Wednesday, September 2, 1964: Abortion and television

The NBC soap opera "Another World," which had premiered in May, is the first U.S. television series to make abortion part of a sustained plotline. (Other shows had incorporated the topic, but "Another World" dealt with it through pregnancy, abortion and aftermath.)

     The story: When college student Pat Matthews becomes pregnant, her boyfriend persuades her to have an illegal abortion. Told later that she will be unable to have children, Matthews shoots and kills her boyfriend. She is acquitted on the grounds of temporary insanity, then marries her defense attorney and has twins.

    The plotline takes place over several weeks, with the abortion taking place in the September 2 episode.

     -- Photo of Pat Matthews (played by Susan Trustman) from We Love Soaps website

* Summary from We Love Soaps: @

* Episode summaries, 1964 and 1965 (Eddie Drueding's AWHP): @ and @

* "Another World" entry from Archive of American Television: @

* "Abortion Onscreen" (Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health; University of California, San Francisco): @

* "A Timeline of Abortion Stories in Popular U.S. Media" (The Abortion Diaries): @ 

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