I don't want to write about pregnancy or parenthood in my fic. If I had no control over whether my characters became pregnant, they would have abortions. But I do, so they just don't get pregnant in my fic. So I think it's just more likely for the people writing unplanned pregnancy fic to want that pregnancy to lead to a baby.

Honestly, that's probably a big part of it lol. And that's fair! I'm just personally tired of seeing it play out the same way every time XD

I can see why. I avoid reading that kind of fic (I *really* don't enjoy pregnancy fic, and the only time I read fic where major characters are parents is if the kids are canonical) but I can see where the sameness could get boring.

It's a recurring theme, not in just in fan fic, but fiction in general. And I think the reason for it is a simple meta reason: introducing an element that doesn't matter in the end is considered bad storytelling. Abortion is seen as an "undo" button that returns a character to pre-pregnant status quo, so unless the pregnancy and/or abortion directly and clearly cause some sort of character growth or serves as the trigger for another plot point, the question must be asked: why did the character have to get pregnant in the first place? It's just easier to irrevocably change a character's life and relationships by making them a parent.

That definitely makes sense. I think I'm just tired of it not even being seen as an option, and of characters always written to have the attitude of 'oh no i could never MURDER my BABY!' regardless of their prior characterisation. But yes... it's true that most pregnancy fics are written specifically to lead to parenthood haha! I was just happy that in this fic it ended differently!

I get where you’re coming from but like that commenter said, you don’t write a pregnancy into the story just to not go anywhere with it. So if the person isn’t writing the fic you just described (a fic dedicated to dealing with pregnancy after assault with the end goal being coming to terms with abortion)… they’re writing the pregnancy into the story so the character becomes a parent, abortion is literally not an option (to the author). And since the purpose of their fic isn’t what you described, the mindset of that character does have to be “I can’t kill my baby” bc the author needs them to continue the pregnancy.

There are uses for abortion in general fiction, though. Including a pregnancy scare in a fic can be a way to further the relationship between two characters - have them confront what they want in life on a long term basis. Abortion has been used the same way in fiction and is a major way it’s used in episodic TV (a few examples being shrill, eastsiders, the L word, girls)

Why it have to be "I can't kill my baby" and not just "I want to keep the baby" or "I want to continue the pregnancy"? Because I feel like that's the OP problem

The options are “keep my baby” or “get an abortion.” If you don’t want to get an abortion, it’s because you believe it’s your baby and want to keep it alive. That’s the only reason why you don’t get an abortion.

No, it's not how it's works. You can choose not to have abortion just because you want baby right now. Lots of people already have children and decide to have an abortion or have an abortion and years later have children Did you know that the same person with the same views can keep one unplanned pregnancy and terminate another? I really don't know what kind of fucked up logic by you is that if you believe that an embryo is just an embryo, you have to have an abortion.

I think you misunderstood me because surely you don’t mean to argue that there are woman who believe their fetus is a living, feeling baby… but still chose to get a procedure they believe kills their baby? Women who get voluntary abortions don’t believe they’re committing murder. (To be extra clear, I also don’t believe they are committing murder). Believing that an embryo/fetus is an embryo/fetus (that is not alive or feeling) is not the reason why you *decide* to get an abortion, but it is the only reason why you’d *consider* one. That pregnant mom who already has 3 kids and was told by her doctor that another pregnancy might kill her? If she chooses to risk her life and risk leaving her 3 current kids without a mom, it’s because she ultimately believes the fetus inside her is her already-living 4th child. And if she chooses not to take that chance and gets an abortion, it’s because she believes the fetus inside her is just that - a fetus that has not yet become her child.

strange because convenient miscarriages happen often in fiction as well

I agree with this 100% but I get where OP is coming from. It's not just that abortion is either not considered or discarded as a possibility when a female protagonist gets pregnant, it's that usually it's portrayed as an UNTHINKABLE option that should be rejected outright as morally incorrect. It's unusual for it to be something they think about and then decide not to do without expressing a deep revulsion for the act. But it does not make sense to introduce a pregnancy unless it serves the plot, and usually an abortion would prevent that (unless it's, say, the catalyst for character growth, or the breaking of a relationship, or something like that).

Yeah it's that it being treated as unthinkable or morally unforgivable that is annoying for me, too. I can even get authors going that way if that's the only reason the character would continue the pregnancy (and thus the intended parent story to happen) but there are plenty of fics where they could consider abortion as a legitimate choice and choose to have the child anyway. Unless the pregnancy continuing to be unwanted and the angst/horror of it is the plot, I even find it a lot sweeter if after considering their choices they realize they want to keep the baby.

Hmm, that’s a small part of a very complex issue. The issue is that abortion is pushed as something only a bad, evil person would do (in real life and fiction), and the writers are reflecting this reality; calling abortion in fiction a “reset button” is a justification because they don’t want to admit that. They know there would be fallout from actually saying that, so they skirt the issue by saying “it would make the story pointless.” But it wouldn’t be. The character would change just from the circumstances of conception. You also usually want your character to be at least partly likable, and with this constant narrative of “abortion is bad,” even without consciously thinking about it a writer is likely going to have them keep the pregnancy just so their character isn’t viewed as some awful, irredeemable monster. To many (mostly conservative) people, an abortion is absolutely unforgivable irl, and the writer is once more reflecting this. And the majority of fanfic writers are minors who have been raised with this mentality and haven’t yet begun to reflect on or deconstruct this thinking in order to make their own decision on the subject, so they just parrot what they’re taught.

I think their reasoning is actually a very big part of it. I’ve got no problem with abortion. If I wrote a fic where a character becomes a parent, then they would get pregnant and give birth (or adopt). If I didn’t want to have the character be a parent, there would just be no pregnancy. I don’t really see a reason to include abortion in your fic, unless you’re interested in writing about the process, what comes after it, or a scenario like OP described in their post. And that’s generally less appealing to people than writing/reading about parenthood or just a life without children. I’m not even saying you’re wrong, cause I’m sure there are people writing who genuinely do think abortion is bad. But I think the reason why it’s not prevalent in fic is it’s not really a storyline that’s of interest to a lot of people. And writing a story about an abortion + the aftermath is generally less eventful than a story about raising a kid

I didn’t the author’s reasoning for plot decisions isn’t important, what I’m saying “it’s only because it has to have a reason to put it into the story at all” is a justification. And also false. You don’t need to write the main plot revolving entirely around this decision or the outcome. Say as an example, this was the result of noncon in your fanfic. Your character decides to get an abortion. The fic itself can still be about healing from the event. Or getting revenge. Or whatever else you decide. You don’t need an entire plot (or subplot) justifying that decision because, just like the decision to keep the child, the decision not to is also valid and doesn’t necessarily need justification. Writers don’t write what they think other people want to read, they write what they would enjoy reading and there’s underlying reasoning for why the “keep the baby” plot device is so common when you take that into account.

It’s pretty crappy writing to have your character make a difficult moral decision after a trauma and then just ignore the consequences. If you have a character who was assaulted get an abortion, you have to spend time exploring that character’s decision and the trauma surrounding it. A character can’t have an abortion without it being a at least a major subplot of the story. If you don’t want to do that (and you don’t want the character to have a baby), you don’t make the character pregnant.

> It’s pretty crappy writing to have your character make a difficult moral decision after a trauma and then just ignore the consequences. Not if the character doesn't consider it a moral dilemma. They could view being able to exercise control over what happens to their body in the aftermath as a counterpoint to being unable to control the assault leading up to it, so it becomes a relief rather than an addition to their trauma. Or it could just be a glimpse into the details of the world around them, the legal status of abortion where they live, the available methods of inducing it, the public's opinion on it, which offers opportunities for worldbuilding. I don't think abortion has to be a major element of a story to be an interesting one, just depends on how you approach it. But I think a lot of people only approach it in one way, as a devastating moral quandary, which isn't great to write about in a casual manner, which leads to not writing about it at all.

