The Abortion Divide (full documentary) | FRONTLINE 

SHEESH! Just one time, unprotected, & the outcome is twins??? Talk about luck of the draw... I enjoyed seeing both sides of this forever controversial topic. It was very informative & personal, so a HUGE thank you to the ladies sharing their stories with us. The best of wishes to them all & I hope they're doing well to date!

I am from a small Caribbean country known as Jamaica where abortions are illegal but still done under the table. There is also a growing number of child neglect, child abuse, and child molestation but the tourism minister would never tell foreigners that we have that problem here in Jamaica currently. Let's talk about the daily rate at which rape has advanced since March2020 curfew lockdowns every week since and child molestation. Just last week an 11year old got pregnant by a grown-ass man and the sad thing about it is that she has no choice in if she wants to keep her baby or not becz pro life is only pro life from conception to birth. After the baby is born you are left on your own. Her little body isn't fully developed to carry or give birth to a child. Her pregnancy can go very badly. I hate seeing men who have never experienced periods or cramps and will never understand what it means to give birth makes life-altering decisions like this. The law needs to be rewritten by women for women. Religion is being used as a free pass to do anything and justify it in the name of Christ.

Protesters should go help the children that are present on earth instead.

Impressed with the women that were brave enough to share their stories

It's nice that there are homes for pregnant and new mothers, but parenting doesn't last for just 6 months. How are these women, who are basically homeless, going to support those babies for the next 20 years? If they are encouraged to have unplanned babies, the commitment to helping them would need to be a hell of a lot longer. How convenient that there was "no data" on how the women and their babies fared after leaving the mothers' houses. I fear they have a future of poverty and struggle, made worse by having children they weren't ready to support.

Making it illegal doesn't make it happen less. Making all companies pay a living wage. Making all schools teach teens about their bodies and about reproduction and fertility. Making birth control better. Making sure women don't get fired for getting pregnant. Making sure men and women who want to be fixed, temporarily or permanently, can do so in a timely manner. These are all things that lower abortion rates significantly.

So, instead of being homeless with a newborn, you're homeless with a six month old infant. Shows that there is a limit to "Christian love."

As a retired RN the clinic in the later part of this show “loves you” you don’t even know them. What if they weren’t pregnant? Would they love them then? It is not our job as a nurse to EVER persuade a patient to do what they feel uncomfortable with. Our job is to be an advocate to whatever the patient chooses.

The dedication for making this film is unbelievable. Very well done. Regardless of what side you’re on or just somewhere in the middle, I recommend everyone to watch it.

"Trauma that's overflowing from childhood, disconnected families." It's a shame that family planning would help break this cycle but yet healthcare and contraception is broken in this country. Excellent reporting as always Frontline!

If you are anti abortion please step up and adopt 5 or 6 kids now in foster care. Don’t just run your mouth.

Hold up! They can stay at the pregnancy shelter while pregnant and for six months after, but they're just kicked the fuck out with an infant? How on "god's" green earth does that help anyone? I love how this was their answer to the argument that they only care about the baby in the womb--6 months of life is not enough support after pressuring these women into having a baby they weren't prepared to raise. That is an atrocity.

I appreciate PBS trying to present abortion in a mostly even light...very pro-choice and pro-life people could disagree but I think they showed both sides

Since everyone is praying for the poor baby and the woman how about praying for the dead beat father's who put these women in these situations

The older woman...pregnant with twins naturally wow! I'm so impressed that these women shared their stories. I don't think I would have been brave enough to do so.

“Promiscuity is leading to abortion” yeah right that’s why most of the women in the documentary were mothers already and/or married. Everyone wishes for less abortions including pro-choice people like myself. But then again education and contraception are the key to that.

This issue should be kept between a woman and her family/doctor. Everyone else should worry about their own family and the multiple issues they have. Stay out of other people's medical decisions.

