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16 & Loved

Jill

On Dec. 28th at 11:30 EST, the MTV show 16 & Pregnant will feature a slightly different story: Abortion. They’re calling it “No Easy Decision,” and it will feature Markai, who was also on 16 & Pregnant, as she decides to terminate her pregnancy. The show will also have Dr. Drew Pinksy talking to other young women who have had abortions.

I’m sure the show will be controversial (and Dr. Drew is the worst, so that part concerns me). I’m also sure that the young women who have abortions will not be warmly received by many members of the “pro-life” community.

Which is why I’m glad that Exhale is doing a “16 & Loved” campaign to support these (and all) women who terminate pregnancies. It’s important for women to know that no matter what their story and what reproductive choices they make, they are supported.

For women and girls aged 15-19, twenty-seven percent of pregnancies end in abortion. Those are stories that aren’t told on 16 & Pregnant where, so far, all of the girls featured have given birth. Those stories are also hidden from conversation generally — too many women feel ashamed or judged because of the choices they’ve made. I’m glad 16 & Pregnant is making an effort to show the diversity of options that pregnant women and girls are faced with, even if they are doing it “very special episode”-style, and even if they do have a quack like Dr. Drew weighing in. I’m glad they’re featuring Markai, who, like many women who terminate pregnancies, has already had a child — this issue can’t be divided into “women who terminate” and “women who give birth.”

Here’s hoping that MTV does this one right.

14 thoughts on 16 & Loved

  1. There’s very little acknowledgement in our culture that sometimes the best choice is to terminate a pregnacy. And that using birth control doesn’t make you bad.
    I remember Diana Ross’ song ‘Love Child’ vs Madonna’s ‘Papa Don’t Preach’.

  2. I am not gonna lie, I am not a huge fan of the show.

    I feel that shows like this feature vulnerable individuals for the entertainment of others. Yes, some say it’s eye opening and a dose of reality….but it gets ratings, companies pay to advertise during the show, and well…it’s entertainment. I know they give consent to be on the show, but the fact that the show exists in the first place encourages people to sign up for it. Following teens around during a difficult part of their lives, filming them, and having them end up on tabloids….to me that doesn’t seem like setting them up for success. It didn’t for Nick and Jessica’s marriage as The Newlyweds (also by MTV) was largely blamed for their divorce by not giving them any privacy in the beginning of their marriage.

    I think the show has provided blatant advertising for adoption. There’s been little education on the show or info about contraception. I had wondered why they had not discussed abortion before. My heart goes out to this young woman and her family.

    ps. I’ve always thought Dr. Drew was a little wacky too!

    1. I don’t get it, what’s so bad about Dr. Drew? JJereux

      Dr. Drew, in my opinion, is more interesting in advancing his own celebrity and his views (some of which are quite regressive) than he is in helping people. He lets the folks on “Celebrity Rehab” attack each other in really unproductive and dangerous ways; he’s convinced that any woman who is “promiscuous” is “acting out” and must have experienced some childhood trauma and must be totally miserable; and he generally shames women for any expression of sexuality outside of monogamy/marriage. He also recently asked a patient on Celebrity Rehab how he lost so much weight, and when the patient answered “Heroin,” Dr. Drew’s response was, “Well, at least you lost the weight!”

      He’s a jerk and a self-promoter and an entertainer.

  4. I am a little scared on what is going to happen after this show is aired. It’s good to know that there will be stories about these young women.

  5. I have always thought that about this show – “Why aren’t they showing abortion?”.

    I don’t really watch the show (I’ve seen episodes here and there) but I am glad that they are finally showing that abortion IS an option.

    Amanda: I agree about the contraception thing…they don’t really address it. Again because I haven’t watched every episode maybe they have but from what I’ve seen, it isn’t a topic often discussed.

    This will certainly be interesting to watch.

  6. It’s always annoyed me that that show doesn’t ever discuss contraception or abortion, it’s like those two things don’t even exist…but it doesn’t really surprise me either. I’m glad they’re finally showing that abortion is an option, should be interesting.

  7. And I agree about Dr. Drew, he’s an asshole. Just out to make his millions, and isn’t interested in actually helping people.

  8. Wow, I completely disagree about Dr. Drew. All the women who came on his sex rehab show *were* miserable, according to their own statements, and I don’t recall him attributing anything to trauma where there was none. (There was a *remarkable* amount of sexual, physical, and verbal child abuse among those particular patients.)
    I agree Dr. Drew’s extensive use of T.V. is problematic, but I do believe that *he* believes it’s a useful tool to educate people about addiction.
    As for his comment to Jason Davis about losing weight through heroin, judging by the context of the conversation and looking at Dr. Drew’s face, he seems genuinely concerned about Jason’s health (the drugs AND the type 2 diabetes) and trying not to be too dramatic. It was Jason who made a joke about the heroin as a method of weight loss, so Drew was also reacting to a rather inappropriate joke.
    Anyway, I applaud Dr. Drew for educating millions about the very real emotional effects of child abuse and trauma — effects that are still denied by many.

  9. All the women who came on his sex rehab show *were* miserable, according to their own statements, and I don’t recall him attributing anything to trauma where there was none.

