A History of Onscreen Women and Abortion

It was a ballsy move for HBO's Girls to take on abortion in its inaugural season (in its second episode, no less), but Lena Dunham is one ballsy lady. In the episode, aptly titled "Vagina Panic," Jessa matter-of-factly decides to end her pregnancy, and her friends all rally around her by meeting at the clinic to throw her a "beautiful abortion." As it turns out, it's a false alarm, but the show handled the issue honestly and with appropriate humor — a big step in the right direction, in our opinion.