In this op-ed, Scarlett Harris argues that The Sex Lives of College Girls should explore an abortion storyline, particularly in the absence of Roe v. Wade.
A sex-positive Indian-American comedy writer. A driven soccer player hyper-focused on school (and sex). A straight-laced student dating a bisexual raver. A recently out lesbian departing the friend group (and the show). These are the archetypes that make up the titular Essex College students in The Sex Lives of College Girls, currently airing its third season on Max.
Created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble, the half-hour comedy aims to show a breadth of college experiences, with a particular focus on, well, the sex lives of college girls. TSLOCG is basically Sex & the City for Gen Z, although its sexual politics, at least when it comes to reproductive rights, are closer to And Just Like That…, the reboot that took the convenient miscarriage cop out instead of meaningfully discussing abortion for a character whose career was finally taking off and who already had three children. But I digress.
For a show depicting its three main characters (and a fourth roommate to replace Leighton, the outgoing character played by Reneé Rapp) having vaginal penetrative sex with cis male partners, why, over the course of three seasons, has The Sex Lives of College Girls not had an abortion storyline?
The show is set in present times: in season one, Leighton makes reference to giving her mother Botox shots during pandemic lockdowns, and a conservative pundit speaking at Essex in the current season is advertised for 2023. The show has touched on various real world plot lines. This season alone, Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) protests against said conservative speaker; Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott) takes umbrage with the way she and her soccer teammates are expected to sacrifice their bodies, mental health and schoolwork for their sport; and Bela (Amrit Kaur) realizes she’s queer and ponders how she can incorporate that into her raunchy comedy. It’s not like the show exists in an alternate universe. Even more relevant, the show has also tackled many sexual realities. In season two, a newly-out and sexually emboldened Leighton causes a chlamydia outbreak in a storyline that touches on the importance of safe sex in the lesbian community. And, in a somewhat left-field arc, Kimberly sells her eggs for tuition money. We know that the show, based on exploring your sexuality as a new college student, can confront difficult things, so why does it seem to ignore Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade?
With a cast of outspoken, politically engaged, and sexually liberated young women, that abortion is ignored is a sweeping oversight. When Roe was overturned and the constitutional right to abortion was rescinded, young people across the country were impacted. The show takes place at a New England college, so it could be assumed that the characters do have access to abortion, given the region’s protection of reproductive health. Still, the show’s past suggests that it’s capable of exploring an abortion storyline with depth and empathy. And, Kaling herself has said this particular group of women would likely be engaged in this issue. “I think especially at this campus, which is a really big mix of, like, you know, ideologies and stuff, I do think it is something that they talk about,” Kaling told Yahoo Entertainment in 2022, days before Roe was overturned. So, why the hell haven’t they?
Just after Roe was overturned, 2023 had the highest number of abortions in more than a decade, proving that those who are in search of a pregnancy termination will find one, despite legal, cost, location and safety barriers. If TSLOCG isn’t going to show one of its characters actually have an abortion, the least it could do is present the risk of pregnancy as a viable threat for sex- and uterus-having teens in the Year of Our Lord 2025. After all, real college students are terrified of what lack of access to reproductive care means for their sex lives.
Pop culture is a mirror to society and, as reproductive rights become even more pertinent in a post-Roe, second Trump-term America, representations of abortion on screen will be ever more important, just as they are in real life. Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) at the University of California, San Francisco observed 67 portrayals of abortion on TV in 2024, the highest they've ever documented since they started this count in 2016. That makes TSLOCG’s omission even more glaring.
If it’s renewed for a fourth season, The Sex Lives of College Girls needs an abortion storyline. It’s about damn time that unwanted pregnancy and its termination is presented as part and parcel of the sex lives of college girls.
