You shouldn’t source all of your medical information from TV shows, especially not shows exploring a world with zombies taking over the earth. The word “duh” comes to mind, right? But some people want to hold The Walking Dead accountable for every little thing. But isn’t it too much to ask something like, “Could you maybe promote family values and show the complete and proper way to bandage a snake bite while you’re decapitating those zombies”

On AMC’s The Walking Dead, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) recently found out that she was pregnant and had some second thoughts about bringing a child into a world that is essentially a zombie apocalypse. She had Glenn make a run to get her some morning after pills. She downed them, and then threw them up. She’s conflicted.

While watching, I wondered if Lori didn’t realize that, as the name implies, the pills would have needed to be taken days (weeks?) ago to be effective. Rather than thinking she was dumb, I decided she was probably desperate and just praying they might work. It’s not like she could go up to Hershel and ask for a quick abortion before the morning chores.

The American Civil Liberties bloggers apparently watch The Walking Dead, and they weighed in on the situation by writing:

“There is considerable confusion about the difference between medication abortion and emergency contraception, and it was distressing to see this misunderstanding further spread by a show like The Walking Dead. Aren’t they supposed to have fact checkers to catch this kind of thing? Emergency contraception prevents pregnancy and is especially useful in cases of unanticipated sexual activity, contraceptive failure, or sexual assault. The Walking Dead, is not doing its fans or themselves any favors by promoting false information.”

Gleen Mazzara, The Walking Dead showrunner, has now responded to via The Daily Beast.

“The producers and writers of The Walking Dead are fully aware that the morning-after pill would not induce an abortion or miscarriage. We exercised our artistic creative license to explore a storyline with one of our characters, not to make any pro-life or pro-choice political statement. We sincerely hope that people are not turning to the fictional world of The Walking Dead for accurate medical information.”

In the vein of artistic and creative licenses, the idea of whether people should be procreating in this world on the show is something I explored in several of my Walking Dead reviews. Why? Because it’s a really complex issue!

Robert Kirkman, Walking Dead producer, told EW that, “If there’s ever been an argument for abortion I think the thought of bringing a child into a world infested with zombies is definitely something that at least warrants a discussion,” he said. “Because it is a horrific world that they’ve been living in and they have been watching people die left and right. After everything that Carl has been going through and losing Sophia — I mean this has been very definitively been proven to be a world that is not fit for children. So that is an issue that’s going to come up.”

Do you, intelligent Small Screen Scoop readers, agree or disagree?

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