ABC’s ‘Scandal’ Main Character Undergoes Abortion Set to
‘Silent Night’
by Daniel Nussbaum 20 Nov 2015
Thursday night’s episode of Shonda
Rhimes’s ABC series Scandal was an hour-long advertisement for Planned Parenthood — so much so that the
organization released a statement praising Rhimes and the episode immediately
after it aired.
In the fifth-season episode, titled “Baby, It’s Cold
Outside,” main character Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), wife of the Republican
U.S. President, undergoes an abortion while the Christmas hymn “Silent Night”
plays in the background. Concurrently, Republican Senator Mellie Grant (Bellamy
Young) successfully filibusters a bill that would defund Planned Parenthood,
allowing it to keep its funding.
The episode was so overtly pro-Planned Parenthood that the
organization issued a statement immediately after it aired to praise Rhimes and
the show “for proving that when women are telling our stories, the world will
pause and watch”:
Tonight, the millions of people who tune into Scandal every
Thursday night learned that our rights to reproductive health care are under
attack. Never one to shy away from critical issues, Shonda Rhimes used her
platform to tell the world that if Planned Parenthood lost funding for
contraception counseling, STI testing, cancer screenings, and safe, legal
abortion — millions of people would suffer. And this episode wasn’t the
first time one of Rhimes’ characters had an abortion, yet tonight we saw one of
our favorite characters make the deeply personal decision that one in three
women have made in their lifetime. We applaud Shonda Rhimes tonight — and
every Thursday night – for proving that when women are telling our stories, the
world will pause and watch. We just hope those in Congress — and throughout
the nation — who are steadfast on rolling the clock back on reproductive
health care access are taking note.
After getting the abortion, Olivia returns to the White
House, where she sips on some red wine while the classical piece “Ave Maria”
plays in the background.
In its own statement, Media Research Council blasted the
episode:
Hollywood’s liberal values permeate movies and television.
Last night’s episode of ABC’s Scandal was pretty much an
hour-long advertisement for Planned Parenthood. In the most disturbing scene,
the main character has an abortion to ‘Silent Night’ (a hymn celebrating the
birth of Jesus) playing in the background. This is Hollywood’s moral depravity
on full display.
In an interview
with Time last year, Rhimes said that televisions shows
should tackle abortion because it is a “polarizing issue:” “Because it is
such a hot button issue, because people are debating it, it should be
discussed. And I’m not sure why it’s not being discussed.”
Rhimes serves on the board of Planned Parenthood Los
Angeles, according to Time. Earlier episodes of Scandal have
included abortion-related storylines, and several characters in another one of
her hit shows, Grey’s Anatomy, have revealed they have had abortions.
Actress Kerry Washington tweeted her support of Planned
Parenthood last night, using the hashtags #IStandWithPlannedParenthood and
#IStandWithMellie, in reference to Bellamy Young’s character who was
filibustering in the Senate against defunding Planned Parenthood.
Scandal
Shonda
Rhimes is the creator of Scandal,
and a trustee at the American Film
Institute.
Note: Robert A. Iger was
a trustee at the American Film Institute,
the president & COO for ABC Inc.,
is a member of the President's Export
Council, and a co-chair for the Partnership
for a New American Economy.
Ari
Emanuel was a trustee at the American
Film Institute, is the co-CEO & director for William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, and Rahm I. Emanuel’s brother.
Barbra Streisand
is a William Morris Endeavor
Entertainment client, and the founder of the Barbra Streisand Foundation.
Barbra
Streisand Foundation was a funder for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.
Rahm
I. Emanuel is Ari Emanuel’s
brother, a member of the Commercial Club
of Chicago, the Chicago (IL) mayor,
and was the White House chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.
Commercial Club of
Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
W. James
McNerney Jr. is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, the chairman for the President's
Export Council, and a co-chair for the Partnership
for a New American Economy.
Robert
A. Iger is a member of the President's
Export Council, a co-chair for the Partnership
for a New American Economy, the president & COO for ABC Inc., and a trustee at the American Film Institute.
Shonda
Rhimes is a trustee at the American
Film Institute, and the creator of Scandal.
1 comment:
This was the most disturbing show I've ever seen on TV. The morals of our country have declined to such evil. I will not watch this show again and I hope the Christian people of our nation boycott Scandal & it's sponsors. We need to take our country back.
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