All I can think about is a good friend of mine from college. She was raped in the dorms while she slept. She was pushed to keep the baby by her family. She told me she didn't want the baby at all. To make her family happy she carried the baby until she got preterm labor and collapsed. Turns out she had an undiagnosed heart disorder. My friend died while the hospital was trying to save the baby. The baby died the next day. Sometimes I think about how much religion can dictate someone's life

That poor husband, as soon as his wife swallowed that pill, and the nurse announced that, was the beginning of the abortion procedure, his hand just froze. Before then, he had been rubbing her back. Such a terrible, difficult time in peoples lives

I am pro-choice, but that choice goes both ways. Just as we must allow people who do not want children to get abortions, we should also provide those who do want children the resources to take care of those children. Pro-choice is an incomplete movement if we do not account for the ways that people who want to have children are forced by circumstances (often financial) to terminate a pregnancy.

Imagine fighting against abortion and then also saying that abstinence is the best defense. These people are truly not thinking rationally. This repressed worldview is part of why there is so much unhappiness and judgement.

The world is so weird, some people want to have babies but instead experiencing multiple miscarriages. Some people never want to have babies but get pregnant after only one random unprotected sex. For some people, after 12 weeks of pregnancy, it is safe, for others, everyday during the 10 month pregnancy period is not safe.

I have had 2 abortions. One when I was 23 and one when I was 29. The first man told me he was sterile and he wanted to marry me. The second was a trick...because I was addicted to heroine and being pimped out...I do not regret either one...9 years later. I thought I should and what is wrong with me? Why don't I feel bad? I finally realized, because it was the right thing to do

If my mom drank or did drugs during early pregnancy without knowing I was developing, I would hope she would abort. Seems like the more merciful and selfless thing to do, tbh.

What happens to the mum and newborn after the 6 months are up in the women's home?

I wish these protestors instead of harassing people they would visit children in foster care. Protest over that issue it’s a huge one!!

The only comment that should be made is that I am happy each of those women (and men) ultimately made the BEST decisions for themselves... hard stop.

Spent an hour reading the comments on this video. It's pretty easy to tell which side of the issue people and its still clearly a very touchy subject. Great reporting by Frontline.

Having children should be a choice. Period. Especially when the world coming to the places it’s at today, I don’t even wanna be here let alone bring another human into this mess

Also, let's talk about ectopic pregnancies or a stillbirth. Women would be so screwed if Roe v Wade is overturned.

Beautifully done. Thank you for not showing the “stereotypical” poor black women. This just reinforces the woman’s right to CHOOSE.

I’m def pro choice, but more than that I’m for contraception. Contraception can save you from being put in a situation like this: (most of the time when it works*) it’s a safety net. Completely denying people of that is sabotaging them and doesn’t prevent them from acting in promiscuity. I don’t plan on having a child until I feel financially and mentally ready to do so, which is why I got contraception when I turned 18: my parents were so against it. I don’t regret that decision. Give people the right to choose and educate them. Edit: OBVIOUSLY - birth control Is not always effective. Stop with the “what about me” ism. It’s why I’m pro choice my god.

Sometimes the men don't want the responsibility either. Carrying the child is not an option some of these women want. They do not want to carry to term then give it up.

Those that profit from the divide don't really care which way this goes. They're happy to see regular folk be dis-empowered by divisive issues that only affect regular folk.

To think about an abortion is rough for a lot of women to go ahead with an abortion is worst. It's really not easy. The women who speak about it are brave.

If men could get pregnant….there’d be as many clinics as there are 7-elevens.

Despite that in developed countries have more resources and medical care, you just have to take a look at the Philippines and see what happens when state bans abortion. Let women have a choice. Bringing a life to this world without proper support only prolongs the poverty, misery and crime circles.

When she said I’ll deal with the sadness and depression later just kills me

I would argue that one of the few things that could rival the evilness of taking a life that is wanted, is creating a life that isn't. It would be interesting if Frontline were, in twenty-five years, to find out what has happened to the children of the mothers who decided to keep their children. Do you think that the majority of those children would to be thriving, well-adjusted young adults living happy lives?

