Maude's abortion | abortion-news.info

A two-part November 1972 episode of “Maude,” in which the title character decides to get an abortion, still seems radical, particularly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

By Esther Zuckerman
Dec. 7, 2023

Norman Lear, who died this week at 101, left behind a legacy of groundbreaking television. But there was perhaps no hour of TV on his lengthy résumé more controversial than a two-part episode of the CBS sitcom “Maude,” from the show’s first season.

Titled “Maude’s Dilemma,” it aired on consecutive weeks in November 1972 and follows the 47-year-old Maude, a grandmother played by Bea Arthur, as she learns she is pregnant and decides ultimately to get an abortion. In the aftermath, advertisers dropped the show and network affiliates refused to air reruns.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/07/arts/television/norman-lear-maude-abortion.html

Planned Parenthood Goes to Hollywood
The group is winning in L.A., even as it’s losing in D.C. Can entertainment ultimately make a difference in the abortion wars?

Story by Nora Caplan-Bricker
September 23, 2019

It’s 10 a.m. on a Tuesday at Planned Parenthood’s New York headquarters, and I’m watching TV. Specifically, I’m watching a series of scenes clipped from movies and TV shows, all of which have two things in common: The woman beside me, Caren Spruch, had a hand in them, and each one features an abortion.

Spruch and I began our viewing session with her most recent such project, the Hulu series “Shrill.” Now, seated at a table in a white-walled conference room, we’re watching the first movie she worked on, 2014’s “Obvious Child.” Spruch is petite and animated, with a long face and dark bangs, like a more pixie-ish Anjelica Huston. She calls “Obvious Child” — a romantic comedy about an unemployed 20-something who finds herself pregnant after a one-night stand — “the one that changed the world,” setting a new standard for stories about abortion. She has seen it, she estimates, more than 25 times.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2019/09/23/feature/planned-parenthoods-woman-in-hollywood/

Maude’s abortion

Remembering Norman Lear’s Most Controversial Episode

Planned Parenthood Goes to Hollywood