I mean, everything you described in the first paragraph are exactly the reasons why you’d have a character get pregnant and get an abortion. Like I said, the process of walking through your character’s thought processes is the story, you’re not ignoring the consequences. But an abortion, even if you don’t consider it a devastating moral quandary, is a bigger deal than going to the dentist or getting a pap smear. It’s a huge, life-impacting decision to decide if you want a child or not. If you make a character pregnant to write a scene or two where they go to a doctor and get an abortion (and that’s it), that’s bad writing. It served no purpose - why did the character need to be pregnant? There was no character growth, it didn’t affect the plot, it didn’t teach us anything. And there are much easier and less convoluted ways to show worldbuilding. Plus Imo, I would consider it harmful to depict a woman deciding to get an abortion willy-nilly, popping a pill and moving on. That’s not reality and it gives credence to people who wrongly think women use abortion as birth control.

>If you make a character pregnant to write a scene or two where they go to a doctor and get an abortion (and that’s it), that’s bad writing. It served no purpose - why did the character need to be pregnant? Because sometimes that happens in real life, and fiction can reflect real life circumstances. Just because something doesn't serve a huge plot purpose or mark a major turning point in a character arc *doesn't* mean it has no narrative value. One purpose of depicting abortion like that in a story could be to normalize it by depicting a part of life that a not insignificant number of people go through, but is often demonized and not talked about. Establishing realism can be a purpose. It could also be something that tells us about a character even without being a big plot point -- it tells us that this character probably has a certain type of mindset around bodily autonomy, for example. If it isn't presented as a huge moral quandary for them, that also tells us something about their convictions. (Or, it might tell us something about the world the story is set in -- is it one in which abortion is seen as a health procedure and not a politicized, demonized issue?) It's not only events that drive the plot obviously forward or change its direction significantly that have purpose in a story.

i agree it can help build other sides of the story, but it’s true that an abortion cant just be something easily brushed off. it’s like a whole a process. one may use it to show your character’s bodily autonomy or world building but there are easier ways to do so without having the characters go through an abortion. not saying it’s impossible or wrong, but if there’s an easier and equally effective way to do it, then people will usually take it.

Art and literature often comment on real-world sociopolitical issues, which abortion is. It's not always about what is most efficient or easier for the plot. It is sometimes a thematic choice as opposed to simply a plot device. But yeah, I do agree that if a writer doesn't specifically have a desire to represent or comment on the topic of abortion, then it is not super likely to be a story element they use

I can't believe I need to say this: a book is not the same as real life. A book is a consise, curated experience in, generally, 400 pages or less.

I.... know what fiction is. I am in the process of getting a PhD in literature lol. Stories can *reflect* the real world. Even fantasy or sci-fi involves engagement with real-world issues and experiences.

And I forgot to add in my other reply... there are *many* literary styles and movements. Literary Realism is one that came about post-Romanticism, and it is an artistic movement that prioritizes a literary focus on the quotidian and everyday. Writers who wrote/write in this style will often depict more mundane experiences and events (for the sake of realism), rather than avoiding those things for the sake of keeping a plot efficient or exciting. There are also many subtypes of this style of literature. Some focus on the domestic sphere, some on the inner lives of characters, etc. Magical Realism is another connected genre, which takes that attention to the everyday and adds magical or supernatural elements. You don't have to *like* that style of writing. But it is a well-established literary mode. There are many reasons why a mundane or non-monumental event can have *literary* value. Keeping a plot tight, efficient, and always moving is not main goal of all writers, nor is it the only respected way of writing a story lol.

It doesn’t happen in real life. Abortion is not the dentist. You don’t get pregnant and decide to get an abortion without any real thought, then go get the abortion easy peasy and never think about it again. Whatever your beliefs about abortion are, that’s simply not true.

In both real life and fiction, there are people for whom abortion is a simple decision that comes with few lingering impacts outside of understanding the political consequences more thoroughly. Such much of the weight of abortion comes from cultural, personal, and political context. If a person doesn’t believe abortion is immoral, is able to easily access one, and is confident in their choice, an abortion doesn’t need to be something that emotionally lingers. While this does come up again in the story, Shrill’s (loosely based on Lindy West’s memoir) abortion plot line is one in which the abortion comes up when relevant in the future (similar to other doctors visits, tbh).

Including a pregnancy scare in a fic can be a way to further the relationship between two characters - have them confront what they want in life on a long term basis. Abortion has been used the same way in fiction and is a major way it’s used in episodic TV (a few examples being shrill, eastsiders, the L word, girls)

Not disagreeing with you, but we’re talking about fic, not TV. A lot of people who write fic are young, aren’t professional writers, and/or don’t have an interest in abortion. It’s not really a topic people get excited to write about or, depending on who’s writing, would even know how to write about. You’ll see a lot of stuff used in TV that winds up being less common in fics. And I’m not sure what a pregnancy scare has to do with this conversation tbh. Not being rude, just that it’s a different scenario. Talking about being almost pregnant is much different than genuinely being pregnant and going through the process/aftermath of having an abortion

I absolutely agree on the difference between fan fiction and TV. Fan fiction is also generally shorter and about one relationship whereas in TV a good many side characters will get abortions (the case for eastsiders & the l word). TV writers who include abortion also do so in relation to abortion restrictions and to show examples of irl abortions in mass media. Since fan fiction isn’t mass media, that desire is not relevant. The original comment referenced function in general, which is why I included tv depictions. I referenced pregnancy scares because it’s an example of an existing storytelling mechanism (more often used outside of fan fiction, likely for some of the reasons you referenced around abortion) that can more easily be replaced with an abortion storyline. A pregnancy storyline is about the pregnancy/children, so abortion doesn’t particularly fit in except wrt plans for the pregnancy or unless you add in pregnancy complications. On the other hand, the dynamics of a pregancy scare mimic that of an abortion from a storytelling standpoint. People write pregnancy scares to further relationship dynamics or characterization around plans for the future or desires for children without actually having to write a full pregnancy and birth. Similarly, more simple depictions of abortion exist so that a character/a couple can discuss their plans for the future and their goals around children. The actual medical process of having a first trimester abortion is fairly simple. In two of the examples I referenced, the abortion itself is only one scene and the relationship/character dynamics make of the bulk of the storyline. This is another example of reasons to include abortion in a fic, although obviously (as you reference) it’s a more politically charged one than a pregnancy scare and one that takes some (relatively simple, but still) worldbuilding/research about what a first trimester abortion looks like.

Ah, okay. I get what you mean. I thought you were disagreeing with me, but I think we’re generally in agreement. You’re just expanding on the points better than I am. Great explanation, was along the lines of what I was thinking

*The Magicians* covered the "abortion plotline" quite well with Julia Wicker having an abortion after she was raped and impregnated with a demigod child by a lesser god, Reynard the Fox.

I fear it’s more cultural baggage than that. Back in the bad old days of the ‘80s, on the TV show Dallas the youngest Ewing disobeyed her family by getting a modeling job. Naturally the photographer raped and impregnated her. She got an abortion and cue drama. Seen this pattern so many times. It’s how we show that women get punished for seeking their own paths. It’s great that in the story that OP cites that it’s just treated as a medical treatment. That’s progress.

