American Family Association Gives Further Warning About ‘13 Reasons Why’ Abortion Subplot

TUPELO, Miss.—For a year and a half, American Family Association (AFA, www.afa.net) has been warning parents and grandparents about the very damaging teen-targeted Netflix series “13 Reasons Why,” which focuses on issues such as suicide, sexual assault, rape, school violence, homicide and mental illness.

After Netflix released Season 3 of the series last month—despite repeated calls from AFA and other family organizations to drop the entire series from the streaming service—a new subplot about abortion is making headlines.

While Season 3 is a murder mystery about the homicide of a teenage serial rapist, abortion figures into the new season as well, according to this recent Townhall headline: “Media Praise ‘Realistic’ Abortion Scene in ‘13 Reasons Why.’” Townhall further reports: “But it’s the definition of unrealistic: Not only does the show demonize the pro-life movement as a whole, but it also reduces abortion to the mere removal of ‘uterine content.’” Other than the dulled sound of the vacuum sucking life from the womb, the on-screen procedure appears to be similar to a routine gynecological exam.

 “It shows one side—and it’s not the pro-life one,” Townhall adds.

“We shouldn’t be shocked that the producers and writers of ‘13 Reasons Why’ are again attempting to poison teen minds with dark and disturbing storylines as they spread the pro-abortion, death-culture agenda that is central to liberal, progressive America to an impressionable, young generation,” said Tim Wildmon, president of AFA. “Each season, ‘13 Reasons Why’ continues to push the envelope, so our call also continues to be clear: Netflix, drop this terrible series. If the streaming service won’t, even after repeated calls and concerns, parents and grandparents must be acutely aware of what our children and teens are watching. Be vigilant. The entertainment industry certainly isn’t committed to protecting our kids, so we must.”

In the second episode of Season 3, Chloe, a character who became pregnant by her boyfriend, the show’s serial rapist, is shown seeking an abortion and having one. Chloe goes to what she thinks is an abortion clinic but soon realizes it’s a pregnancy center, after a counselor affectionately uses words such as “mother” and “baby.”

“The show frames the woman [counselor] as manipulative while she tells Chloe that the ‘ultrasound looks good’ and makes a point of showing [her] the sonogram,” Townhall reports. “But that’s only the beginning of the episode’s attempt to paint the pro-life movement as deceptive.” The episode even refers to pro-life advocates as “crazies.”

Chloe makes her way to an actual abortion clinic where she ends her child’s life and moves on with her own.

“Based on the suicide contagion that spiked among young people after watching Season 1, it only makes sense to assume that an ‘abortion contagion’ could result from Season 3—this time sentencing innocent babies to death,” warned AFA’s Rebecca Davis. 

Netflix has removed a controversial and graphic three-minute suicide scene from Season 1 but has confirmed that a fourth and final season is already in production.

AFA invites parents, grandparents and other family members to learn more about “13 Reasons Why:”

• Read the AFA Journal story about Season 1 and the impact it had on the family of Anna Bright, a 14-year-old who committed suicide after binge-watching “13 Reasons Why.”
• Watch the heartbreaking video about Anna.                   
• Read this blog from AFA’s The Stand for an overview of Season 2. The tragic effects of “13 Reasons Why” are very real.
• Sign the petition to Netflix and share it as a way to warn other friends, family and church members about the dangers of “13 Reasons Why.” Thus far, more than 155,000 have signed.

View the media page for AFA here. For more information on American Family Association, visit www.afa.net or follow AFA on Facebook or on Twitter @AmericanFamAssc.

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To interview a representative from the American Family Association, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Jeff Tolson, 610.584.1096, ext. 108, or ext. 102.