Abortion Foes Prevail on Two Soaps

Rape, trickery, lies and pregnancies are all in a day’s soap opera but, in the case of NBC’s two daytime dramas lately, so are impassioned speeches about protecting the unborn.

In “Days of Our Lives,” a young character tells her male friend she wants to have an abortion after learning she’s pregnant after a violent rape. The friend pleads against it, saying, “You can’t kill your baby.” He then offers to marry her and pretend the child is his. She agrees.

Another young character, on “Passions,” wants to have an abortion when she learns she’s pregnant by a conniving older character who plied her with alcohol and took advantage of her while she was semi-conscious. Her mother becomes hysterical when she learns of the planned abortion, saying it’s a sin to take an innocent life. The character doesn’t go through with it, but she’s so distraught about the pregnancy that she throws herself off a bridge.

Daytime Dramas Have Tackled Subject Before

Abortion has been used as story fodder for daytime dramas since 1971, when “All My Children’s” Erica Kane was one of the first television characters to have one. And while abortion remains a rarely employed option in most of television, including prime time, “Days” and “Passions” have taken what appears to be a stronger-than-usual anti-abortion stance.

According to NBC, it’s coincidental that both shows have broached the same prickly subject.

“Could the audience infer a preferred choice through how these story lines are playing out? Maybe,” said Sheraton Kalouria, senior vice president of daytime programs at NBC. “But that’s not our intent. The network and the shows resolutely do not take a position on this issue.”

For all the sex on daytime dramas and the pregnancies that sometimes result, abortion is still a hot-button topic--so touchy that Kalouria said he made sure to consult with the network’s standards and practices executives early on about “Days” and “Passions.”

One story began last summer, the other is more recent. In each case, the pregnancy stories were hatched to further other plot twists and complicate characters’ lives.

“Soaps don’t tackle abortion often, but characters have done it. We weren’t telling that story,” he said. “These are about turning points.”

Media buyers say each advertiser has its own roster of taboo subjects and, for many, abortion is consistently at the top of the hands-off list.

“It’s such a contentious issue,” said Guy McCarter, vice president of entertainment at the New York-based ad agency BBDO. “There are a number of advertisers who don’t want to be in episodes that deal with it, whether it’s daytime or prime time.”

Still, Kalouria said the stories, not the ad market, are driving the “Days” and “Passions” she’s-keeping-the-baby plots.

“It would be disingenuous to suggest that advertiser concerns didn’t play a part,” Kalouria said. “But they always do.”

When writers tread into sensitive territory, particularly in daytime, networks require them to have characters discussing all sides of an issue. On “Days,” Shawn, played by Jason Cook, asked his friend if she would consider giving the baby up for adoption. They also visited a Planned Parenthood-type clinic. Shawn was insistent on one point, though: no abortion. He was the sole confidant of his pregnant friend, Jan, played by Heather Lauren Olson.

“Passions,” best known for its cartoonish witch and talking doll characters and fantasy sequences, has crucifix-wearing, church-going Theresa agonizing over her pregnancy. It’s made worse when her fiance, who doesn’t know about it, talks incessantly about the joy of children and how he can’t wait until they have a brood of their own.

Characters Rarely Face the Question

Traditionally, soaps often spare characters from the abortion question. When there’s an unwanted pregnancy, more often than not, characters have miscarriages.

But not always. Susan Lucci’s Erica Kane, on ABC’s “All My Children,” was the highest-profile soap character to have an abortion, in keeping with show creator and soap icon Agnes Nixon’s approach of tackling social issues. With a second unwanted pregnancy, Erica gave that baby up for adoption.

Daytime shows have often been more daring than their prime-time counterparts in dealing with abortion, with rare series such as “Maude” and “China Beach” as well as NBC’s fact-based made-for-TV movie “Roe v. Wade” kicking up protests and advertiser pull-outs.

More recently, popular shows ranging from NBC’s “Friends” to HBO’s “Sex and the City” (which, notably, doesn’t have to worry about advertisers) have featured characters deciding to keep out-of-wedlock babies. Unwed mothers no longer cause the dust-up they once did, when fictional journalist Murphy Brown drew the ire of then-Vice President Dan Quayle in 1992, setting off a national debate about single motherhood.

Daytime has returned to the topic many times with varying approaches. A character on CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” had an abortion, then went crazy as a result. A young “All My Children” character walked a gantlet of protesters at a clinic before sticking to her decision to have an abortion in the early ‘90s. That pregnancy was the result of a rape.

Soaps tend to stay away from politics--characters don’t talk current events--but social issues are a staple of the more serious shows. Everything from fetal alcohol syndrome and interracial marriages to homophobia and domestic abuse has been addressed.

“They get good press, and it makes them feel good to deal with social issues,” said Michael Logan, contributing editor and soap columnist for TV Guide. “But abortion seems to be the one bugaboo.”

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“Days of Our Lives” and “Passions” are seen locally at 1 and 2 p.m. weekdays, respectively, on NBC.