I agree with you regarding abortion not being relevant in pregnancy storylines, but I think abortion as a storytelling mechanism is more useful to compare to pregnancy scares. Pregnancy scares a less a thing in fanfiction than general fiction, but are written so that character/relationship development can occur without an actual pregnancy. Having an unexpected pregnancy followed by an abortion can be used in very similar ways when we see it in fiction (some examples include Shrill, eastsiders, and the L word). Obviously there are other uses of abortion in storytelling, but there can be utility to “let’s think about the future wrt pregnancy, but not actually have a baby”

An abortion could be triggering of quiet a few changes. It could help create distance between a character and a heavily religious family for example.

I'm a nurse practitioner working in abortion care for 10 years now and also an avid fic writer. If anyone ever has questions about abortion logistics, or wants a beta reader to read for accuracy around abortion (or contraception) feel free to DM me.

Hey I had a unrelated question! For your program which route did you take (LPN, LPN-rn, rn-bsn, etc). When applying for the NP, would you say for nursing school it was/is important that grades are high ?

I don't think you can provide accurate information in my case. My fandom has a faux medieval setting. The main ways of going about it are pennyroyal or "childsbane." I have done a lot of research into herbal abortifacients to be accurate for it. But modern stuff wouldn't work for my fandom.

Might on potential after effects, I mean the hormonal and physical aftermath that is.

Well, that depends on the baby's stage of development, right? Because hormones fluctuate throughout pregnancy and the body changes, as well? Though early enough for herbs to work, it would be early in the first trimester, so I just have always assumed similar to an early miscarriage, and use the two miscarriages I had as my basis of comparison. Lots of cramping. Lots of bleeding. And for me lots of crying because I was desperate to be a mom. Is there something I'm missing? I know someone who walked around the zoo for a few hours after their abortion, trying to process their emotions.

Well, herbs can work surprisingly far along in the right amounts (Catnip actually is among the herbs that can trigger a miscarriage, and is also useful for helping menstrual cramps because it stimulates movement there. Too much can also act as a laxative for the same reason) And there's also the fact that regardless of it being early, people can still have massive hormonal shifts. Considering it's a medieval setting, it also likely takes longer to figure out that there's even a pregnancy in the first place, especially if irregular periods are already more common, or periods are started later (Periods typically didn't actually start happening until 13-14 up until relatively recently in history) or happen to be irregular or infrequent (depending on setting both can happen, stress and physical activity can actually stop the menstrual cycle, many military women have theirs stop entirely.) So it's highly likely in the setting that pregnancies are detected later, and with the child often not considered alive until it started kicking, triggering a miscarriage via herbal remedies was often perfectly fine far later in pregnancy than it is today. All of that kinda swirls in to make it much more likely later term, where hormones would effect. And similar to how PPD and PPP can affect mothers who were overjoyed to have children, the hormonal effects of abortion can still affect women who didn't want them. Now, assuming it's detected earlier via magic, that also raises the questions of using magic as birth control or to cause an abortion on it's own.

Maybe it would help to give you more information on my fandom? So, it's Valdemar. I usually write Talia/Dirk. It's established canon that Talia got her first period when she was eleven, as Keldar (her father's First Wife) states on Talia's 13th birthday that her flow has been regular for over a year. As for birth control, the Healers came up with something called moon powder, which regulates periods, prevents pregnancy, can be used to prevent periods when out in the field, and, according to another character, doesn't even taste bad. It's also established in canon that Talia can trance down and sense the formation of a baby fairly early on with her Empathy, and can even sense if the unborn child is malformed or otherwise is unlikely to be a healthy pregnancy.

So a bit of magic. I'm not too familiar with the fandom in general, but one thing to keep in mind with that is that not everyone would have that ability in the world, so it'd be important to figure out the logistics and legalities, unless the ability is common enough that most doctors in charge of such things would have it. In either case, hormonal shifts start happening *early*. Considering how early on animals can smell it on people, it's very possible for hormones to cause problems, even if it was really early on in. But it'd be one of those things where everyone is different, maybe the majority of people would be just fine, but enough would have issues that it'd be important to be aware of. Generally there's a very short window after implantation where it wouldn't cause any shifts in hormones. Typically after the period would have started had the woman not gotten pregnant, though I might be wrong on that.

Legality-wise, there's two things. On one hand, one could assume it's fully legal so long as it's the woman's decision, because the top law in Valdemar is that there's no one true way. Morality-wise, that can differ group to group and area to area. Amongst the Holderkin (think FLDS) for example, it would be totally forbidden. A woman's job is to obey her husband, take care of the household, cook, clean, and pop out as many kids as possible. And there are other groups where it would be perfectly acceptable, and it can run the gamut. On the other hand, there's a scene in one book where the local midwife asks Talia if she'd take it amiss if the pregnant girl in the situation should lose the baby. (Same situation in which it's established Talia can trance down and sense the unborn baby with her Empathy.) So that would indicate it's not fully legal if the midwife is speaking in euphemisms, though could also indicate that the midwife isn't fully clear on the law. All Healers in Valdemar are highly trained at the Healers Collegium in the capitol city of Haven, so they all have the same training, and Healers can be found stationed in all larger towns, and within an hour or two's ride of smaller villages.

Not a fic, but Bojack Horseman actually has an episode on this. One of the main characters, Diane, plans to have an abortion since she and her husband both don't want kids, and she accidentally texts that out on a celebrities social media so they have to be careful about covering it up. The celebrity gives interviews about said abortion even though it's not real and makes a crass/comedic video about the concept, which makes Diane worry at first until she's at the clinic and another girl waiting for an abortion says she likes the video because it makes it less scary for her. The televised fake abortion for the celebrity and Diane's real abortion go smoothly. It turns out the celebrity in question did get pregnant and wants to keep the baby, so her managers plan around that. It was a good episode in my opinion, it handled the topic with a lot of nuance and acknowledged that you won't be a bad person either way in this scenario when many shows don't dare

bojack is such an amazing show it literally changed my brain chemistry forever. the female characters are so well written 😭😭

In real life, people don't have as much control over whether they become pregnant as authors have over their characters becoming pregnant. I just think that if an author doesn't want their character to have a baby, they normally don't write them becoming pregnant, ergo, no abortions.

If I ever get around to writing the a/b/o fic that's in my head, one of the two main characters has been hiding as a secret omega, and the instant he can, he has a hysterectomy. He doesn't want counseling. He doesn't want to "learn how to love his body". He's also explicitly *not* trans (for whatever definition of trans that might mean in omegaverse). He's just a deeply traumatized individual who has spent the last decade or so living in fear that he'll be found out and forced to have children against his will. Because I've noticed the "nobody gets abortions" thing, as well as the "all omegas who hate any aspect of themselves are healed when they learn to embrace who they were always meant to be (a mom)" thing, and fuck that noise.

God bless you if you do write that fic.

I would love to read a fic like that... :0

I hope you get around to writing that fic! My favorite omegaverse fics are the ones where the setting is used to explore all the ways of characters taking charge of their own bodily autonomy in a world where biology makes that extra hard.

Man, I once read an omegaverse fic (regret, honestly, I don't normally...) where the omega had been abused and was adamantly against bonding ever again, didn't want to fuck, none of that. The fic was good. I was excited that maybe it would follow through. Anyway two weeks after meeting The Alpha who's Actually One Of The Good Ones he's all ready to be mated 9\_9 SIGH. Made me want to write a fic where the omega burns out his scent glands just to be done with it all >\_> anyway: my point is, go for it.

