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‘Scandal’ Abortion Scene As ‘Silent Night’ Song Plays Brings Scandalous Online Reviews [Spoilers] [Video]

By Paula Mooney
Published on: 06:24 PST, Nov 21, 2015

If you don’t know who had an abortion on Thursday’s “Thank God it’s Thursday” episode of Scandal yet, go watch that DVR’d episode of Scandal and come on back. The episode is certainly getting buzz online, with some calling the episode featuring a main Scandal character having an abortion as groundbreaking, whilst others find it quite distasteful to witness the manner in which the abortion was undergone as some sort of bold move in feminism, as reported by E!

As seen in the following video — which, warning, might be disturbing to some Scandal viewers — the abortion occurs during the part of “Silent Night” wherein Aretha Franklin sings about the “heavenly hosts sing Hallelujah.” Even the most unbelieving of folks recognize that during an abortion, the heavenly hosts are not likely singing those praises.

https://youtu.be/vnd7OxpRxN8

Yes, some Scandal fans are cheering the way Mellie Grant stood her ground and filibustered for 16 hours straight, only getting a break when a lengthy question was devised to be asked – all brought together by Olivia Pope, of course. But, whilst Grant rambled on about the importance of women’s rights, equating abortion with one of those basic women’s rights, those who oppose abortion were left wondering about the woman in the womb’s right to live, all while “Silent Night” played in the background on Scandal.

“What about the woman in the womb?”

As biblical wisdom goes, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so there’s no judgment that accompanies the backlash against the abortion episode of Scandal. Any woman who doesn’t want to live in a gilded cage as pretty as the White House, trapped like a beautiful bird doling out Snickerdoodle recipes could relate to Olivia wanting to blow that joint. But, equating motherhood and housewifery as slavery against abortions and a workaholic free lifestyle for a career-driven woman – as seemingly done on Scandal‘s abortion episode – is to paint too black and white of a portrait of the very women Scandal claims to represent.

As noted by the Hollywood Reporter, abortions aren’t often depicted on TV. The Scandal writers were bold in making the choice to show Olivia having an abortion – who has an abortion at night, anyway? – but the treatment of the events surrounding the abortion should be interesting to watch going forward. Will Olivia suffer any post-abortion depression? Will she think on future episodes of Scandal, as women who’ve had abortions often do, of the date her baby would’ve been born had she not have had an abortion?

Will future Scandal scenes show Olivia looking at a 6-month-old baby, or a 3-year-old child, and morph that child’s face into one that favors her and President Fitz? If any of the Scandal writers or creator Shonda Rhimes has ever had an abortion and experienced post-abortion feelings, that answer is likely a resounding, “yes.”

Other than the telltale abortion instruments being featured on Scandal, few shows have gone to such dark territory, despite the high number of abortions undergone each day. There were the metal instruments, Olivia lying supine, hair and weave all tucked back into a bonnet. The abortion’s aspiration machine was turned on, and Olivia’s perfect make-up wasn’t ruined – there was nary a tear.

President Fitz, in the end, called Olivia worse than Millie after the abortion; although, Olivia didn’t tell Fitz she’d had an abortion. In his eyes, Olivia was worse than Millie because Olivia represented the kind of woman who fantasized about getting away from the hustle and bustle of a career life and running away to Vermont to make jam. Apparently that bucolic and idyllic Vermont life was only the stuff of fantasies, while abortions and secrets were the stuff of Scandal‘s scandalous reality.

If the next TV show creator to surpass Rhimes tackles abortion from the heart – not from the political, “we love Planned Parenthood” battlefront – that’s where the real effectiveness could come into play. Yes, abortions at Christmastime are a reality, but so are tears streaming into the ears of those women getting abortions, the ones who regret having made irresponsible choices to go that route in the first place. The ones who still wonder, 30 years after their abortions, about that 30-year-old woman’s right to live.

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

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