History Main / AbortionFalloutDrama

* In ''Film/DirtyDancing'', the dancing instructor tries to have an abortion but because it's TheSixties and they're illegal, it goes horribly wrong. Fortunately, the heroine's father is a doctor, so he manages to save her, although it does make for a major misunderstanding. In this case, the girl is still considered "good" both by the audience and the other characters, and the blame is rightly placed on the rich snob who knocked her up and dumped her. Even the heroine's father blames him when he learns the truth.

* In ''Series/MurdochMysteries'': [[spoiler:Dr. Julia Ogden]] reveals that she had an abortion and suffered severe complications, which inspired her friend to become an illegal abortionist in TheGayNineties in Canada where even contraceptive methods are against the law. She has no regrets because there was no way she would want to marry her lover, and she wanted to pursue her studies and career. However, it's later revealed that the abortion has left her barren. It's not clear how much she wants kids herself, but she knows the man she loves longs for a family.

* In the penultimate episode of ''Series/DaisyJonesAndTheSix'', [[spoiler:Karen, adamant that she doesn't want children, quietly aborts her baby by Graham]]. The fallout occurs in the finale, when [[spoiler:Graham gets upset that he didn't tell her, and the two are forced to confront their incompatible desires for family]].

* ''Series/ColdCase'': Two episodes focused on this, both taking place in the '60s, both with the VictimOfTheWeek who took action after a close friend suffered a botched abortion and became infertile for it (in both cases the botched abortions highlighted the trouble criminalizing abortion could cause, rather than serving to punish the characters).
** In [[Recap/ColdCaseS1E16Volunteers “Volunteers”]], Julia helped other women secretly get illegal abortions from qualified doctors instead of [[BackAlleyDoctor dangerous hacks]].
** In [[Recap/ColdCaseS6E11Wings “Wings”]], Ally’s best friend got an abortion because the {{Double Standard}}s meant she would be fired from her job as a stewardess. When she became infertile, her fiancé left her. Ally decided to start demanding equal rights for both pilots and stewardesses.

** Katy Harris was pregnant at eighteen (while dating a much older man). Her parents didn't approve of the relationship and told her when they suspected he was having an affair. He wasn't, but Katy believed them and got an abortion. She's portrayed as a victim this time, and when she finds out she's DrivenToSuicide over it.

** In the fourth season, we find out that [[spoiler: Prentiss had an abortion when she was fifteen. Though this fact is mentioned in the context of revealing why she's screwed up, the abortion is never treated as the reason; it is instead the negative reaction of her priest that damages not her, but her friend]].

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Remember, this is not about]] any AbortedArc in any of the VideoGame/{{Fallout}} games.

* In the Russian film ''Deal'', a ballroom studio owner learns that one of his top female dancers is knocked up only a few months before a major competition. After berating her for not using protection, he asks if it's too late to get an abortion. She says her parents are against it and runs out. At the end, the owner tries to reconcile with his wife, who demanded separation earlier in the movie, only for her to reveal that the real reason she wants to leave him is that he made her get an abortion early in their dance careers. Being young and foolish, she agreed and now regrets it.
* In the 1968 German film ''Der Artz von St. Pauli'' (English titles: ''Street of Sin''; ''Sidewalk Doctor''; ''Females for Hire''; ''Bedroom Stewardesses''), Klaus is an upscale gynecologist and illegal abortionist, assisted by his nurse Gerda. A young woman comes to his office for an abortion, and the abortion procedure is dramatized. During the operation, Klaus' hand slips, and he is unable to halt the resulting bleeding. [[spoiler:Gauze is inserted to temporarily absorb the blood, then Klaus and Gerda go to the next room. Klaus wants to call an ambulance but Gerda disagrees because of the trouble it would bring. While they argue, the patient awakens in pain, overhears them, stumbles from the operating room via another exit, goes outside, and hails a taxi. She is dead on arrival at the hospital. Later in the film, Klaus shoots nurse Gerda dead, and when finally cornered Klaus shoots himself.]] (It is unknown if any of the edited English-dubbed versions retained the abortion subplot.)

* In ''Film/DirtyDancing'', the dancing instructor tries to have an abortion but because it's TheSixties and they're illegal, it goes horribly wrong. Fortunately the heroine's father is a doctor, so he manages to save her, although it does make for a major misunderstanding. In this case, the girl is still considered "good" both by the audience and the other characters, and the blame is rightly placed on the rich snob who knocked her up and dumped her. Even the heroine's father blames him when he learns the truth.

* ''Film/HighFidelity'': This turns out to be one of the reasons Rob and Laura have broken up at the start of the movie. [[NoFourthWall Rob explains to the audience]] that Laura had a SurprisePregnancy, but before she could tell him, he cheated on her with another woman and she chose to abort and didn't tell him. Way later after they had made up, Rob made an unrelated wisecrack about them starting a family, which reduced Laura to tears; she explained about the abortion and he lost his temper at her over it.

