MTV: Include girls who choose abortion in the show 16 & Pregnant

Include girls who choose abortion in their show 16 & Pregnant

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: MTV.

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Include girls who choose abortion in their show 16 & Pregnant

Here's the original open letter to MTV:

To the Producers and Directors of MTV’s 16 & Pregnant and Teen Mom:

Congratulations on the success of your show. I’m a true fan and considering the show is consistently in the top rated shows for MTV, it appears many, many other Americans are too. You’ve accomplished a lot with the show also. Exposed the drama, sometimes in tragic proportions, teen parenthood often is.

You’ve also pioneered awareness of open adoption. Season One favorites, Catelynn and Tyler, who placed their baby for adoption have done something never done before: Revealing to the public for the first time what it’s like being birthparents in a fully open adoption. This comes at a pivotal moment for the adoption industry—in which there is a movement afoot in favor of fully open adoption based on decades of evidence showing it’s the healthiest adoption option for every one involved, particularly for adoptees and the birthparents. Fully open adoption is defined as having the adoption fully disclosed to the child, meaning he or she knows the birthmother and, if involved, the birthfather (as is the case with Catelynn and Tyler) and there is ongoing contact; at least one yearly visit. This is considered best practice today in domestic adoption and Catelynn and Tyler have proven to be the unofficial, unintentional, and charming spokespersons for this modern form of adoption. 16 & Pregnant has made powerful contributions to the awareness of unintended pregnancies and its consequences and you and your team deserve much praise and respect for that.

Given this leadership, as well as MTV’s long history in honest, informative journalism and education on sexual health matters, you must take the next step in breaking down barriers formed by misinformation, fear, and stigma. There’s another voice you can, in fact, you must, add to 16 & Pregnant: that of the 16 year old girl who is pregnant and chooses to have an abortion.

http://www.kff.org/entpartnerships/mtv2/

It is not clear why these teen women’s perspectives were never included in 16 & Pregnant to begin with. Of the approximately 250,000 teenage girls ages unintentionally got pregnancy in the United States each year, 27% of the pregnancies ended in abortion. Possibly there was no teen willing to step forward and be a representative of the choice the so many of her peers make. I’m not sure I would advise anyone do that—given the fanaticism that has resulted in assassinations and terrorization of doctors and medical staff. Who in their right mind would step into the limelight for that? The good part about 16 & Pregnant is that you already have animation embedded in as part of the show—it’s almost a signature of the show in fact—and offers the perfect medium through which to tell the young woman’s story who is choosing abortion.

By not including it, your silent yet bellowing message is that abortion is not a choice, or shouldn’t be. It’s invisible, as are the women and girls who choose it. By excluding abortion from the choices your subjects can make, you are contributing to the stigma surrounding abortion and making a political and ideological statement when, in all likelihood, it’s not even your position on the issue.

We, as a culture, need to hear from all women making these sometimes difficult decisions, not just those who make decisions that are less politically divisive. This perspective is needed particularly now, when access to abortion is shrinking, stigma about abortion is growing, unintended pregnancy among teens continues at a staggering rate, and the social safety net is fraying.

You can tell her story: Her process leading up to the abortion. The aftermath. Does she feel sad or guilty? Does she not feel sad or guilty? Does she feel sad and guilty for not feeling sad or guilty? She sometimes has the right to make this decision on her own, but in 37 states her parent or parents must be informed or even required to consent, though sometimes girls can avert that my going to court (many clinics are able to help girls with this) and getting a judicial bypass. Maybe there’ll be protestors, or she’ll confront problems raising the funds to afford the abortion or even get transportation there (nearly 90% of all counties in the U.S. have an abortion provider—which is a pretty significant barrier for those with no driver’s license.) You can accompany her through this gauntlet that women in need of abortion services today must suffer. To me, then 16 & Pregnant will be truly representative of all American girls in this circumstance, and journalistically, more significant.

To help you on your way, I’ve set up an email address for women who are planning to get an abortion and are interested in educating the public discourse, through 16 & Pregnant, about what that choice is like. Here’s the address: choosingabortion@gmail.com. Also, I’ve started a petition for supporters of MTV making the decision to include girls who choose abortion in the show.

Thank you for your consideration and for bringing such a powerful medium to illuminate a critical issues in your viewers’ lives.

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Sincerely,

[Your name]