Maude Has An Abortion, Part 2 – No Controversy Results
The second episode of the popular television show Maude, in which Maude had an abortion, was broadcast on this day. The first episode, “Maude’s Dilemma,” was broadcast the week before, on November 14, 1972.
There were no public protests about the treatment of abortion on a popular television show at the time.
Protests did occur when the two episodes were broadcast in reruns after the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade on January 22, 1973).
Watch the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kRJqZ7WGP8
Learn more about sex and television: Elana Levine, Wallowing in Sex: The New Sexual Culture of 1970s American Television (2007)
Learn about abortion in America before Roe: Linda Greenhouse and Riva Siegel, Before Roe v. Wade: Voices that Shaped the Abortion Debate Before the Supreme Court’s Ruling (2010)