** In ''Film/Persona1966'', Alma's darkest secret is getting an abortion after an orgiastic tryst with underage boys. When she recounts this, she burst into tears and talks about how she is haunted that she isn't living according to her values. This sets up the duality between her and Elisabet, who is outwardly a perfect mother but deeply resents her son after failing to abort him.

* In ''Ayesha At Last'', this is revealed to be the reason why [[spoiler:Zareena is the BlackSheep of Khalid’s family. She was in a SecretRelationship and got pregnant. She had an abortion but went to gym class immediately after. She started bleeding and was hospitalized. When her mother learned the truth, she responded by [[IHaveNoSon disowning Zareena]], pulling her out of school, and sending her into an ArrangedMarriage in India. She refused to speak to her, even after her father died. In the present day, Zareena doesn’t regret what she did and is HappilyMarried but refuses to forgive her mother for what happened.]]

* In ''Literature/FlightOfTheSwan'': For a while, as a sixteen-year-old ballerina in late 19th century Russia, Niura has two lovers: her arts patron Dandré and Russian Prince Kotshubei. Eventually she gets pregnant and has an abortion that leaves her infertile. Ever since, if she sees a child on the street, she feels like hugging him.

* Saga in Season 4 of ''Series/BronBroen'' aborts [[spoiler:Henrik's]] baby, after promising him she wouldn't because [[spoiler:he was still haunted by the disappearance of his daughters]] and saying she would let him raise the baby. This is why he breaks up with her and he never fully forgives her, although it's also subject to a DebateAndSwitch in that [[spoiler:one of his daughters ''isn't'' dead, so he does still get to be a father.]]

GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion. But what about when they don't? Abortion Fallout Drama is about plotlines and character arcs that deal with a character's decision to get an abortion.

** Invoked: Tracy -- MagnificentBitch extraordinaire -- pretends she's pregnant and that she aborted the child in order to get sympathy from her boyfriend, who wasn't letting her actual daughter live with them. Her mother is at first horrified that she got an abortion, and later horrified that Tracy would fake such a thing.

May involve WombHorror. Compare ShotgunWedding, TragicStillbirth, ConvenientMiscarriage, and PrematureBirthDrama.

* ''Theatre/IfThen'' follows a woman named Elizabeth [[SplitTimelinesPlot in two alternate timelines]] that arise based on a decision she makes early in the play. In [[AlternativeSelfNameChange the Beth timeline]], Beth gets pregnant after a fling with [[spoiler:her best friend Lucas]] and between her newfound focus on her career, Lucas's general immaturity, and the fact that it was just a fling rather than love, she decides to secretly get an abortion. When [[spoiler:Lucas]] (who has always wanted children but never spoke up about it), finds out he's upset that she got the abortion without even telling him, wondering if things could have gone differently for them. Years go by in universe before the two speak again.

* In the stage version of ''The Twilight of the Gold's,'' [[spoiler: Suzanne has an abortion because of a genetic test that determines that her unborn child is gay. As a result, she becomes infertile and is estranged from her gay brother, David.]]

* ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'': In the Wicke & Nephew oneshot. Wicke is specifically noted to be a carrier of a Genetic Disorder, and due to the politics of her nation screening for a male embryo possibly affected is illegal. She decides that she'd only have kids by adoption or stepchildren.

* ''Webcomic/BornToBeAlive'' is the sequel to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}} fancomic ''Webcomic/IWillSurvive'' in which Judy decides to get an abortion after Nick gets her pregnant, causing Nick to break up with her. The sequel reveals that Judy was the first rabbit to get an abortion, and there were serious medical consequences that kept her in the hospital for a while.

* In ''Series/{{Katla}}'' season 1 episode 7, the original Gunhild reveals that she sought some kind of illegal abortion when carrying Þór‘s child (because it was too late for a legal termination under the laws of the time), but it was botched, and she ended up giving birth to Björn — which also appears to explain his AmbiguousDisorder.

* In ''Film/ElCrimenDelPadreAmaro'' (English title: ''The Crime of Father Amaro''), the titular priest has an affair with good girl Amelia and gets her pregnant. Being a Catholic priest in very Catholic Mexico, he of course wants her to leave town to protect his reputation. Instead, she tries to reunite with her ex-boyfriend Ruben so she can pass the baby off as his. When Ruben rejects her advances, Father Amaro arranges for Amelia to have a back-alley abortion. [[spoiler:The abortion, of course, goes wrong and Amelia dies. Ruben coincidentally leaves town at the same time and so is subsequently blamed for what happened to Amelia while Amaro gets to keep his good reputation.]] Amelia is portrayed as an innocent victim of Amaro's selfishness rather than a hussy who got what she deserved.