Funding backstory on MTV’s abortion special
I have been communicating with a person involved in the production of MTV’s abortion special, No Easy Decision. The show, which aired December 28, continues to garner interest. Bill O’Reilly plans to discuss it on The O’Reilly Factor tonight, for instance.
Last week both Bryan Kemper and I speculated the program may have been funded by abortion proponents, since it ran commercial free and admittedly involved the pro-abort group Exhale in the process.
The person with whom I have been emailing dispelled that theory. Although s/he could not provide documentation, s/he told me what s/he knew from being in the room for some of the planning and production. Interesting stuff.
The insider told me No Easy Decision was not its own show or series but part of 16 and Pregnant: “Same producers, same camera men, same budget.” So funding apparently came from the 16 and Pregnant budget. One of the post-abortive mothers, Katie, corroborated on her blog that No Easy Decision was considered “season 2b’s finale special.”
More insider info, quoting directly:
Pro-choice organizations were only involved insofar as MTV utilized them to find young women who had had abortions and were comfortable talking about them in such a public way. Information about the show was leaked to those groups early, but they had no hand in it.
While the show did pair with Exhale, I feel this was primarily to support the women involved, who all identified themselves as pro-choice and were not interested in counseling from religious or ideologically conservative organizations.
Producers were just as worried groups like Planned Parenthood and NARAL would dislike the show as they were of anti-choice organizations. It was really the producers’ brainchild. They didn’t seek out advertisers because they wanted No Easy Decision to run uninterrupted. Producers had to fight to schedule in the small amount of time they were able to get.
Dr. Drew is not “pro-abortion” at all and was actually pretty critical of the participants throughout the filming process. In the past, he’s spoken out against abortion, saying that too often it was used as a form of birth control.
I don’t know enough about Drew Pinsky to offer an opinion on that latter comment. I do know from several young people who are familiar with him that he has mischaracterized the Pill’s mode of action. One emailed me, “I think it was in the Team Mom Season 2 After Show that one girl said she was scared of taking BC because she heard it could kill the baby, and he adamantly said no it doesn’t.”
So anyway, there you go. As I said, interesting chatter. I’ll, of course, pass along any more inside information I receive. I can’t say how I know this insider is the real deal, I but I have corroborated that fact.

I mentioned that before. I think it was Whitney who didn’t want to take the pill because she heard it caused abortion and Dr. Drew looked at her so condescendingly and said it did NOT cause an abortion. It was like a flashback to my ob/gyn who looked at me with that same belittling look and lied about the true nature of the pill.
There are plenty of pro-life women who had abortions in their past and are willing to talk about them. Why did they only choose pro-choice girls? Were they afraid of a woman getting on there and saying “I deeply regret killing my child by abortion”? But in a way it was more powerful that these girls who say “Abortion was the best choice for me” and then start bawling and admit they can’t stand to be around their baby nephew. Wow. That says it all.
Sydney, good point on wondering why they didn’t have any post-abortive mothers on who regretted their decision. I’m guessing they didn’t want to rub salt in Markai’s wound. But they could have interviewed that mother separately.
Why does it matter who is funding it? Are you really trying to sniff out some sinister pro-choice cabal that is plotting to infiltrate MTV and spread propaganda? Yeah, this anti-abortion movement is really going places.
Watched the extended interview where Natalia said that they made her watch the ultrasound before her abortion. She got very emotional and cried and Markai said “They made you watch THE ULTRASOUND? Thats horrible!” and hugged Natalia as she cried. If its only a ball of cells why the tears? I left a comment on MTV. I have had ultrasounds on various parts of my body and never felt any emotional connection. I had ultrasounds on my ovaries right around the time I conceived my son because I was having intense pain in my side. Since I was only days pregnant they didn’t see my son but checked my ovaries. I thought it was interesting but no emotion. Everything looked healthy and wonderful.
Fast forward a month later when blood work had revealed I was pregnant. They were concerned it was tubal because that first ultrasound had revealed no baby in the uterus. When they did the ultrasound and I saw my baby with his beating heart I broke into a wide grin and started bawling. It was an instant connection. An instant feeling of love. It was EMOTIONAL!
