We’ve given you a taste of the God-awful Fox television series that is Filthy Rich. There’s the greed and corruption from the Monreaux family of televangelists, including the illegitimate children. While last week's November 9 episode, “2 Corinthians 3:17” included a mother retelling how she refused a coerced abortion, that was an outlier. November 16's episode, “James 4:1,” pushed abortion.
With Eugene Monreaux (Gerald McRaney) presumed dead, Margaret Monreaux (Kim Cattrall) is running the show. She must now cope with her daughter, Rose (Aubrey Dollar), going to New York City for an abortion. The father, Mark (Mark L. Young), presented himself as her half-brother when in reality he stole his half-brother’s identity, but that’s another story.
Immediately following the positive pregnancy test, in comes the push for abortion, through Ginger Sweet (Melia Kreiling), who throughout the season refers to herself as "that bitch" and is presented as empowered for running a pornographic website. She offers to take Rose to get an abortion in New York City, since apparently one can't in Louisiana. She tells Rose to "just hear me out. There are things in New York that you can't get in Louisiana, at least not easily.”
Ginger's comments are at best exaggerated. New York City is not the only place women can get an abortion, unfortunately. With Louisiana's heartbeat law being stopped by the courts, women can get an abortion there up until 20-weeks. Rose just found out she's pregnant, so presumably is not far along. Abortion regulations in the state include counseling; a 24-hour waiting period; and an ultrasound. There are four abortion facilities in Louisiana, including in New Orleans, where the show takes place.
Rose has a conversation with Mark about what to do:
Mark: I want the baby.
Rose: Who told you?
Mark: Margaret. Well, she told Brett and then Brett told me. That guy sucks. I just want to do the right thing.
Rose: It is one thing to double down on fraud and maybe go to jail, but it is another thing entirely to put that on an innocent child.
Mark: Okay, yeah. No, you're right. If you don't want to have the baby with me, just give it up for adoption. You know, like I was adopted. I turned out okay, basically.
Rose: Everybody seems to have an opinion on what I should do, but nobody else has to live with the consequences. You made your choice, and you will let me make mine.
Rose ultimately does not respect Mark's thoughts, nor is there any indication she's told him she's getting an abortion. It's somehow unfair for an "innocent child" to be conceived in a non-ideal situation, yet not to be aborted.
Margaret wants Rose to have the baby and get married, though Rose refuses to be another character on the show planning a shotgun wedding. Margaret threatens to cut Rose off then:
Rose: Who I'm sleeping with is none of your business.
Margaret: Rose, I was only trying to help.
Rose: You betrayed my trust.
Margaret: Don't be an unwed mother like my mother was.
Rose: That is such a crock. This is all about you and your stupid image.
Margaret: Rose, I don't want you to do something that you will regret forever.
Rose: I stopped thinking like you a long time ago. I was just afraid to tell you.
Margaret: Afraid? Afraid of telling me?
Rose: I was afraid if I disagreed with you, that you would reject me. I'm going to New York, and I'm gonna take care of this.
Margaret: You think carefully because if you go to New York City, the Lord and I may not forgive you.
Rose: You can't even say the word, can you, Mama? It's called an abortion. This early, it is not a child. I don't know, maybe one day it would be, maybe it wouldn't. But I am your child. And if going to New York means that you can't love me anymore, then was it ever love?
Someone who doesn't want her grandchild aborted is presented less than ideally. Then again, Filthy Rich has a particular image of Margaret to uphold. Rose may regret her abortion, but there are programs for healing, recovery, and forgiveness.
Then there's the pro-abortion talking point rejecting the biological fact that life begins at conception, meaning it's a child, the whole time. Not only is it a child, even going by the pro-abortion logic that it isn't a child until a later stage, it "would be" a child.
Margaret boards the plane to talk to Rose as it’s about to take off. “Sweetie, I don't agree with your decision. But, sweetie, I am here. You are my daughter and there is nothing more important than you,” is how she leaves it.
It isn’t the best course of action to reject someone who has an abortion, but couldn’t Margaret offer a more compelling argument? What about reminding Rose about her baby being an "innocent child?" Or encouraging her to take more time, or at the least consider what the father wants?
While such an abortion standpoint is nothing new from television or unexpected from this show, it's nevertheless distressing. Just as the abortion industry lies, so does Filthy Rich.
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