Shonda Rhimes is savvy enough to know that merely talking about abortion on TV sets off an explosion of discourse. The abortion storyline is still a nervy move, even todayâthough itâs becoming less so with shows like Jane the Virgin and Girls having advanced the conversation in recent years. Thursday nightâs Scandal winter finale took it a step further.
On a show like Scandal, itâs fitting that Rhimes would opt to dramatize an abortion scene (unlike, say, the chill storyline on Girls), rather than treating it as an aside. While other shows have chosen to broach the topic by way of dialogue or innuendo, Scandal decides to focus on the procedure itself. The abortion is only implied here. But the decision is already made, leaving no room for debate about the morality of being pro-choice.
Thereâs no discussion of options. Thereâs no inner turmoil depicted beforehand. Olivia never has a chat with President Fitz about the pregnancy or the abortion. Heâs the presumed father, but given Scandalâs penchant for twists, who really knows?
Itâs just Olivia on an operating table in a scene thatâs interspersed, poetically, with a Papa Pope monologue about family (âFamily doesnât complete you. It destroys you,â he says). Olivia places her feet in the stirrups as a doctor performs the procedure, with âAve Mariaâ as the soundtrack. What adds to its intensity is that a few scenes back, Mellie had been filibustering for Planned Parenthood funding in the Senate, with a last-minute save from Vice President Susan by way of Olivia, who felt left out while watching the filibuster on TV, from a distance.
Were it not in the hands of Shonda Rhimes, Oliviaâs choice couldâve been minimized as just a twist inserted for shock value. And itâs got shock value, for sure. But itâs also Rhimes using her show as a statement, as sheâs tended to do. Scandal has very often been her platform for social commentary on wage equality, police brutality, etc. In this case, the decision to display the abortion, without any discussion of it, is the political act itself.
In the post-abortion scene, Olivia has a blunt convo with Fitz about why their relationshipâbecause her independence is limited in the White Houseâcanât work. There is no future with Fitz. These two clueless lovebirds seem to have finally realized their bond was always meant to be broken and must go their separate ways. And Oliviaâs prior abortion makes it seem like the breakup isnât just ceremonial this time. Both procedures are a very final decision.
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