Come on Natalia, just be honest with what you saw. Why do you keep trying to act like it was not a life that was taken the day of your abortion.
And Katie coming right out and saying “It was a baby.” saying she never denied it was a baby but that it was a “parenting decision” to abort. Markai and Natalia looked slightly horrified as Katie said that. WHA? So if I kill my son this year can I just tell everyone it was a “parenting decision”? Was Andrea Yates and Susan Smith just making “parenting decisions”? Abortion deadens the conscience and the maternal instinct and Katie is clear proof of that.
Sydney, I watched that, too, and your point is again well taken.
That said, Natalia was stretching the truth. While some states force abortionists to offer to show an abortion-minded mother the ultrasound of her baby, which she can refuse, and Oklahoma mandates that the abortionist turn the screen toward the mother, nowhere is a mother forced to view the sonogram. She has only to say no or avert or close her eyes.
We need to come out and say it:
Killing an unborn child, a human being, is not a “parenting decision”, it is a crime.
Killing an unborn child, a human being, is not a “parenting decision”, it is a crime
You can say it all you want but until it is actually criminalized, it isn’t a crime. And for many, it’s not even a problem – let alone a crime.
Here is a trivial memory I have about Dr. Drew:
He got his media start on a late night call in radio show called “Love Line” Adam Corolla was his co-host. The show was basically just drugs, sex, rock-and-roll, and domestic violence for teens.
More than ten years ago I remember listening to the show and abortion came up. Dr. Drew made the following comment in reference to pro-lifers: Their arguments against abortion are compelling. His pro-abortion co-host was taken aback by this so he repeated it saying: Yes, their reasoning is compelling. He put special emphasis on the word compelling. Further discussion resulted in another statement something like…unfortunately abortion is sometimes for the best.
It is a crime under natural law. If an unjust government allows an inherently unjust act, it does not change the nature of the unjust act. Murder, rape, slavery are all crimes, even if the government were to legalize them (which it did in the case of slavery).
The fact that some people lack understanding of right and wrong and think it is okay to kill human beings when it is in their self interest, does not prove that a crime is not a crime.
Killing human beings at any point in our lives, in the absence of biological necessity, always has been and always will be a crime.
I’m guessing Drew Pinsky is pro-choice the way Mary Anne Sorrentino (former director of Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island) is pro-choice. She claimed she wasn’t happy about abortion being used for birth control, or when girls would delay a decision, but also stated she would always try to help them out (seemingly out of compassion).
Jesus has it exactly right – “If you are not for me – you are against me.”
One need not be “ideologically conservative” to know when someone is not compassionate, but is looking out for their own long-term interests.
CC and Joan, that’s a plus 1 for each comment, which is +2 = $18 for my local CPC’s.
Readers, my 2011 aim is to keep track of the anti-life comments that I see on Jill’s blog, LiveAction, etc. and give $1 to my local CPC’s for each directly anti-life comment that supports, defends, or promotes abortion. In this way, I am turning the poison of their comments into a good result for the CPC’s. I can’t afford to use people’s statistical analysis or to track the pro-abortion blogs (unless I win the lottery, lol!) but I can afford to do this. I have to see the comment with my own eyes for it to count. If a person who is usually anti-life makes a comment about another subject (such as Sarah Palin’s new shoes are ugly) that doesn’t address abortion, it won’t count.
Any pro-lifers who want to match my activity are welcome and encouraged to do the same. It’s only Jan. 6 and $18 can buy a few diapers and maybe a onesie! There are two CPC’s close to me, but if by the end of the year the results are high, I may divide the contribution in 3 and support a CPC that is far from me but accomplishing awesome things for moms and their babies.
If I see a shrill comment that mispells the word “babies” I will donate $5 to LiveAction.
Joan, CC, 2011 is here and the pro-life horse is out of the gate at a gallop. Hide your cutting tools because abortion is about to be… aborted!
