Abortion in Dirty Dancing, Explained

Dirty Dancing is an iconic film from 1987, but do you remember what it’s really about? Dirty Dancing’s entire plot wouldn’t be possible without the abortion that’s at the heart of the movie. Join the writer of Dirty Dancing Eleanor Bergstein, special guest Gretchen Sisson, and our resident professor, Danielle Bainbridge, as they trace the history of abortion access through Dirty Dancing and what it means for our world today. A previous version of this video contained personal information in the background of a shot. We have blurred this in the new version of the episode. Resources: Abortion laws by state: Where abortions are illegal after Roe v. Wade overturned. Politico. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06... Abortion Onscreen Database. Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH). abortiononscreen.org Abortion in Women’s Lives. Guttmacher Institute. https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/defa... The Economic Consequences of Being Denied an Abortion. National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/papers/w26662 Abortion Surveillance, United State 2019. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/s... The effects of lack of abortion access. Turnaway Study. https://www.ansirh.org/research/ongoi... Beal v. Doe Dissent: Forcing Poor Women To Have Children. Law Library - American Law and Legal Information. https://law.jrank.org/pages/24700/Bea... Credits: Director: Dolly Li Producer: Tien Nguyen Consulting Producer: Danielle Bainbridge On-camera appearances by: Danielle Bainbridge, Eleanor Bergstein, Gretchen Sisson Written by: Dolly Li and Tien Nguyen Voiceover by: Kiana Taylor Director of Photography: Brian Inocencio Gaffer: Seth MacMillan Camera Operator: Dylan Bergeson Online Editor: Travis Hatfield Editor: Eurie Chung Motion Graphics: Jonathan Gil, Travis Hatfield Research Assistant: Allen Cao, Kiana Taylor Makeup Artist: Dawn Coleman Set Designer: Tori Laxalt Fact Checker: Yvonne McGreevy Post-production services & facilities provided by: Flash Cuts Executive Producer for Flash Cuts: Eurie Chung Executive Producers for CAAM: Stephen Gong, Donald Young Supervising Producer for CAAM: Sapana Sakya Coordinating Producer for CAAM: Czarina Garcia Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing This program is a production of Plum Studios and the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM). ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateORIG *****