This is a set of reviews of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes. My general thoughts about that show are here. I’ll often do no more than make brief notes about an episode, although occasionally I’ll go deeper. Also, often there are dissenting main characters on almost any political issue, but you can usually tell what the general position of the show is. All the rest of the reviews are available by clicking on the l&osvu label at the bottom.
“The Burden of Our Choices” Season 21. Summary is here.
This is more about abortion than it is about a sex crime (in this case sexual abuse of a minor by her step-father). Until the end all of the pro-lifers are more concerned about the girl having an abortion than they are concerned about the abuse that resulted in the pregnancy. One refers to abortion as a “modern-day genocide” which should be seen as an insult to those who have seen their population almost wiped about. There’s the tiniest bit of dissent but in general the main characters are pro-choice.
One says that money is a factor, that women with money can get abortions easier than women without. And that’s true in multiple ways. First, it’s usually not a free procedure and there is great opposition among pro-lifers to using federal money to pay for abortions. Second, in many states only a minority of counties have an abortion provider and that means women have to travel, some times great distances, to get an abortion. And some states have a waiting period which means spending days in whatever city they have to travel to for the abortion. Poor women can’t afford the gas money and motel room needed.
The 13-yo rape victim (and that’s another thing, the pro-lifers in this episode are the sort who don’t make an exception for rape) tries to kill herself. In the Republic of Ireland, abortion is about 99% illegal. In the 1990s there was at least one court case that decided that if the woman is suicidal and that’s certified by two psychiatrists, she can have an abortion. In 2002 a referendum almost over-turned that by constitutional amendment but it was narrowly defeated. Although Sinn Fein was more or less pro-life, they believed in making several exceptions and the woman being suicidal was one of them and they not only called for a NO vote, they joined a coalition for that purpose with the Green Party, the Labour Party, and a feminist organization.
“At Midnight in Manhattan” Season 21. Summary is here.
A big chunk of this is about transphobia.
“Murdered at a Bad Address” Season 21. Summary is here.
This is about clearing an innocent man who spent 16 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Although it’s not clear, I think that when the detective who originally investigated and arrested the man is interviewed by SVU, he refers to the wrongly convicted as PRs and I think that means Puerto Ricans (both of them have Spanish last names). An SVU detective suggests a class and racial dimension to the original investigation, hence the episode title (they lived in the housing project the murders took place in).
The Queens Assistant DA who gets the wrongly convicted man (his alleged accomplice died shortly before SVU started investigating) out of prison is a gay man. So are/were the two wrongly convicted men and the homophobia of our society kept them from explaining that they were having sex with each other when the rape/double murder took place- they probably could have gotten out of the rape charge and therefore the murder charge as well just by telling the truth about their sexual orientation.
“Counselor, it’s Chinatown” Season 21. Summary is here.
There’s one bit that pro-immigrant. When they raid a massage parlor that involves sex-work, they offer the women working there help with immigration.
“The Longest Night of Rain” Season 21 See this for a summary.
This is about a cop who was raped by a superior in the NYPD.
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