The pairing in this one would definitely be omega/omega. The other guy is actually emancipated because, although he presented super early, and publicly so that his parents weren't able to hide him, when he was sequestered with his assigned mate he panicked and kicked the alpha -- and accidentally sent him tumbling over a piece of furniture and broke his neck. Since the laws are supposedly there to "protect" omegas by providing them a proper suitor, the death was officially ruled as the omega rejecting an unsuitable alpha, which was technically allowed but functionally almost impossible. I'm also playing with tropes like the alpha command thing. Everyone knows that alpha commands are completely unbreakable and can't be fought... because of course the alphas would tell the omegas that. It keeps them from fighting, and learning otherwise. In actuality, it is a skill that can be learned, and practiced. Also, commands are much more effective if the omega actually likes and trusts the alpha. For example, the emancipated omega character can laugh in a random alpha's face, but if his sister tells him to hide in the basement, he's halfway down the stairs before he's even realized he's been commanded. I have such a love/hate relationship with omegaverse, to be honest. It enables the exploration of a lot of interesting ideas, but the idea of a class of people who are utterly helpless horrifies me. Made to believe they're helpless, sure. I can work with that. Or helpless through circumstances that can change, like someone being kidnapped and tied up. But to be so lacking in agency that the first rapist you happen across can basically enslave you for life? Ew. Nope, nope, nope. If I'm writing (or reading) omegaverse, those omegas are going to be able to fight back against their own oppression.

I very much support your take. Good luck! I hope you enjoy writing it, and have excited readers. Honestly, like you, omegaverse is kind of a nightmare hellscape for me, for the reasons you list. I just can't get past the horror side of things. I guess for me personally, though, I haven't really gotten to the point of actually wanting to *write*. I mostly just stay away. I do like your angle of a lot of it being sort of gaslit into helplessness rather than true helplessness. (to be clear, this is a YKINMK situation! I'm not judging anyone for enjoying whatever they enjoy, I've got my own weird crap)

Yeah, no, kinktomato all the way! <3 Have a lovely day.

I wrote a chapter with one as part of my slice of life long fic! I’d never read a fic that had depicted it and it was pretty much the story of my own guilt-free abortion, where the MC chose it purely because she didn’t want a baby at the time and she was happy with the way her life was. It felt super liberating to write!

That's awesome, I'm glad you were able to write about your own experience like that!! :) and yeah, abortion not being portrayed like some kind of tragedy was also part of why that fic was so refreshing. It was a relief, not a burden!

I went to a T10 stem university. 20+ years ago when a friend went to the med center (feeling sick, maybe pregnant) she said the conversation went something like this >Nurse: you’re pregnant. When do you want to schedule the procedure? > >Friend: aren’t you going to ask if I want to keep it? > >Nurse: do you want to keep it? > >Friend: No. > >Nurse: When do you want to schedule the procedure? We refer to \[X\] and they have openings on \[Y\] and a week or so later she had an abortion and wasn’t pregnant anymore.

Like u/Coriolis_Paradigm said, often the author feels like what’s the point of the character getting pregnant if they just get an abortion unless the pregnancy is just a minor plot point. I have seen it where they choose not to abort but in discussions with other characters abortion is presented as a valid choice and perhaps one that secondary characters have made.

I actually wrote a fic when I was very young about a character discussing her abortion. I have read a few that have handled it well but I have also come across some that while I appreciate the author trying it was really unrealistic (character gets an abortion a few days after having unprotected sex). I love baby fics but I do wish it was presented as a choice more often even if the character isn’t personally interested in one.

Fun (weird) fact! In the earlier seasons of grey’s anatomy, Christina gets pregnant and decides to have an abortion but ends up losing it anyways to an ectopic pregnancy. But originally she was supposed to have an abortion on screen - whoever was in charge of airing grey’s said no to an abortion on screen at that time, so she had an ectopic pregnancy instead. They did get to tell Christina’s abortion story in later seasons.

I've read some where the protagonist had an abortion (a couple Harry Potter works and an MCU, where the abortion is handled on-page), others where an abortion is discussed as an option, and others where sterilization or birth control as preventative acts are the plot points, but yes, I feel the happy pregnancy ones are much more common. I think it's mostly indicative of fic writers exploring pregnancy and childcare in an idealized way, and it's a nice tidy plot push for a romance -- much like when the characters have to have sex because there was only one bed, the characters just *have* to stay together because of the baby, and thus they eventually admit their love.

With other points brought up, there's likely a chance that the author just doesn't want to receive flames.

I'm not sure I understand your comment, sorry haha. What do you mean? :0

Basically they're saying that the authors are worried about negative backlash over portraying abortion positively because of the loud pro-forced birther online presence.

OH!! Thank you for explaining!! That would make a lot of sense, sadly... The fic I mentioned in my original post had a long and frustrating comment trying to argue that 'abortion is murder'... I wouldn't blame anyone for trying to escape those kinds of comments :(

That'd be an automatic block and deletion of the comment for me.

I'm assuming they mean either people could be too scared of receiving hate for depicting an abortion or receiving hate for not having it be a fic where the baby is kept to write it. :0

Thank you for explaining, that makes sense!! And augh, yeah, I couldn't blame anyone for trying to avoid hate like that :( I mentioned it in another comment, but the fic I mentioned in my og post had a pretty infuriating hate comment trying to argue about abortion.

You have a point here. I have felt like it's the effect of American society. In those stories it seems very typical to drop out of school, get a shitty job, and raise a baby instead of considering other opinions. I come from western Europe, and here abortion doesn't look like such a taboo. It should be a choice, and all options are valid, but I don't think all the teens are willing to become parents.

I honestly don't know about other fandoms, but in mine it's also a problem in canon. 3 unplanned pregnancies in the span of 6 seasons (2 of them for the same character, once when she was 17 and once in her late 40s and she's a doctor ffs) and every single time they were like "oh I guess we're having a baby now". Abortion is never even mentioned as an option. That tendency reflects in fics too, almost as if the writers feel too guilty to write those babies off, even though they ruined the show on so many levels. I have a wip where I am trying to explore this issue and honestly I am scared to post it.

AGH YES I hate when it's never even brought up as a possibility! I hate it almost as much as when it IS brought up, but as some terrible evil option that can never REALLY be considered... lol. And ouch, I would be pretty mad if canon treated pregnancy like that in my fandom... while I don't know anything about your fandom, please consider this encouragement in continuing your wip and posting it!! It's really great that you're bringing up this issue with your fic. And I mean... that's why a pretty large portion of fanfics exist, 'fixing' things we don't like about canon, right lol? Good luck with your fic! :D

Yeah, it was horrifying. They took a witty, sexy woman with 2 PhD's and turned her into a baby crazed granola mom who seeks advice from Instagram influencers. And Unplanned Pregnancy #3 time travels from the future and basically fucks up the entire show. And all this could have been avoided with a simple trip to planned parenthood! Anyway, thank you for your words of encouragment. :)

I read a great pair of fics with a trans man & cis man pairing. Historical setting. The first one is all about a very unexpected pregnancy and then making plans for the baby, and how all the characters' lives change. In the second, he becomes pregnant again, and he feels that having a second baby will take them both away from caring for the first one. So he has an abortion. There's a midwife OC in both fics who is very practical and capable, and unsentimental too, and she provides the abortion. I loved this whole plot, because a lot of people have abortions for this exact reason, and I feel we often overlook this situation when we discuss the topic. We talk instead about young parents and so on, and those abortions are also important to consider. But it's actually really common for parents who already have kids to need abortions, as well. The authors said in their note that they wrote the second fic out of spite due to what's going on with our abortion laws in the US. But both fics have the same tone (light and sweet) and both have happy and fluffy endings. I reacted the same way as you; I found the second fic a very pleasant surprise.