10 seconds of ecstasy is not worth 18 years of misery

I was a clinic manager for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains & Vice President of Client Services for Planned Parenthood of New Mexico 1990-1999. Never in direct supervision of clinics that provided abortion services but worked at them and was also occasionally a clinic escort. I was always surprised to see older, scruffy men protesting. I was always angry to see men protesting, period. Abortion is NEVER an easy choice but thank god for that choice. My entire family was pro choice starting in 1959. My father's older sister hemorrhaged to death giving birth to a stillborn boy, who would have been her 7th child. My mother's sister died during childbirth in 1961. That baby survived, her third in less than 24 months; she had a stroke, was in her mid-20s. My parents & grandparents wished their sisters/daughters would have had the choice to have an abortion. They would have lived normal lives and not left behind nine motherless children. And if you think that didn't fuck with my cousins their entire lives, you're wrong. As ironic as it sounds, abortions save lives.

For all the men that decide for us what the right thing to do is, perhaps ask your fellow brothers and friends why they so often abandon their pregnant women and/or children. So tired of having people decide FOR us when the collateral damage of a poorly raised child affects our worldwide communities. Some of these dudes really need to check themselves. And if the church is so invested in PRO life then they should help pay for the child's life and education rather than get themselves luxury jet planes so they can be 'closer to god'. So damn frustrated at all these men telling women how to do what we have done since the dawn of time: create life in all of it's variations and nuances.

Woman living in a homeless shelter for pregnant women: "I think babies are a blessing. That's why I have ALL EIGHT of mine." My God, the delusion

If sex offenders aren't allowed within a certain distance to certain places, anti-abortion extremists shouldn't be allowed near clinics.

As a disabled US Army Veteran and a Christian, I fought and served to have freedom of choice..FOR EVERYONE!!Even when those choices differ from mine and honestly, I have no problem with that! I'm at odds with several other Christians.. Jesus was not about forcing his beliefs down other people's throats.. Seems most Christians forget or ignore that fact in the bible..😥 Every woman should be able to make thier own choice! If your against abortion, it's simple, DON'T HAVE ONE!! I'm also firm believer that men really need to do our part as well.. Just putting or forcing the responsibility onto a woman for birth control is selfish and wrong!! If more men would step up and do our part and have a vasectomy, it would make a world of difference... espically if you love and value a woman you are with as I do my wife. FREEDOM=CHOICE!! God bless EVERYONE AND stay safe all! 🙏😷

I'm catholic myself , and I appreciate the Doctor's effort and respect his ideology. That being said, I don't believe in abortion, and personally would never get one. But the entire female population is not me, and God does give you free will. So that within itself makes me pro-CHOICE.

Great documentary and loved how both sides were represented. I’m pro choice (only you know what’s best for you), but I found it disheartening that majority of the women in the shelters had multiple kids, but don’t have the resources to properly care for them/have them being raised by foster care or other family members. I’d love to see coverage about the foster care system and adoption in the near future. Especially since it’s so underfunded in the US

Abstinence only education does NOT work!

44:45 she doesn’t believe in abortion but believes in having 8 out of wedlock kids that are majority in foster care 😳🥴🙈

Why is it that Christians feel the need to force their beliefs upon everyone? I get that they see abortion as a sin in that the killing of a "child," is a sin, but why is it everyone must follow their beliefs regardless of their own? Is it not enough that you are Christian and are (hypothetically) a good Christian already? This especially to those who go out to make trouble, try to hurt people both physically and mentally, how does that square with being a good Christian? Some of these protestors are unhinged and don't actually care about life, they care about their ideals and in their selfishness people get hurt.

I had one when I was 20. I was not ready and had been doing a ridiculous amount of drugs. A LOT of LSD. Lots of weed. Lots of alcohol. Lots of cigarettes. I wouldn’t be ready for another 20 years to be honest, and I am glad I waited to be a mom. I was not ready then, and I am sure the baby would have had serious health issues from the amount of drugs I was doing.

