Responses to MTV's "No Easy Decision" abortion special

Pro-choicers and prolifers have responded with their thoughts on MTV's abortion special.

Pro-choice blogger Jessica Valenti wished the episode could have been longer but felt it "did a great job of showing the variety of experiences young women can have after abortion – from sadness to relief – and how harmful limitations like parental notifications and lack of health coverage can be."

Salon's Lynn Harris (a pro-choicer) thought MTV "nailed it."

Chloe Melas of the Hollywood Life thought the episode "felt rushed, it was highly edited, and at times seemed staged."

Prolife youth leader Bryan Kemper and Kristan Hawkins write,

We know that MTV is no bastion of decency or truth, but we did not think the show would actually go as far as it did. We were wrong......

Even after Markai has her abortion and is sitting with Dr. Drew in the studio, she still cannot say with certainty that she made the right decision. When asked about how she felt about the abortion, Markai responded that she is still confused and sad. Dr. Drew, being the ultimate abortion expert, just brushed her emotions off as something everyone goes through. Where is the compassion? Where is the counseling she needs?

Prolife writer Laura Echevarria notes the abortion industry's deception.

When she finally makes her decision to have the abortion, Markai says that she feels she needs to do it to give her daughter a better chance at life. What I found particularly troubling was that at six weeks of pregnancy, abortion clinic staff told her not to think of the baby as having “ten fingers, ten toes, a forehead” etc. Staff told her to think of the baby as a “clump of cells”—it would be less upsetting that way.