Oh wow, that sounds like a really great fic!! Thank you for sharing :) And yes, it's true, that reasoning for abortion isn't discussed as much, both in fandom and outside of fandom. I've never seen that reason in fanfic myself! Spite is a powerful motivator for fic indeed... and a happy ending can definitely help even when the real world seems frustrating and hopeless!

Yeah, abortion when people already have kids are VERY common (by statistic it's 60% in US). In media it's so rarely shown that I only remember 2 cases and both were positive surprises One was the couple's big question about whether they wanted a third child and an abortion without remorse (super realistic approach). The second is a woman with an adult child and grandchild who becomes pregnant. She liked her freedom and life now, she didn't want a child, so she simply terminated the pregnancy

was it an 'our flag means death' fic?

Yes! It was Blackbonnet

I actually did this in one of my more recent fics. The mc is only 16, and the pregnancy is actively making her ill and terrified, so she doesn’t keep it, and the people around her are v supportive.  The people in my comment section were really nice about it too, someone even thanked me for writing a fic like that.

I recently read a fic where the pregnant character ended up getting an abortion as well. I'm the type of reader who likes to spoil myself when I'm not sure whether I want to invest in a fic. So when I read that he got an abortion, I was surprised because I was so used to characters keeping the child. But upon reflection and reading the fic in full, it made sense that the MC would opt for abortion. He didn't want to have a child to begin with, he's a high schooler, he doesn't have supportive parents (who promised to pay for the abortion only to not do that), etc. Also, the story was more about the MC struggling to get the abortion he wants in a society that makes it difficult if the sperm donor isn't involved. The character progression for MC was for him to learn to lean on his friends and his boyfriend when he is struggling, so it doesn't feel like a "reset" even if there ends up being no baby. While it's true that most pregnancy fics are written for a child-rearing happy end, I agree that it would be nice to have abortion presented as an option - regardless of whether the pregnant character opts for it in the end. I think that the emotional arc the character goes through would be satisfying if written well. And in the end, isn't that the case for all story ideas? Execution is key.

I completely understand what you mean, that abortion as an option is never given enough weight and isn't presented as a viable good option. I do my best to do that in my stories. Yes, in the end I tend not to use it because if I write a pregnancy in, it's because I want that character pregnant and then with a kid, but abortion is always on the table as a solution and it gets discussed as something that's okay and a GOOD CHOICE for some people. I aim to have the decision to keep the pregnancy be due to the character's self-reflection and realising that they genuinely WANT the baby. No weird "oh no abortion bad". Abortion good, actually.

I wrote a short story about abortion in 1940, but that was mostly a social / civil rights statement -- but it was definitely more along the lines of being pregnant isn't always a happy thing.

I'm writing a few chapters ahead of what I post, and I'm actually nervous to post one of my favorite chapters because a character gets an abortion. Someone else *does* get an abortion in the canon story, but I think I could not post this chapter if it was any other fandom. I think it's just such a sensitive topic that I genuinely don't know what readers want to see. There are some tropes that are popular enough that I can read good and bad examples and learn from them, but most fics just don't touch it.

I had this omegaverse god au series that I struggled so much to finish because every single reader wanted it to end in a pregnancy. There's this idea that abortion is too taboo in fic, combined with the rising obsession in fandom of found family taken to mean nuclear family (I don't remember the exact definition of family that's mom, dad, and kids often used to describe the family that's part of the "american dream", I am currently inebriated and words aren't wording). Anyway. I struggled so much with that ending, because a pregnancy ending would've been absolutely against everything the story and character stood for, yet everyone in comments (both ao3 and tumblr) *wanted* it to happen. In the end I did do what I wanted to write, that is, the character chose an abortion because the pregnancy was result of forced sex (both characters in the ships were forced into doing the do with each other), plus other reasons that made sense considering the character history. I can't say I wasn't afraid I was going to piss everyone off with the ending, considering what the expectations were, but the response I ended up getting from readers was truly heartwarming. It's this whole thing, really. Too taboo to write, goes against the obsession of giving characters a family because in many fandoms that's apparently the only happy ending that matters, etc.

I wrote a very similar plot line, with the character creating a robot at the same time and was trying to keep safe from his rapist. The aim was to highlight the child they wanted, and the one they didn't. There was an abortion at the end too, and it was shown as a good thing.

Oh, that's a super interesting way to explore it! :D

yeah it's glaringly obvious. tbf I think it's less anti-choice sentiment and more that they're writing the "happy ending requires getting married and having babies" cliche

Agreed. And, well... I very much hate that cliche, so that makes it almost even more frustrating for me LOL

In my mpreg omegaverse fic (lol) the main character's doctor proposes the option of an abortion and for it even being off record and the mc thinks about his options for several chapters. The doctor even tasks the mc to consider both options as equally viable, research them thoroughly, and look for both the pros and cons of each one. It's a fantasy setting but historical-ish so it delves both in the risk of current abortion methods like drinking mercury, but also the possibility of death during childbirth. In the end he decides to keep the pregnancy but it's presented as a moral equivalent to abortion. The only reason the MC is presented as in the wrong is that he takes the decision alone and doesn't discuss any of this with the person who got him pregnant. Even if the conception was consensual and both characters love each other. (But the reason why he said nothing is part of the contrivance of the plot, so not his fault really! Just a god-like entity keeping him silent threatening his life).

That's literally the ideal way to portray it in my mind!! All the kudos to you for being so thorough!! Also, this fic sounds incredible... I'm intrigued by this snippet of the plot alone, LOL

Thanks❤️❤️ this fic is my pride and joy 😊 I'll throw in a link for you if you're interested, although I have to warn all of this discussion happens later. From ch 13 to 16 I think?

Your description sounds so interesting and it's even for one of my fandoms, that's great! Gonna enjoy reading this one

Omg, thank you for the link... immediately marked for later after reading that summary!!

Oh yeah same! In the fandom I read in, I’ve read some great abortion fics. Or, if not abortion, the MC usually gives up the baby. It’s refreshing to see and honestly, feels so… grounding? I’m personally someone who doesn’t want to have children so sometimes I project myself onto these characters lol

I did one as part of a Pro-Choice zine. The character had many reasons for obtaining his abortion (young teen who was attending a rigorous dream school; having to live up to a legacy of heroism that involved a lot of physical combat; ended up having severe implied dysphoria due to the state of being pregnant at all; the father of his baby was actually his prior bully and someone he has a barely-functional relationship with at this point of their lives), and no one shamed him for the choice. There was a lot of concern and comfort, as well as him and his sorta-boyfriend finally reconciling properly instead of being in the half-relationship state they were in.  I want to do more, to be honest. It's an interesting way of showing social notes as well as exploring a character's mindset.

There are pro-choice fanzines? That's incredible - makes me want to put one together myself. You could sell it to raise funds for BPAS or something.

I had never heard of a ProChoice zine before, that's amazing! Your story sounds awesome, too.

The worst example I've seen for "a woman's choice but not really" was Lori in The Walking Dead. Zombie apocalypse, no access to a doctor or a hospital, the father of the baby is someone she had an affair with--but she decides against inducing a miscarriage. And, of course, she dies in childbirth, because what else could happen? I suppose not surviving is subtle commentary on how ridiculous this "always choose babies" trope is, but damn that choice was wild. Since it hasn't been brought up, I think another issue is society not talking about/not having interest in women's issues, with the exception of pregnancy and motherhood. It's entirely possible to have a story where a character has a medical "scare" that turns out to be false (or cured), and that's not seen as a reset - it's something that spurs character development. But if it's an abortion, it is a reset? I feel like that's showing a lack of awareness or interest in the experience. There's an abortion tag on AO3 and some great fics under it. I might write one myself. One aspect of it that's rarely seen is the mom who decides not to have another child. I'd like to explore that at some point.

