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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Daddy's Gone A-Hunting | Jul 2, 1969 | Film |
|
Adverse psychological outcome | Illegal | US | |
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Men in White | Apr 6, 1934 | Film |
|
Death | Illegal | US | |
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A Climate for Killing | Jul 18, 1991 | Film |
|
Death | US | ||
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Sarah's Choice | Nov 1, 2009 | Film |
|
None | Legal | US | |
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One Sings, the Other Doesn't | Mar 9, 1977 | Film |
|
None | Illegal | Non-US | |
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Coma | Jan 6, 1978 | Film |
|
Death | Legal | US | |
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Happy Endings | Jul 29, 2005 | Film |
|
None | US | ||
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Unspeakable | Apr 1, 2002 | Film |
|
None | Legal | US | |
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Voiceless | Oct 7, 2016 | Film |
|
Legal | US | ||
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The Pumpkin Eater | Nov 9, 1964 | Film |
|
None | Illegal | Non-US | |
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Dirty Dancing | Aug 21, 1987 | Film |
|
Adverse physical outcome | Illegal | US | |
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Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her | Oct 4, 2000 | Film |
|
None | Legal | US | |
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The Ides of March | Oct 7, 2011 | Film |
|
Death | Legal | US | |
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Blessed Are the Children | Nov 5, 2016 | Film |
|
Adverse psychological outcome | Legal | US | |
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Standing on Fishes | Aug 7, 1999 | Film |
|
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The Life Before Her Eyes | Sep 5, 2008 | Film |
|
Adverse physical outcome | Legal | US | |
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The Lives We Lead | Oct 13, 2015 | Film |
|
None | Legal | Non-US | |
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Sweet Revenge | Oct 31, 1984 | Film |
|
Death | Illegal | US | |
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Detective Story | Oct 24, 1951 | Film |
|
Adverse physical outcome | Illegal | US | |
![]() |
Match Point | Jan 20, 2006 | Film |
|
None | Legal | Non-US |