Mindy Kaling Says Abortion Is Too Serious to Tackle in a Sitcom
Mindy Kaling graces the cover of this month’s issue of Flare magazine, and in the accompanying interview addresses the curious fact that even though all of the main characters in The Mindy Project work in an OB-GYN clinic, the show has never brought up abortion. Well, she sort of addressed it.
Savvy profile subject that she is, Mindy deflects answering her interviewer’s question about abortion, saying, “It would be demeaning to the topic to talk about it in a half-hour sitcom.”
Sure about that, Mindy? While rare, abortion is far from uncharted territory on American television, and even on half hour sitcoms. In a 1972 episode of Maude — pre-Roe v. Wade! — the show’s heroine found herself pregnant at age 47, had an abortion, and everything turned out fine. Ten years later, in 1982, a Facts of Life episode centered around Natalie writing a story for the school paper on a classmate’s secret abortion. And in 1994, the Thanksgiving episode of Roseanne included Nana Mary showing up and discussing two abortions she’s had in the past. And there was a laugh track behind that one. Scrubs, a madcap comedy that centered in a goddamn hospital even talked about abortion, back in 2006.