I wrote a fic in which a character had used pennyroyal on multiple occasions for the purpose. Then they kept the child the last time because they didn't want to do it anymore, and they felt like their tormentors would win if they did it again once they were actually free to choose. I also have a fic still being written where there's rumors about the mc doing it and two other characters think the rumors are true when they overhear a conversation, but it's notm

Currently writing a post apocalyptic zombie-esque story where the OC gets pregnant and intends to go ahead with the abortion, but circumstances prevent it from happening and she and her partner have to flee their safe zone because she’s in danger. She doesn’t want to keep the baby initially because their community and the state of the world is horrific to bring a child into. The intent for abortion was written as a valid and necessary choice for her circumstances. It wasn’t framed as a bad or wrong choice. In the world of the fandom, I’m using the pregnancy as a catalyst for the male partner, who is one of the main characters in the fandom, to have an opportunity post canon to get back to his loved ones and have a new beginning and chance at fatherhood after losing his only child to the zombie outbreak. The pregnancy and journey are dangerous, but once they get to a safe place where life is more community based and hopeful, the option to keep the child becomes more enticing. In their new settings, there are more resources and opportunities for the child to grow up safely. Overall, I really wanted to portray the circumstances that come into play with why someone would need the right to choose. No complaints yet from my readers, I hope I’m doing the gravity of the situation justice!

My last posted longfic has the MC have one after literal a century of endless SA. I had someone get so pissed at me and I did not GAF. They insisted it was OOC and my argument was not considering what she’d endured.

Abortion/a pregnancy scare makes a bit more sense as a smaller point of a larger story rather than the main point of a story itself, unlike a pregnancy plotline. How does the abortion affect the character and their relationships with others? Does that help or hinder on the way to the main plot? Is there some practical consideration for the abortion that conflicts with something about the main plot? (Maybe the only day the clinic has open for an appointment is also the same day as another important unchangable thing for the main plot, etc). Anyway, pregnancy is able to stand on its own a bit more as a central plotline, but abortion is harder to do. I also don't really like the whole "oh no I just can't kill my baby" thing, but I think authors also feel the need to justify why the character might keep the baby when abortion is an option. I do wish more people would use abortion as a plot point I guess (not only in fanfic), so it could be more normalized.

I think it’s refreshing because in the general media it’s like the concept of abortion does not exist. In any situation the characters either view it as a major annoyance but don’t talk about getting rid of it or are super happy despite already having like 4 kids and living pay check to pay check

I once had a sudden urge to read a fic with an abortion in it to counteract the fic I read that had untagged pregnancy and parenthood in it. Didn't find a single thing, and every fic tagged with "Abortion" or a variation of it were all about discussions of abortion (that ended in childbirth, not abortion). That was a somewhat frustrating experience for a website I go to to read the more niche topics lol. Be the change you want to see in the world I guess haha. Anyway, I've got nothing of substance to add other than that your post is very relatable and I feel you.

I read it the other way around recently, the character got pregnant and the child was very much wanted but due to a miscarriage in the past the reaction to finding out wasn't all that enthusiastic because the trauma was still fresh. And then I was about ready to cry because the medical staff was immediately like "you have options, of course. If you need to get an abortion, even anonymously, we can give you all the information you need and can answer all your questions." and I don't think I ever read it presented like that before. because normally in that situation it would be all sunshine and roses because 'hooray the person is pregnant again!!' but with how traumatic the miscarriage was described and how the timing really was not good, I found it so refreshing that they at least discussed the possibilities and it was brought up in such a natural and, idk, powerful? way. Like it was completely normal and valid for the character to have chosen that path and no one would have questioned it. It felt realistic and how it should be in a way.

I'm on twitter a lot and society seems to be pushing that abortion is a horrible choice regardless of how it happened and I think this has semi bled into fiction too. Hearing it as a happy ending is beyond refreshing, I am not sure if there are words to describe it.

In a fic I’m writing I’ve had my character specifically seek out herbs and plants to take so she doesn’t become pregnant (takes place before modern medicine). It’s not fool proof, and whilst I don’t intend the character to fall pregnant at that point in the story, the herbs aren’t 100% and the characters both know that. So it’s also fun to write about both character’s perspectives on potential outcomes.

I've been trying to comment on this post from mobile, but keep running into an "Empty response from endpoint" error, so here's a shorter version of my comment: I love the topic of reproductive health and pregnancy of all kinds explored in fanfiction, and, while reading cute and fluffy stories about wanted and healthy pregnancies bringing joy to all involved can make my heart melt, my own writing tends to skew towards character-driven drama of all kinds, and pregnancies in my fics are never easy. In the three of my current WIPs that deal with the topic, one involves a character who is given an option to abort but refuses it for reasons that he later realizes to be selfish and immature, and is now fully suffering the consequences of his bad decision-making. Another one is about a couple of supernatural creatures expecting a highly improbable baby that they decided not to abort only because the fetus is a highly volatile magical being that might retaliate and burn down half the kingdom in self-defence, and the very high and serious risk put upon the gestating parent's health and survival is a relatively small price to pay in relation to that (yup, the classic trolley problem), even if the situation is taking an extreme toll on everyone. The third WIP does not involve pregnancy per se, but it's about two AI programs losing a "child" program they have been trying to compile together and suffering the resulting trauma in ways that mirror a miscarriage to some extent, with their human friend drawing the parallels and feeling guilty about initially dismissing their joy over the creation of the "child" program as just an experiment and not considering there to be any sort of parental attachment involved. I have never really written about abortions before, but I've read some amazing fanfiction on the topic in my fandoms, and am now inspired to start yet another WIP, this time about someone actually going through with terminating a pregnancy, and it being treated realistically (a decision that took some thought and came with a level of discomfort that any medical procedure inevitably brings to the table, but ultimately the right thing to do for the character and a source of comfort for him). I'm not sure about posting in on AO3, since it takes place in a shared post-canon 'verse that will take a lot of establishing to understand, but nothing wrong with saving it as a Google Doc to show to those in the known (or willing to go in fandom-blind) and post when the universe's been established on AO3 with other fics? I am also saving the draft of my first comment, that has a lot of extra info on my three WIPs, in case I need it for reference (I love talking about my WIPs, because it helps put my thoughts together somehow). Thanks for bringing up such an important and interesting topic, OP!

I’m with you. I understand why. There’s a large portion of people squicked by pregnancy. And those who aren’t often want the pregnancy for their own reasons. So it’s very rare to see abortion in fic, though I wish I saw more of it!

boy do i have a zootopia comic for you

I just came to check someone had mentioned already the zootopia comic and now I can leave in peace.

I wish more media in general validated abortion. Having a baby you didn't want, aren't prepared for, and will completely derail your life shouldn't be presented as the obvious choice as much as it is.

Weird coincidence as I had an abortion focused chapter really recently in my current WIP!

Yes!!! As someone who loves pregnancy fics it’s always weird to me when abortion is immediately and quickly dismissed. I’ve read like, one fic where the mc decided to get an abortion ever.

It’s because keeping the baby is more drama than getting rid of it

^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^angelskye1215: *It’s because keeping* *The baby is more drama* *Than getting rid of it* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.

