The Morning Show is back, and boy have we missed our favourite on-screen duo, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. The Apple TV+ hit has never shied away from topical discussions, covering US gun laws, women’s rights and the Covid-19 outbreak, and season three is no different. The first episode, The Kármán Line, dives straight into some of the real-world implications of Texas’s abortion ban.

In August 2022, the state introduced new legislation that banned all medical abortions unless in life-threatening circumstances, but there is no exemption for rape. If the law is broken, it can carry up to a $100,000 (£78,000) fine or life in prison. 

The ruling came after the US supreme court overturned its 50-year-old Roe v Wade law, and millions of women across the US lost their right to an abortion.

The TV series’s handy time jump from the end of season two lands us firmly in the post-pandemic world of 2022 and right in the centre of this political debate.

Bradley has a personal investment in the situation in Texas, as she had an abortion as a teenager. She regularly checks in with a source in the middle of the storm, Luna, who smuggles abortion pills across the border for women who need access to them.

In one emotional call, Bradley reveals that she only accessed this healthcare as a woman like Luna gave her the supplies she needed. She shares: “When I was pregnant as a teenager, I knew that I couldn’t tell my mother, and there was a woman like you and she saved my life. I just want other women to know that there are people like you out there, and they don’t have to feel alone.”

Like Bradley and Luna, some women are bypassing the law by seeking medical treatment online, through a third party, or travelling for hours out of state to receive a safe abortion. 

This ban disproportionately affects low-income women who cannot afford to take time off, find childcare, or make a trip to a different state to get access to this medication.

Without access to a safe medical abortion, the risk of death increases, as the World Health Organisation attributes between 4.7% and 13.2% of maternal deaths to unsafe abortions. All of these, the WHO states, could be avoided if the right education about sexual health, access to free contraception and safe abortion were available.

Later, Alex is mid-flight and catching up with the news from Texas that Bradley had briefly filled her in on. She shares that out of 120 abortion clinics, “according to this article, 100 clinics routinely lie to pregnant women about how far along they are so they think they’re too late to terminate the pregnancy”.

Alex gives the example of a woman who is three weeks along, being told she is seven weeks pregnant, as the cut-off is roughly six weeks. In order to have an abortion (legally) in Texas, a person would have to detect the pregnancy very early on, as once a heartbeat is detected at around five or six weeks, it can no longer be performed. 

As the show implies, NBC reported that some CPC (crisis pregnancy centres) like abortion clinics, were found to give out medical misinformation such as listing infertility and cancer as side effects of abortion. Yet, there is no known link between these diseases and abortion.

Alex is outraged by the statistics and adds: “You go to your doctor, you don’t want to be lied to.” While Chip tries to make light of the situation and focus on the BBQs, Alex replies: “Delicious. Brisket roasted over the ashes of women’s autonomy.” What a line. 

The show effortlessly weaves fact and fiction to explore the impact of controversial US laws on everyday citizens, such as Luna, being arrested for bringing in abortion pills and abortion clinics being unethical. 

By having these real-world discussions in a fictional setting, The Morning Show is able to educate viewers on women’s rights in the US during one of its most turbulent times in recent history, all the while offering some comfort for women who are struggling with the changes to the laws in Texas via this narrative. It’s a thought-provoking first instalment and is sure to hint at what’s to come this season. 

Images: Apple TV+