Ninek, great idea!
By the tears I saw from the three of them I think they all regret their abortions..they just do not know it yet because they are still buying into the lies and are, as Markai said “confused”.
If they had nothing to regret and it was all so okay they would not be crying. They are trying to justify things to themselves, but it is obvious all three were hurting.
Very sad
If the shoe were on the other foot and, for example, Amanda M said that everytime she got a pro-life comment she was going to give money to PP, would that make me less inclined to comment? Food for thought. If I wanted to expose more web users to what I had to say, I might be willing to take that chance.
Then again, pro-aborts often lie, so I wouldn’t be too worried they were going to write a check for real. The higher up on their food chain you go, the likelier they’re receiving money for abortion and not giving it. After all, if pro-aborts were generous of heart they a) wouldn’t be pro-abortion and b) wouldn’t have their fingers in every goverment till from the federal to the local level. My new slogan for 2011: It’s fun to defund! Maybe gals like Ashley should take to calling us “De-Fundies.” LOL!!
So Ninek, will you be assuring that every woman who give birth and goes to one of your CPC’s will receive the equivalent of a welfare check and food stamps and medical assistance for the next few years.
“After all, if pro-aborts were generous of heart they a) wouldn’t be pro-abortion”
Generous of heart means cutting checks for those women who, without access to safe and legal abortion, would be even more destitute than they are. But do let’s defund. Cuz if that’s what you want, all the support systems for women and girls who do give birth will be cut. Praise the Lord. Right? And while we’re at it, let’s defund child protective services cuz parents have the god given right to have sex with and beat the crap out their kids. Right? LOL!
And if you’re defunding, that means no more state subsidized foster homes or orphanages. Won’t those lil kids look so cute begging on the streets. Good enough for them. LOL!
Doh, that’s another diaper, CC!
You know, unless you’re willing to take all violent convicts into your own home, I don’t want to hear your whining about the death penalty.
Unless you’re willing to take in all stray cats and dogs, I don’t want to hear your whining about mercy-killing.
Unless you’re willing to take in all women who live in oppressive societies, I don’t want to hear you whine about Sharia law.
Unless you’re willing to volunteer to teach in public schools for free, I don’t want to hear you whine about our educational system.
Shall I go on?
Nice ninek. Thank you!
Remember every abortion means at least one pre-born child dies. We do what we can. Right now, several families are doing just fine, now, thank you, do to kindness of others. And they did not have to kill their children via abortion to do it.
No, they don’t have fancy cars or housing. They live a modest life. But their priorities are turned around to better things because others showed them kindness, and that re-prioritized their thinking.
An act of kindness begets another act of kindness. But the act of abortion starts a whole new chain of events. We even have a couple who are getting married later this month! ;)
CC,
A generous heart isn’t just about money. Some people who don’t have a lot of money find ways of helping out. Anyone who’s trying to solve the problem of abortion either through educating on the problems with abortion, donating baby/other items, donating money, prayer, or a slew of other means is contributing to a solution that isn’t abortion–a life giving solution. When pro-lifers work together it’s not just a matter of cutting a cheque.
How do you know someone who doesn’t donate money doesn’t find other ways of helping that person’s situation?
Twenty five years ago I might have wrung my hands at a pro-aborts ‘you gotta take care of all of them or you can’t protest’ crock. I lived in a one bedroom tiny apt and I hadn’t travelled all that much yet. But now, I see the long term benefits of adoptions (it’s not 1950 anymore, it’s not like you can’t have contact or get updates on your child’s growth). I see the zealous way that pro-aborts attack the CPC’s. I also have now travelled more and yes, I’ve been accosted by the dreaded child beggar and the mini pick pocket. You know what? God bless those kids. They’re breathing, talking, laughing, and they get a fresh chance everyday for a better life. The pro-aborts solution: kill them all in utero if they can’t have new sneakers and an ipod. Well, hand-me-downs got me through school and I didn’t die from it.
I think for CC LOL stands for lots of lunacy.