I had an abortion at 23 years old and I am grateful I had the choice. I have ZERO REGRETS! It was the best choice for me and it sickens me that women may not have this option anymore. I was treated with respect and kindness through the entire process

The part where the girls said "that's why I had all eight of mine" had ne like 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

You can really see the emotion wash over the biz exec's face when she was told about the twins. It's not going to change the other realities of her life, but you could tell it still wasn't easy to hear

I gave birth at 16yrs old, my guardian told me I had to give birth. I didn’t love my daughter til I was old enough to understand I’m a Mom. I did take care of her, I was emotionally distant, being honest I still am. I am pro-choice though. I wouldn’t get an abortion but I wouldn’t stop a person from their choice.

“You can’t be a part time Christian and fight a full time devil” 💯💯

I almost chocked on my food when the tech said twins. Those 2 ladies have got to be over 40.

Republicans “my body my choice”. Republicans on abortion, “NO”. I believe everyone who has had an abortion is one of the hardest choices to make and a parents choice should not be questioned.

Birth control prevents unwanted pregnancy.

Like toddler and adolescent, the terms embryo and fetus do not refer to nonhumans, but to humans at particular stages of development.

28:25 anyone find it weird a bunch of old men are protesting what young women should do with their body?

I worked with High School students for,15 years in LA. Many of these were under 17 y/o and had 1 or 2 babies and unmarried. They were on. Medical and really struggling to be single Moms and finish high school too. It's interesting that there is little support for these children from the so called pro-lifers. I am grateful that women still have a choice.

This whole process is just sad all the way around. I feel much sadness for the women that have to make this decision. People like myself, and struggle to conceive children, I feel sadness for us also because we have not been blessed with the gift of a life to take care of. I wish they were more resources for women that are in poverty situation that wish to keep their children. It does seem like the folks encouraging women to not abort their baby are not there to help them when they really are needed. I think whether we make abortion safer and legal, or if we do the opposite and encourage women to keep their children, more help needs to be given on both ends. Personally, it’s not a decision I would make, but I am in a category of women who is not fortunate enough to conceive a child. Therefore I recognize my own bias. I will also say that being a person with a disability, it is very easy to have a boarded me but my parents did the exact opposite they fought to keep me and my sister alive. They literally went into bankruptcy. That in my opinion should not have had to happen. Our medical system as a whole fails people on either ends but let’s be honest so does our social system. Frankly America we could do better and we should do better.

I’m binge watching pro Life pro choice documentaries, since news broke of the Roe vs Wade overturn. Why don’t men have laws for their reproductive rights?

Will Lyman is always on top of his game. Forever the best narrator.

Best journalism on tv today. Plain and simple

If that fetus can’t survive outside the body then it isn’t human. There should be no punishment by man and government. This a religious movement and doesn’t represent everyone’s beliefs?

One of the most divisive topics that I learned of in my time with Amnesty International, abortion is a topic most touched by religion and old world practices. We used to live in a time when humanity's population could be decimated by a little war (Sea People's attack), a little famine (any point in history), a little disease (Black Death and the likes), and a little too much death. Humans with a bit more insight than others made themselves the elders and wisemen of our pasts who constructed moral pathways for us to interbreed properly (no incest) and to keep the population going. Although people with power have perverted these methods to generate soldiers and workers for their empire in their corner of the world, the rhetoric remains similar in most religions: 1) the most important role for a person is to create progenies 2) you must not commit suicide 3) you must not commit incest or socially ruinous relationships. This was when our population barely his 1 million. Now that we are at 8 billion, we see all sorts of things. We have so many children born from unwanted pregnancies that need a home. We have so many people with birth defects. We have so many people jobless or littering the streets. We are past the point of having more lives. Let's make better lives.

Do not conceive children if you cannot financially and emotionally provide for the entirety of the child's adolescent life. Sex education is important. Other birth control options are available. Education is an understatement. Abortion is a last chance, emergency situation. However, abortion is and should always be a personal decision. Religion aside, how many pro-life followers support funding state and federal programs, courtesy of their tax dollars? Do they even understand these programs?

