History Main / GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion

Part of the reason for this is to avoid the wrath of the MoralGuardians, as abortion is a controversial subject[[note]]A 59% majority of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 39% think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, according to [[https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/06/about-six-in-ten-americans-say-abortion-should-be-legal-in-all-or-most-cases/ Pew Research Center]]. Most non-western countries are also less permissive of abortion.[[/note]]. TV networks and film studios want to avoid [[AudienceAlienatingPremise polarizing/alienating]] a big chunk of the audience, and so abortion is a topic usually approached with deliberate restraint. Carrying a pregnancy to term is thus commonly portrayed as the “morally right” or “good” thing to do, which manages to please MoralGuardians ''and'' perpetuate myths about abortion itself (intentional or not).

* In the ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' fanfic ''Fanfic/ASmallPossibility'', Drakken [[HomosexualReproduction devises]] a way to get Kim pregnant with [[HasTwoMommies Shego's child]]. ''Neither'' Shego nor Kim want an abortion despite hating each other and [[TeenPregnancy Kim being 17]]. Shego cites growing up a latchkey child whose parents were distant made her want to be there for her future children matter what. Kim doesn't want an abortion because she refuses to kill a baby. The two go through with the pregnancy, end up falling in love, and [[spoiler:end up with twins]].

** The Eastern Orthodox Church, like it's Western Catholic counterpart, forbids abortion in all circumstances and considers it to be a mortal sin. But while still expected to repent, a woman who gets an abortion because of potential threat to her life doesn't get excommunicated.

# She dismisses it immediately because of her religious/spiritual/moral beliefs or upbringing, or because she distrusts the procedure (especially if it would involve a BackAlleyDoctor).

Part of the reason for this is to avoid the wrath of the MoralGuardians, as abortion is a controversial subject[[note]]A 59% majority of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 39% think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, according to [[https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/06/about-six-in-ten-americans-say-abortion-should-be-legal-in-all-or-most-cases/ Pew Research Center]]. Most non-western countries are also less permissive of abortion.[[/note]]. TV networks and film studios want to avoid [[AudienceAlienatingPremise polarizing/alienating]] a big chunk of the audience, and so abortion is a topic usually approached with deliberate restraint. Carrying a pregnancy to term is thus commonly portrayed as the “morally right” or “good” thing to do, which manages to please MoralGuardians ''and'' perpetuate myths about abortion itself (intentional or not).

In recent years, a shifting film and TV landscape, the rise of multiple streaming services, and more women in writer's rooms has led to an increase in onscreen depictions of abortion as something women of all backgrounds do[[note]]the statistic is nearly [[https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2017/abortion-common-experience-us-women-despite-dramatic-declines-rates one in four women in America]], to be exact[[/note]]—women both [[MadonnaWhoreComplex "Good" and "Bad"]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}''

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'': In "The Wake" Lyta Hall advises Rose Walker to abort her baby before it can break her heart. Rose is rather understandably disturbed.

* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': Stephanie Brown ([[Characters/{{Batgirl}} The Spoiler]]) is against abortion from the very beginning (the arc was written by conservative Creator/ChuckDixon). At first it looks like it's also going to be Good Girls Avoid Adoption, but she changes her mind after realizing her life is not a suitable place for a child.

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/35736589/chapters/89110501 This]]'' ''[[WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021 Inside Job]]'' fic shows Reagan and Brett drunkenly decide to have a baby together to spite Reagan's [[AbusiveParents abusive dad]] Rand. After the drunk sex, Reagan twice decides against aborting the baby. The first time is the morning after, when she chooses not to take her morning after pills. The second time is at the docters office weeks later when, despite having to repeatedly correct herself when she refers to the baby as a parasite in her head, she chews Brett out for suggesting that she has other options.

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'':
** This is averted in one conversation, where a woman mentions having had an abortion in a way that makes it clear it didn't mess her up (though it's not a casual reference either). The pregnant woman she's speaking to eventually decides to have the baby, and is later seen wearing a button proclaiming "I chose to have a baby but I'm glad I had a choice."
** In "The Wake" Lyta Hall advises Rose Walker to abort her baby before it can break her heart. Rose is rather understandably disturbed.