    Theres a difference between general promiscuity (which tends to be defined as “anyone who is having more sex than me”) and compulsive sexual behavior. Compulsive sexual behavior is almost always going to come down to trauma, promiscuity is a word we use to punish women for enjoying sex. Dr. Drew doesn’t seem to draw much of a distinction and hasn’t since back in his old Loveline days on the radio when he played the straight man who gave questionable advice and kept his mouth shut while Adam Carolla made fun of high school kids who didn’t have access to sex ed and thought they could get pregnant from a handjob. Its a general pattern of behavior and it reflects the relatively conservative personal mores which Dr. Drew holds. Just because he sometimes runs across people whose personal experience fits the narrative he’s selling doesn’t mean the narrative is accurate.

    There was a *remarkable* amount of sexual, physical, and verbal child abuse among those particular patients.

    Theres a remarkable amount of abuse amongst women in general and mad persons in specific. I can tell you from experience that the sexual trauma rate amongst patients in the setting I work in is close to 80% and that (outside of when I was working in a high school) I have yet to have a patient who hasn’t had some kind of significant sexual, physical, or emotional trauma. Its a bad world out there.

    The problem with Dr. Drew is that he attributes behaviors he finds unappealing to trauma even when its not the case. The people who called into Loveline weren’t in a locked facility, they were people asking for advice. Also, its worth noting that Dr. Drew is trained as an internist and as an addiction medicine specialist, not as a psychologist. His case conceptualization reflects that lack of training.

    I agree Dr. Drew’s extensive use of T.V. is problematic, but I do believe that *he* believes it’s a useful tool to educate people about addiction.

    I believe Jerry Fallwell believes that he was a useful tool to educate people as well. There are very few true villains in the world, and most of the people who do damage in the public sphere do it because they believe they’re helping.

    It was Jason who made a joke about the heroin as a method of weight loss, so Drew was also reacting to a rather inappropriate joke.

    Which would be clinically irresponsible in the vast majority of situations even before you consider that it happened in the context of treatment which really ought to be confidential for clinical reasons is being televised for entertainment.

    Anyway, I applaud Dr. Drew for educating millions about the very real emotional effects of child abuse and trauma — effects that are still denied by many.

    But its hardly that simple. On the one had he does bring child abuse and trauma into the light, on the other hand he ties it to socially undesirable behaviors and uses instances of denial as excuses not to treat. “Oh, she won’t admit she was raped, nothing we can do here, now to our next caller…”

  10. William: Also, its worth noting that Dr. Drew is trained as an internist and as an addiction medicine specialist, not as a psychologist.

    This was the point I was going to make. Thank you. I’m not under the impression that he has any business running those reunion episodes where, as best as I can tell, his role has been to humiliate people. I say this not as a psychologist, like William, but as someone who sees a couple shrinks and would be livid if I were treated the way he treats them. I guess it would be different if they just presented him as a host, but they clearly use “Dr.” as a credential where none is needed. Fuck it; at that point, bring in Maria Menounos or TJ Lavin.

    One of the things posted recently on a Shameless Sunday was about MTV’s True Life where they talked about being a woman with pain from sex, and went into significant detail about some of their disorders. I didn’t get a chance to see it, but my understanding was that it was fair (though the program was too short to go into all the important topics they could have covered), so I’m very hopeful for this episode.

  11. Dr. Drew merely facilitates discussion, so don’t let his presence deter you from watching. The time slot is awkward (way too late on a Tuesday night) but it will be available online. I encourage you all to watch and look forward to hearing your responses to the show.

  12. Dr. Drew merely facilitates discussion, so don’t let his presence deter you from watching.

    No one “merely facilitates discussion” because there is no such thing as a person without a viewpoint. Thats especially true when you’re talking about someone with a public image to sell. Dr. Drew is basically Jerry Springer with just a little more subtlety and an M.D. after his name that he uses as a shield. People being healthy is bad for Dr. Drew’s business, mature and responsible responses in complex situations with a lack of drama makes for poor entertainment. Given that we’re talking about someone who has made a career out of irresponsibly dispensing advice with a fraction of the info that he ought to have (often with a side kick to make snide comments about whoever is seeking advice) and violating confidentiality for the sake of entertainment, the idea that Dr. Drew would be “merely facilitating discussion” falls flat on it’s face before you even consider that the discussion is taking place on a channel whose business model seems to be based around orchestrating interpersonal trainwrecks and editing the results as salaciously as possible.

    I’m glad we’re talking about abortion in public, I’m glad that a show like 16 and Pregnant would at least confront it, I hope that it ends up being portrayed as a real choice. Unfortunately, with Dr. Drew in the room I worry that we’re going to get a mountain of manufactured pseudo-psychology that plays up whatever angle the editors are looking to play up.

  13. i just got through watching the show and was impressed. i thought it offered real insight into what someone who finds themselves with an unwanted pregnancy goes through. dr. drew offered a website URL for anyone seeking advice on abortion or contraception. i found his treatment balanced, empathetic and sincere.

    as far as his rehab show, the soap opera you witness week to week is just what rehab is like. i know. as a recovering alcoholic, i can tell you that looking back at the insanity helps me stay sober.

    i’ve often wondered if the audience for these shows are assholes just looking to make fun of another’s precarious position, or those that genuinely relate to the human condition. does the fact that i get something out of it justify it’s existence? i don’t know.

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