I don’t think either side will ever get along. “Abortion provider” is also known as “baby murderer” to the other side. Why don’t we fund adoption and remove the barriers? Why does it cost thousands of dollars to just pay lawyers?

Women need the right to decide what happens to their own bodies. Damn it!

Adoption appears to be a difficult and expensive process in the U.S. I know people who had to adopt children outside the U.S. They should make it easier for couples to adopt children.

Maybe the real divide is: Is the fetus a person? Unless there is an agreement here, abortion debate may be pointless

Ridiculous with contraception so readily available in this country for FREE this should NOT still be an issue. If you don't educate these young people and give them ACCESS to it what do you expect? The Christian Rights preaching CELIBACY obviously hasn't worked either.....

"You cant be a part time Christian and fight a full time devil". WORD!

That one woman right there was my mom single pregnant at 19 and my grandma was telling her that she needed to have an abortion Thank your mom for not doing it you didn’t have a job or no money instead of jet jeans in life>

I'm happy to see both women are at least loved & taken care of no matter if they decide an abortion or not. That's what I was most happy about.

This is a women's issue but in my opinion a woman should have a right to choose. It's her body. It's her choice. No law or government entity should be involved.

It's so hard watching the women struggling emotionally with knowing they're doing the right thing but feeling so much shame and guilt over it

This will be a forever argument, with differing opinions. Children grow and develop much healthier when they are wanted. I support a freedom of choice and in the meantime let’s build a future with strong family and community values. Where no single mother struggles alone and bringing a child into this world does not involve painful outcomes and bitter finances. Though I know the reasons for an abortions can greatly vary..

OMG double facepalm, not only do they preach against abortion, they won't even agree to contraception? 33:40

Once again, being pro choice means MIND YOUR GODDAMN BUSINESS.

13:58: "My conviction is that life beings at conception" then live YOUR life with that conviction and let others live THEIR LIVES with their own conviction. Helping the mother give birth does not mean anything, she'll have to feed herself and the baby until the baby is a grown adult. No way that this is better for the women.

So hard to watch each time the nurses mention how far along the babies are my heart breaks.

I, / We, dodged a bullet!! I am the very proud Father of an absolutely Wonderful, Beautiful, Loving, Caring and Intelligent 22 year old Woman. She is a Corporal in the United States Army, an Athlete, avid Hiker, Loves all sports and adventure/ Nature.. I met her Mother in the usual way, we were not in love, we had known each other about 4 months when our Daughter was Conceived. Her Mother had 4 other Children at the time. for some reason she didn't want to have this Child. I recall, like it was yesterday "Begging" her for days to not abort our Baby. However her Mother made an appointment to take the "M.A.P." pill. Again I recall sitting in the parking lot of Planned Parenthood, BEGGING her, Literally, on my knees, to not do this. All I could think of as she left the car is how my Heart felt like it was going to stop beating and how I would never have a chance to know and love my Child. By the time she came out of the Office I couldn't even speak. Then she told me she didn't take the pill. That day was the beginning of the rest of my life! I THANK GOD EVERY DAY for my Daughter,... That "Little Girl" Totally Changed my Life! The Love a Dad has for a Daughter can not be described.... I do not Judge anyone,, Its not my place to do so. All I can tell anyone is to really think before making such a decision.. I was 26 at the time with a good job,, Which had "Nothing" to do with my wanting my Daughter. Money is not everything, Family is... Children are our future and "Time, Love and nurture is all it takes to raise an "Incredible Daughter" That's all... ~NEVER GIVE UP!~

"It's going to be brutal and bloody, and we're only in the second or third round of this." A rare admission from pro-life that pro-life is, fundamentally, a terror movement

I've had an abortion before and I'll say this, God knows my heart and my reason.. Did I feel bad? Of course but the timing was bad.. No sin is no more Superior than the other..I understand..

