MTV’s “16 and Pregnant” to air special on abortion tomorrow

Nearly a year after Jessica and others asked the question, “Why are there no abortions on 16 and Pregnant?”, MTV has decided to take the issue to task. The fact of the matter is that nearly a third of teen pregnancies end in abortion, so portraying all of the realities of unintended teen pregnancies is critical – especially in support for whatever decision these young women make.

No Easy Decision will air tomorrow night on MTV at 11:30 EST, and will profile three young women’s stories about their decision to have an abortion. It’s incredibly rare that abortion is depicted in a realistic way on television (or, I should say, it’s rare that the issue is televised at all) so I’m really looking forward to seeing how MTV represents these young women’s stories.

Exhale, a self-proclaimed “pro-voice” organization that provides nonjudgmental and emotional post-abortion support, has launched an online campaign, “16 and Loved,” in support of the women telling their stories on the program. (There’s no doubt that anti-choice groups and organizations will be all over this, so any and all support is invaluable.) They’ll be holding a live blog on the night of with our very own Jessica, Lynn Harris and others involved, and are encouraging folks to also live tweet the show (make sure to follow @ExhaleProVoice and use hashtags #16andloved and #provoice). You can join the actual campaign and RSVP to the watch-in event on Facebook here.

Let’s hope this special serves as a way for us to not only destigmatize abortion, but more importantly, to let all teens with unintended pregnancies know that they’re loved — no matter what.