Hulu series 'Life & Beth' paints getting an abortion as 'just like taking a nap'
A Hulu series claims that getting an abortion is "just like taking a nap" in the latest example of popular culture promoting the ending of an unborn human life.
"Life & Beth," a dramedy series created by and starring Amy Schumer that is distributed on the Hulu streaming service, featured a storyline including an abortion in one of its most recent episodes.
The episode depicts the character Jess, a friend of Schumer's character Beth, undergoing an abortion. The Media Research Center shared clips of the episode on its MRCTV blog.
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Before the procedure takes place, Jess asks the abortionist if her being sedated to undergo the abortion will be "just like taking a nap." The abortion doctor answers in the affirmative before both she and Jess begin singing the Britney Spears song "Toxic" together in the operating room.
While Jess shows some emotion on her face, suggesting that she might be slightly uncomfortable or have regrets about her decision, she elects to go through with the abortion anyway.
The series portrayed pro-life protesters outside the abortion clinic as rude and intolerant.
One protester asked Beth and Jess, "How could you kill your unborn child?" as they walked into the abortion facility accompanied by a clinic escort. After describing abortion as a "sin," one of the protesters insisted that "nobody will ever love you." One pro-life protester wore a "Make America Great Again" hat while others held signs reading "jail abortionists" and "your unborn baby might cure cancer."
The series also took aim at pro-life pregnancy centers, also known as crisis pregnancy centers. When the abortion doctor informed Jess that she intended to perform an ultrasound, Jess asked, "Is this a trick [where] you show me my baby and I change my mind?"
The abortionist responded by insisting that "this is not one of those clinics." Jess indicated that she thought the abortion clinic might be "one of those religious places" because the abortionist was wearing a hijab.
Pro-life pregnancy centers have been subject to violence and vandalism following the leak of the U.S. Supreme Court's draft decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022, determining that the U.S. Constitution doesn't contain a right to abortion.
Following the abortion, Beth suggests that the duo go out and get "completely hammered somewhere." Jess appears to agree, but the scene quickly cuts to them pulling up in front of the house she shares with her husband.
In addition to portraying abortion as a harmless medical procedure, the "Life & Beth" episode also featured Jess making disparaging remarks about marriage and children.
She told the abortion doctor that "you can't make me keep" the baby she was seeking to abort because "I already have two kids, and I don't like either of them much."
Before performing the abortion, the abortionist asked Jess if she had any questions. Jess replied, "No, but here's some advice," urging the abortion doctor, "Don't get married."
"You'll never have sex again. And when you do, it will be like a chore you have to schedule on the family calendar, like a dental cleaning. You'll never feel wanted or desired in the same way," Jess added.
"Life & Beth" is not the only show to promote abortion in recent years.
In 2015, the ABC series "Scandal" drew outrage after portraying the main character undergoing an abortion set to the tune of the popular Christmas hymn "Silent Night." Like the "Life & Beth" episode dealing with abortion, the "Scandal" episode in question also included criticism of family life.
The "Scandal" episode featured the main character's father insisting that "family is a burden … a pressure point, soft tissue, an illness, an antidote to greatness."
"You think you're better off with people who rely on you, depend on you, but you're wrong because you will inevitably end up needing them, which makes you weak, pliable," he added.
"Family doesn't complete you. It destroys you," he concluded.
In early 2016, the Showtime drama "Shameless" aired an episode titled #AbortionRules that features the main character trying to convince her sister to have an abortion.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