Let the people decide. Not politicians.

As the director stated if you say you're pro-life you need to put programs in place to give the women the ability to take care of the baby.

The young couple at the end said something interesting when being interviewed together. He said, “I don’t want to raise my children….” When she spoke she said “we”. Interesting on his thoughts and her thoughts.

Bless all these courageous people out there daily trying to stop the killing.

Why have un protected sex if ur not ready to be a parent

What I see here is a very personal decision made by each of these women. I feel bad by even watching this because I cannot even begin to understand what each unique situation is about and it’s not my place to understand because it’s not my journey. But as a woman, I feel compassion for them. It’s their choice and they make the best decisions for themselves and live with their choices. Life is tough in this world nowadays. To each her own.

So unfortunate to see these kids go through this!

I could write a novel on this topic. I have first hand experience on the choices here. But one situation bothers me to no end… and no one can give an intelligent response for. For everyone who is against abortion… for everyone who believes in their heart and soul that all life matters regardless of gestational age, etc., I just want to know at what age does that life stop mattering? I’m not asking that in some sarcastic manner. It’s an extremely sincere question. Do you have any idea how many kids are in foster care? Do you have any idea how many kids are in the custody of people who physically abuse them? Or sexually abuse them? Do you know how many starve? Do you know how many are used for the sexual perversion of others? Or how many are in desperate need of healthcare? Because for so many people to chant ‘all life matters, wtf don’t you fight for the care of the lives that are already here?! Have you ever seen a child victim of abuse… physical, sexual or emotional? Have you ever sat down with a young lady who had to have reconstructive surgery on her bowels, rectum and anus due to repeated sexual assault? Assaults that, by the way, were reported but never acted upon? Or how about the adoption ‘rehoming’ that occurs with less regulation than a purchase return at Walmart? When we can get the world to a place where our child services aren’t overwhelmed..,. When we get to a point where kids, regardless of age or financial status are fed… educated… safe… THEN I’ll happily discuss the legitimacy of abortion. But if a woman is pregnant and knows in her heart she can’t care for this child. Or she can’t keep this child safe. Or the issue of substance abuse while pregnant… if they can be honest-not just with themselves but the world- that they should not be bringing a child into this world, then I think she should have that right. I don’t claim that this answer is right for everyone. I don’t claim it’s a fix to the world. But until we can confidently guarantee a healthy, safe life for all kids, then I think the ability to choose is warranted.

What I have noticed in the past and I notice in the video is that what was removed by a suction abortion I believe at 10 weeks looked nothing like the fetus photos the anti abortion folks show at the same age looking more developed. I think there should be a time limit for performing abortions but I also understand the situations these people can be in and resent the pressure people place on them on their way into or out of a clinic. Recently I found out that a cousin a couple of times removed back in the 30's had a abortion and died as a result. From the look of her she is clearly related and I know the pure sweetness she had within her heart and mind. I believe overturning Roe will bring us back to that time of many deaths of young women. I also have a sister that reluctantly gave up a baby for adoption.. She had feelings of loss I think she would have not experienced if she had not carried that baby to term and seen him after he was born and was not able to see him again at any time afterward. Therefore talking up the unltrasound when little is visible probably sounds wonderful but is not for the pregnant woman. My sister had psychiatric difficulties ever after until she died about 40 years later.

How to start an internet firestorm: state your opinion on abortion*

Leaving Texas bc of this. This new anti-woman law is beyond sick and cruel. Abortion laws punish even families who are trying to have children. My friend and her husband are trying to conceive and now they're scared to try under the new Texas law. Pregnancy is dangerous. Even fertility clinics have to go through multiple embryos, but you don't see the religious tyrants ranting about that.

I love the Frontline voice ❤️

I pray that I will never have to go through or make this kind of hard decision that other women have to do. It’s amazing to me that today people are more concerned over an unborn fetus rather than the mother. I will always believe that women have the right to decide what to do with their body