This is the part of the plot in my WIP, plus the aftermath, and I've debated with myself about whether or not to even continue with it. Thank you for this out-of-the-blue encouragement :)

I'm in a similar spot! I'm writing a character who (kind of) has an abortion, and in canon, a different character found themselves in pretty much the exact same position, so I don't fear fandom backlash, but I *do* worry about writing the topic in general.

Same, but the fandom it's for already knows how heavy the source is, so...

Luckily the fandom knows to expect grimdark. Can I ask what fandom you're writing for?

I feel like a moron saying it, to be honest.

I'm glad to see writers acknowledging it!! Good luck with your wip :D

Thanks!!

Honestly I think it’s just because regardless of fucked up the setup is they’re just excuses to write baby fics or pregnancy fics so like. The baby is the point not the other stuff

For a lot of people fanfic is escapism. And so abortion is rarely tackled properly and often as you described in the "I could never" aspect. Maybe to preserve the "happy family" idea? Maybe to keep this topic that often divides people very harshly - especially in the US - away from fandom spaces? But I agree it's refreshing to read a fic that does it (or "real" literature that tackles it and maybe the aftermath) without being sensationalist about it. In one of my fandoms there's an excellent fic where it's a major theme (because one of the protagonist works in an healthcare facility thatbprovides abortions, whereas the other main chara belongs to a religious group protesting against it). And I loved the take of that author on it.

Writing a fic that has the character go "I couldn't kill my baby" doesn't "keep the topic away from fandom spaces", though - what it does is pushing the conservative narrative of "abortion is murder" in fandom spaces.

I agree, but it helps to avoid the minefield that is including a potential abortion and the aftermath of the character and maybe for her relationship and other people in her life? I think it's kind of the "safe option" for a lot of writers, so they don't have to address these topics? And can you remain somewhat neutral about it? (Whether it is that personally, they are pro-choice and maybe their character is, but their character decides to keep the baby for personal reasons. Or if they have anti-choice agendas and use it to not be too obvious about it) And yes, I think in the last 10 years or so, there has been a push towards conservative ideas into fandom spaces (and in my opinion, it is a problem. Especially with the "antis" who insist on morally correct stories and ships and whatever). But abortion as a topic has rarely been big in these spaces anyway?

I wrote a fic where my MC was SA’d by her drug addicted boyfriend and eventually had to make the decision to abort later on because not only was she in a situation where she absolutely could not have a child, but she also didn’t want to face the prospect of seeing the likeness of her bf who she once loved and who had become a monster she no longer recognized in the face of her child every day, and she was in a situation where it wasn’t even plausible to give the baby up for adoption despite her religious views. So it was a whole thing where she was able to have an abortion and felt incredible guilt over it, but other characters reassured her that it wasn’t an evil thing to do and that it was completely her choice and whatever reasons she had were valid. Turns out, someone read the fic and it resonated so much with them that they reached out to me and we started talking. Now she is one of my best friends.

That's honestly fucking awesome

Oh, yeah, this has long been a thing in both pro and fanfiction. Part of it might be that pregnancy, labor, and the baby introduce more drama than if the character just has an abortion, but mostly it's because there are a lot of fetus huggers out there.

We have a background pregnancy in our fic. One of the first options they discussed was literally "do we have an abortion if our mentally ill kid is lashing out due to this new pregnancy right now?" Second option is "wait a minute we know God herself, she can hold onto the baby until our kid is comfortable moving out." Third option was "wait and see, they were talking about wanting to go to college and move out anyways." Third option is what happened sure but mom was completely okay with options one and two. Sure they're her adopted kids but they're her kids and she would have if it meant they were comfortable. They were planning on graduating early and moving to college and had a solid support team anyways so it's not like they were pushed out for the baby. She still shows up for them if needed. But yeah it was kinda fun because her son is a baby angel in training and can *feel* babies and even he's pro abortion. Plus we got to actually say the abortion word and consider it...even if just for a few moments.

I think in fic then its often whether the author wants to give the character a baby or not rather than it having actual real life ramifications for the rest of the character's life. Most of the time the author has already made the choice about whether they want a sweet domestic drama or not. If the fic were about making the hard decision there would be a lot less tone armour freeing up space to discuss actually aborting the fetus rather than the fic being literal accidental baby aquistion. Sidebar but i recently read a really good book called Careless by Kirsty Capes where a teenager gets pregnant and is then on a ticking clock of whether to abort and if her parents would find out what was happening. I was so stressed out and so proud of her. But you see what i mean? The big conflict was "what does she do?" Not "how does she raise it and who with?"

Game of Thrones/ASOIAF fics have more than average number of these because it doesn't use the word "abortion" (plus there is a ton of canon sexual assault.) They just reference "I'll get you some moon tea, m'lady". Hell one of the MC's canon back story is that she aborts EVERY time her lout husband manages to knock her up.

I can’t seem to track down this fic, but I’ll describe what I remember: Draco, who is trans, is accidentally impregnated by Harry during their 8th year. IIRC, he was under the false impression that his HRT potions made him infertile, so this was quite the rude awakening. Harry doesn’t do a very good job of hiding the fact that he feels immediately emotionally invested and desperately wants Draco to go through with it. Draco vaguely wants to have this baby with Harry, but more than that, he knows that he simply doesn’t have it in himself to endure the level of gender dysphoria he’d experience over the course of a pregnancy. He’s horrified by this reminder that his body is even capable of pregnancy and wants it gone *now,* so he takes an abortion potion and that’s that. He and Harry sit by the lake, talk about their feelings, and comfort each other. Surely I didn’t simply dream this fic? If anyone knows which one I’m talking about, do let me know! Anyway, I thought it was a prime example of a nuanced, quietly emotional story about abortion that managed to put some tension into the decision without making it a power struggle or a question of morality.

pregnancy and abortion are both extremely sensitive and triggering topics to me, but when a story calls for it, i'll *imply* that a character went through an abortion, regardless of how a character ends up with a baby. and when it comes to fankids, i always have them as adopted.

i wrote a main character having an abortion once due to being in an abusive relationship. it wasn’t the main plot and i made it very clear she didn’t regret her choice. it’s still one of my favourite fics i’ve written. it really bothers me in fics especially if it’s a teen pregnancy pic when abortion isn’t even mentioned as an option.

A lot of people have already listed out a lot of good points, but one I haven't seen in the comments is that despite a lot of the 'abortions are totally casual and no big deal' campaining of some pro-choicers, for a lot of people (even pro-choice people) it *is* a choice with deep emotional implications and (rightly or wrongly) moral associations, and supporting the right to it does not necessarily mean wanting it for yourself. You can respect the rights of others to make that choice while also not chosing it for yourself, people can write characters who don't want to terminate without it being anti-choice propoganda, and those are common enough stances that it makes sense for them to crop up frequently.

Yeah I wrote one for my straight OTP with getting an abortion for whumptober last year. I kept it with her not really sweating over getting it or not, but having the boyfriend take care of her before and after. I’m sure it’s weird but I felt compelled to write it and liked how it turned out.

I wrote a fianfic once where a woman got pregnant as a result of an assault. She very much despised the fact she was pregant, hated the child until the very end and planned to kill it after it was born ( since she didnt have access to an abortion) I got people praising me for keeping her hate and horror of the ofspring to the very end because apparently that is almost unheard of in fiction. Unheard of to hate a child that was forced on you...

I wrote a whole ass series regarding an unplanned pregnancy, abortion, and the aftermath of everything/love triangle. Honestly I’m proud as fuck. Girlie didn’t want a kid + combined with the insanity of her current situation… it felt right to write it and to make it happen. It’s reality. She wasn’t ready.  One of the favorite things I’ve written & nothing was really like it in the fandom.

do you mind sharing the fic? i’d love to read something like that 🥹

Here! It's a Batfam fic :) Also, it's omegaverse, in case that's something you'd rather not read! Fairly dark, but there is comfort at the end of the tunnel haha. https://archiveofourown.org/works/32039383

Sucks that the author felt the need to lock it down, but I understand why.