* Averted in ''Comicbook/{{Exiles}}'': Nocturne and Thunderbird begin a relationship while dimension-hopping and Nocturne gets pregnant, but Thunderbird is effectively rendered brain dead by a HeroicSacrifice and is unable to jump with the rest of the team. Nocturne tells the team that [[ConvenientMiscarriage she had a miscarriage]] at some point in their travails, but a later issue showing her reflecting on her relationship with Thunderbird implies she had an abortion (or used her powers to induce it herself) because she couldn't handle raising the baby alone.

* Initially and pointedly averted, in the ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' Season 9 comics. Buffy gets pregnant, and, knowing that the child would be a target for all of her enemies, would never have a chance to have a normal childhood, might prove a severe distraction to her ongoing world-saving efforts, and, in any case, is seriously not ready to have a kid, apparently decides that terminating the pregnancy is the best option. [[spoiler: The revelation in later issues that Buffy had had her mind implanted in a robot body and, in fact, was not pregnant at all, struck many as a WriterCopOut.]]

* Averted in the sequel to ''VideoGame/TheSeventhGuest'', ''The 11th Hour''. Two characters are impregnated through rape in their backstory. One aborted the pregnancy (and ended up paralyzed from the waist down due to complications as it was a back alley job) and the other did not. The former ends up being the BigGood of the game, while the latter's child is an EnfantTerrible.

* ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'': [[spoiler: Agnes Sculptham]] had/gets an abortion, although whether it plays this trope straight or averts it is debatable, depending on whether or not you consider the character to be "good." [[spoiler: Also if the series continued [[WhatCouldHaveBeen she would have had twins and only terminated one in the procedure, later giving birth to a girl]].]]

* Averted on ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth''. Barbara recalls how during her youth, she had a misguided [[OneNightStandPregnancy one-night stand]] with a guy who could [[ItMakesSenseInContext play a mean slide whistle]] (but little else), and she became pregnant as a result. Her decision to have an abortion is shown to be a decision that wasn't easy to make, but ultimately was what was best for her at the time, and allowed her the chance to start a family when she was ready, with the person she ultimately felt was the right person for her. She doesn't regret her decision, and she isn't presented as a bad person for making it.

Part of the reason for this is to avoid the wrath of the MoralGuardians, as abortion is a controversial subject, particularly in the West where it is opposed by many Christians[[note]]A 59% majority of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 39% think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, according to [[https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/06/about-six-in-ten-americans-say-abortion-should-be-legal-in-all-or-most-cases/ Pew Research Center]][[/note]]. TV networks and film studios want to avoid [[AudienceAlienatingPremise polarizing/alienating]] a big chunk of the audience, and so abortion is a topic usually approached with deliberate restraint. Carrying a pregnancy to term is thus commonly portrayed as the “morally right” or “good” thing to do, which manages to please MoralGuardians ''and'' perpetuate myths about abortion itself (intentional or not).

* Late in the ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'' anime, Makoto gets Sekai pregnant, and alternates between claiming the baby can't possibly be his and pressuring her to get an abortion. This is used to drive home that Makoto's a {{Jerkass}}, as his main concern is that nobody else is willing to sleep with him after how he publicly rejected Sekai. However, it's also left up in the air whether [[TheBabyTrap Sekai was actually pregnant or not]]. Being ''[[IdiotPlot School Days]]'', it didn't end well.

* After Nagisa's pregnancy is discovered in ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}} After Story'', her mother Sanae suggests abortion out of concern for [[IllGirl her health]], but Nagisa refuses, as she really wants to have the baby. Also because [[RealLifeWritesThePlot one of the series's storyboard artists was forced to abort as a teenager]], [[UnfortunateImplications and the writers didn't want to offend her by reminding her about it through having a character in the story get an abortion]].