The ACLU is outraged that the show features Lori taking morning-after pills to abort her pregnancy, because the pills are designed to prevent a pregnancy only for a few days following unprotected sex.
- Nov 24, 2011
AceShowbiz - "The Walking Dead" is definitely not a reliable medical reference. In its November 20 episode, the show features Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) taking morning-after pills to try induce abortion before throwing them up. The scene sparked a criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), not because of Lori's move, but because of the incorrect use of prescription medication.
Morning-after pill is actually designed to prevent a pregnancy from occurring when taken in the days following unprotected sex, and not for use several weeks into a pregnancy like Lori's condition. Responding to the outcry, producer Glen Mazzara stated that "the producers and writers of 'The Walking Dead' are fully aware that the morning-after pill would not induce an abortion or miscarriage."
Mazzara, who replaces Frank Darabont as a showrunner in the second season of the horror series, went on defending themselves, "We exercised our artistic creative license to explore a storyline with one of our characters, not to make any pro-life or pro-choice political statement. We sincerely hope that people are not turning to the fictional world of 'The Walking Dead' for accurate medical information."
Sounding off the abortion outcry, ACLU previously wrote in its blog, "There is considerable confusion about the difference between medication abortion and emergency contraception, and it was distressing to see this misunderstanding further spread by a show like 'The Walking Dead'."
"Aren't they supposed to have fact checkers to catch this kind of thing? Emergency contraception prevents pregnancy and is especially useful in cases of unanticipated sexual activity, contraceptive failure, or sexual assault," the non-profit organization added. " 'The Walking Dead', is not doing its fans or themselves any favors by promoting false information."
Talking about the abortion storyline, "Walking Dead" producer Robert Kirkman pointed out another thing that he thinks need to be argued about. "If there's ever been an argument for abortion I think the thought of bringing a child into a world infested with zombies is definitely something that at least warrants a discussion," he said.
"Because it is a horrific world that they've been living in and they have been watching people die left and right. After everything that Carl has been going through and losing Sophia - I mean this has been very definitively been proven to be a world that is not fit for children. So that is an issue that's going to come up."
