a bunch of sluts and murders, These. People. Are. Normal.

One of the darker patient story line I was thinking of was a troubled married woman who repeatedly plans for kids, get pregnant, then gets scared gets rid of it and tells her husband she miscarriage.

It tests our heroine's resolve.

edited 24th Feb '11 1:53:13 AM by joeyjojo

You might even want to discuss birth control sabotage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_control_sabotage wherein one parter tampers with the contraceptives used, or refuses to use them while forcing them self on the partner (intimate partner/ marital rape.) It's most common in abuse relationships.

edited 24th Feb '11 5:43:38 AM by juliewashere88