Abortion Onscreen database
Use the filters below to search our database of abortion portrayals in film and television. Once you've made your selections, click "apply" to apply your search criteria. To clear your selections and view all listings, simply hit "reset."
This database is a project of ANSIRH’s Abortion Onscreen program, and aims to include all American film and television depictions in which a character obtained an abortion (or disclosed that they had had one in the past). Plotlines in which a character considers but does not have an abortion (i.e., because they decide to continue the pregnancy, or because they have a miscarriage before getting an abortion) are not included in these results; however, we have tracked them. If you are doing an analysis and want to include considerations, please contact us for a relevant list.
We are constantly updating the database to include new plotlines and more detail on old plotlines. If you have anything to add, please contact us! We’re also interested in how people use the database, so if you use this tool in some way, please email us letting us know what you did with it.
Title | Episode(s) | Release date | Type | Genre | Outcomes |
Legality![]() |
Setting | |
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Absolute Strangers | Apr 15, 1991 | TV |
|
Positive health outcome | US | ||
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A Climate for Killing | Jul 18, 1991 | Film |
|
Death | US | ||
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House, MD | Fetal Position | Apr 4, 2007 | TV |
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None | US | |
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Happy Endings | Jul 29, 2005 | Film |
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None | US | ||
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Weeds | Van Nuys | Jul 7, 2009 | TV |
|
US | ||
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Standing on Fishes | Aug 7, 1999 | Film |
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Finding Home | Oct 18, 2003 | Film |
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US | |||
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Damaged | Feb 1, 2005 | Film |
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American Horror Story: Murder House | Murder House, Halloween Part 1 | Oct 19, 2011 | TV |
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None | US | |
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St. Elsewhere | Getting Ahead | Jan 29, 1987 | TV |
|
US | ||
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Beverly Hills: 90210 | Housewarming, Fearless, The Things We Do for Love, Loser Take All | Oct 30, 1996 | TV |
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None | US | |
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Method | Jun 24, 2004 | Film |
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Bitter Moon | Jul 12, 1992 | Film |
|
Adverse physical outcome | Non-US | ||
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The Right Way | Sep 4, 2004 | Film |
|
Non-US | |||
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The Handmaid's Tale | Offred | Apr 26, 2017 | TV |
|
US | ||
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Chance at Heaven | Oct 27, 1933 | Film |
|
None | US | ||
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Law and Order: SVU | Hammered | Oct 14, 2009 | TV |
|
None | US | |
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Continuum | A Test of Time | Feb 11, 2013 | TV |
|
None | US | |
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The Americans | Persona Non Grata | Jun 8, 2016 | TV |
|
None | US | |
Smoke | Jun 9, 1995 | Film |
|
None | US |