While it’s become typical for Hollywood to try to normalize abortion, it’s not common for a romantic dramedy to employ abortion as a plot device to bring two potential love interests closer together, as occurred in the second season of HBO Max’s The Love of Your Life.
This season of the anthology series, which concluded on November 11, focused on Marcus Watkins (William Jackson Harper), a young black man in a failed interracial marriage who appears to be truly meant to be with Mia Hines (Jessica Williams). Circumstances continually keep Marcus and Mia apart, including when Marcus impregnates an older white woman he’s been casually seeing at the end of the episode named after her, “Becca Evans” (Leslie Bibb).
Marcus assumes Becca will get an abortion and becomes angry and self-righteous upon finding out she won’t because “I don’t wanna be tied to you for the rest of my life.” Ironically, Marcus objects to the typically pro-abortion notion of “my body, my choice” when he disagrees with Becca’s choice to carry their baby, saying, “It’s your body, but half of what’s happening in there, that’s–that’s me. And I don’t get any say in that? Like, none? Come on, Becca, that’s fucked up, man, you know it.”
Marcus: Yeah, I mean, well, you know, whatever you wanna do, like… I mean, I’ll–I’m more than happy to…
Becca: Thank you.
Marcus: Yes, I’ll take you along. And obviously, I’ll pay for anything that you–
Becca: Oh, no, Marcus, I’m keeping the baby. But I don’t need anything from you.
Marcus: Uh, um, uh, oh, God. Oh, my God, how could I let this fuckin’ happen?
Becca: I’m totally fine with you being involved as much or as little as you want. It’s really, I mean, it’s not that complicated.
Marcus: It is. It is sorta complex for me.
Becca: Why?
Marcus: Okay, Becca, you can’t tell a Black man that he doesn’t have to be involved with his kid.
Becca: Ok, this seems crazy. Was race anything to do?
Marcus: ‘Cause people are gonna judge me differently than they do you. Like that’s just–that’s just facts, so–
Becca, I don’t think either of us expected this. It’s gonna be okay. Marcus. It’s gonna be a little mixed baby. Mixed babies are adorable.
Marcus: You know, I don’t–
Becca: Be cute.
Marcus: No, no, no, I don’t think that’s… I don’t think that’s funny, like–
Becca: Okay.
Marcus: I’m just gonna say it. You mean like is this the reason you want to keep your baby? You want to be trendy and have a frizzy-haired accessory that you can wear around town? Then you can be Sandra Bullock and Angelina Jolie. You get your progressive street cred, like just fuckin’ cemented. I mean, like, is that– is that what this is about?
Becca: Fuck you, that’s not what I meant. I didn’t even have to tell you, Marcus. I did you a courtesy. However, you don’t have any say over what I do to my body.
Marcus: It’s your body, but half of what’s happening in there, that’s–that’s me. And I don’t get any say in that? Like, none? Come on, Becca, that’s fucked up, man, you know it. Like, this isn’t supposed to be a thing. Like I don’t wanna be tied to you for the rest of my life.
Becca, what do you want? I’m giving you an out.
Marcus: No, I don’t–I don’t want an out.
Marcus: What do you want? I am going to have this baby, and it’s my decision. And I’m sorry it’s not what you want.
In the subsequent episode, “Becca Evans Part II,” it’s revealed that Marcus has been wallowing in “his own lack of agency” when it comes to Becca not having an abortion. But Marcus finally comes around and gets back in touch with Becca two months into her pregnancy, deciding he’d like to be part of their child’s life. Becca is an older woman so Marcus is able to accompany her to her doctor’s appointments.
Marcus comforts Mia by showing Mia an ultrasound of the baby. That’s when Mia reveals she had an abortion when she was 18 because she “just didn’t want people telling me what to do.” She says that afterwards she “didn’t really feel anything” and then “just felt relief.”
Mia: One time I experienced an abortion. Not a segue, but, uh–
Marcus: Really?
Mia: Yeah. It was.My 18th birthday was the day I graduated from high school. And my mom wasn’t having it, and I sure as fuck wasn’t ready for a baby. And I just didn’t want people telling me what to do.
Marcus: How’d you feel afterwards?
Mia: I didn’t really feel anything, and then… I just felt relief. And, uh… now, I honestly don’t even really think about it anymore.
Marcus: I mean, do you–I mean, do you think you’re gonna want kids in the future, or…
Mia: Sometimes I think I still want kids, and then I’m like ‘Who am I to be looking after another human?’
Marcus: What is the definition of a person?
Ultimately, the baby is diagnosed with several abnormalities, including Trisomy 13 and 18, leading Becca to have an abortion, saying, “If I don’t have a D&C, I’ll probably miscarry.”
When Mia asks how he is feeling afterwards, he acknowledges that “this is gonna sound a little fucked up…maybe kind of relieved.”
The way abortion is handled so casually is ridiculous. Marcus expected Becca would abort their baby from the start. Mia felt nothing after her abortion. Their message is that abortion will be beneficial for all and that it is an option that can bring some relief. Reality is, abortion is an evil that precludes a human being from living a life that was created in God’s image. Hollywood cannot normalize this.
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