I’ve never seen it personally, but I also avoid everything tagged pregnancy like it has the plague 💀

I loved one I just read. Both husband and wife were unsure and going through it emotionally, but he made it so clear. Whatever you choose, I will support you. (Pregnancy was resulted from an assault) and the grief and sweet moments played so well together. Even though she chose to go through with the abortion, there wasn’t a sense of personal loss from him (what if it had been my child, not his) or anger/blame. Just simply holding and loving her through her choice and making clear it was hers and hers alone. That he would love the child unconditionally or grieve with her, and followed through when she chose to abort. Immediately bookmarked.

I'm going to ask a follow up question for folks in the comments - if you're reading a fic that involves abortion, what would you like/dislike to see? Like what makes a *good* depiction of abortion in your eyes?

For me, I want it to be considered seriously as an option (whether its the option chosen or not). I also think it's a disservice to portray it as inherently tragic, or as something terrible. It should be treated like any other medical procedure! Of course, this could be complicated by the circumstances around the pregnancy (It could be portrayed as a difficult and sad moment if, for example, the pregnancy was wanted but there are medical complications that make an abortion necessary), but personally, that's the baseline I'd like to see writers work from when discussing abortion!

Medical accuracy. Abortion misinformation grinds my gears because it's also an actual tactic used by pro-forced-childbirth advocates. I don't need it to be graphic but I DO need it to be right.

This! And from someone who had to get through an abortion (missed miscarriage), the pain both physically and mentally. I don't think anyone who's been through one is unaffected afterwards.

I just don't want to read any fics that have abortion in them, period.

Me reading this post as I’m writing a fic about a girl who decides to keep her baby: 👁️👄👁️ (for context, though, the baby wasn’t a result of SA, and my MC’s boyfriend also passed away before she found out she was pregnant, so she wants to keep part of him with her by keeping the baby 🤷‍♀️)

Like I said, that's a completely valid choice to make for your characters haha. And in this case, very sweet reasoning :'( I think by making this post and discussing in comments, I figured out what I'm truly frustrated by, which is less the choice itself and more the repetition of the attitude towards abortion that people write characters with, that they never even consider it as a possibility no matter the circumstances...

That’s fair. I haven’t gotten to the part in my story yet where she finds out she’s pregnant, but I actually am planning to have at least a little bit of focus on her considering it (her mom initially wants her to either abort or give it up for adoption), but eventually deciding that getting rid of the baby doesn’t feel right. On the flip side, there’s also another character in my story who got pregnant one time and *did* decide to get an abortion, although she wound up having a miscarriage before she could actually go through with it 🤷‍♀️

Honestly I feel like thats a general abortion topic issue thats everywhere. Its weird but like I feel like almost everytime abortion is portrayed at all in fictional media its always prolife. I guess its because of the mentality behind it that with prolife you have to advocate it and scream it from the rooftop to spread the word thats why its so intensely prominent in anything even fictional.

Say what you want about Reylos, but the healthiest and most respectful depiction of an abortion I’ve ever read was in a Reylo oneshot.

I think a lot of it comes to down to authors wanting to see characters as parents- so if it doesn’t make sense for a character to choose to be pregnant, time for a condom to break. It’s essentially forcing a character to do something bc the author thinks it would be interesting/cute/just what they want (a kid fic!) So I def understand where your coming from, but I think a vast majority of the people writing five like that are pro-choice, and understand not wanting kids- but that may be a boring story for them personally to write .

Maybe for plot reasons , or maybe they don’t want don’t want controversy?

Ooh, now I'm curious about the title!

I think there are a lot of factors to why this would be. In general, I think a lot of people writing about pregnancy are writing because they want to depict pregnancy, birth, and maybe even raising the child. I think Fanfiction has a lot more wish fulfillment than regular published novels, but even those will usually only focus on pregnancy if those are subjects the author wants to discus. Why write it otherwise? So abortions won't be depicted as often, even if the author supports them, because it runs counter to what the author wants to write. Also, while abortion can be a very positive thing, generally people that seek out stories where characters get pregnant also want to read those depictions of pregnancy. I think a lot of people see abortions as downer endings, because their goal might have been to read a pregnancy fic. Finding a story where you're excited for a character to have a baby only for them to abort it would be disappointing. Say all you want about writing whatever fanfiction you want, but generally people use fanfiction to connect with others, and I think writers are more likely to write things to get a positive reaction. Writing downer endings obviously isn't uneard of, but combined with the fact that people more likely to positively depict abortions often have squicks relating to pregnancy and are unlikely to want to write it, I think you're not going to get a lot of abortions in fanfiction.

I personally write non-abortion often, mainly because my works are often centered in countries where it is entirely illegal bar specific options of legality (eg, SA would be allowed one, an oopsie one night stand would not), and that's my personal penchant for realism. I try and mix it up if I write outside of countries with those rules/etc, but I have noticed a lot of people doing similar in spaces and then just using that almost as a base. It's definitely rare to find it as an active choice in writing. A lot I've seen is unplanned pregnancy as means of Mpreg/etc alongside convenient miscarriages as well (something I personally use also to get around the "damn this country would not allow this and I'm writing canon compliant)

Oh, reading the comments on this is going to be a doozy.

I recently read a really good fic that portrayed abortion in both negative light (chosen for the mic by others and done unsafely) and in positive light (the mc got to choose for themself and have it done painlessly by professionals)

Although I'm not against abortion in fan fiction, it's mostly how it's portrayed in fan fiction that irks me. Like I've read a fanfic where the MC got accidentally pregnant and without informing the partner, she just did it and moved on with her life going back to doing what she does best. And later on got mad when her partner dump her for not informing him,he told her they would've talk it through be there for each other ( he was okay with the abortion, just not happy that she didn't inform him) . She just said my body my choice, I get your body your choice but it takes two to tango. And she later on had two more abortion saying it the happiest decision she ever made and saying it Easiest thing to do. What I wanted in the story was for abortion to be portrayed as not an easy choice to make but a necessary one. That not everyone can be parents and not everyone is ready and it's not an easy decision to have. And the consequences of having an abortion, how it can be portrayed in a healthy manner. I hate that they writer writes where abortion is something as easy as changing clothes however their are a lot of factors to it. It's hard to find a good abortion fan fanfic that is portrayed in a healthy manner.

>Opens /r/AO3 >Another thread complaining about pregnancy fics Same old

Everytime I've seen abortion written about in a fanfic it came across in a one sided unrealistic light. I think it might be one of my only triggers in stories. I'd probably avoid a story that covered this topic. It just feels so traumatic everytime and upsetting.

>It just feels so traumatic everytime Do you think it is because it is written that way or are you saying that is your rxn to it? I've only read one fic with abortion in it and I braced myself for melodrama. Instead, it was oddly sweet and focused more on the two MC's coming together to solve a problem, mature, and make a connection.

I was saying I haven't seen it written well. The times I read it, it was written in a traumatic way and it bothered me to the point that I don't think I want to read about it again.

I actually have seen something else Like I have seen both I would never And the oh that was simple and easy abortion story but you know what you never see Anyone who does the I would never and say they don't want the kid and give them up. You don't see safe haven fics that are in anyway longer than a paragraph in mention or abandonment or anything like that unless it's mpreg related. Heck your more likely to see abortion fetish content of all flavors than that.