Netflix series Ginny and Georgia isn’t exactly known for its gritty verisimilitude (the second season ends with a wedding, a police investigation and a shock confession), and with the show having returned for a third season, you can expect the melodrama to continue.
But it’s a tender and more understated moment towards to second half of the season that will resonate over the hyperbole, and will remain with viewers long after the series ends.
For those not up to speed, Ginny meets Wolfe in her poetry class, and after some mild flirting, the pair end up having a brief liaison in the laundry room – leaving 16-year-old Ginny unexpectedly pregnant.
It’s a clear moment of contention for Ginny when she manages to speak to Georgia, after Wolfe’s disappointing response to the news (“That’s wild!” was his reaction, before fleeing).
With Georgia having been a teenage mum herself, Ginny is painfully aware that if her mother had chosen to have an abortion, she wouldn’t be here. This knowledge leads to uncertainty, even though Ginny knows having a baby isn’t the right choice for her.
Ginny ultimately decides to have the procedure, which is shown with quiet, raw accuracy – some pills, and Ginny returning to her home with a hot water bottle as she undergoes painful cramping. She gently asks her mother whether she should feel guilty, before asking her dad whether she is damaged. It is made clear that Ginny has not done anything wrong – that she did what she felt was right to her in a difficult situation.
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What makes this storyline so powerful is that it does not attempt to moralise or present any scenario as more correct than another – instead it is subdued in its approach, showing the reality for so many young girls who find themselves pregnant unexpectedly, and the difficulty of making that life-changing decision they are forced to reckon with. It’s an accurate reflection of messiness because there is no right answer; for Georgia, having kids young was her saving grace. For Ginny, it might have inhibited a bright future – and the series makes it clear that it’s vital she has the ability to make that choice for herself.
The abortion storyline is particularly brave, considering it’s an increasingly contentious topic in the States. Ginny & Georgia is set in Massachusetts, where abortion is still legal in certain circumstances - but this is not the case in many parts of America. Since the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022, and the second term of Donald Trump’s presidency, a women’s right to have autonomy over her own body is being increasingly challenged by right-wing politicians and Evangelical extremists.
It's something that we’re now starting to see echoes of in the UK too. Abortion may be legal here, but under particular caveats. Two doctors need to agree that it would cause less harm to the woman's physical or mental health, or the health of existing children, than continuing the pregnancy before 24 weeks. However, right wing figures such as Nigel Farage are increasingly gaining power in the UK; Farage himself has since suggested reducing the abortion limit to below 24 weeks should he be handed the keys to No.10 in the future.
It may not necessarily have the bombast or excitement as other storylines in Ginny & Georgia, but the abortion scenes show the quiet yet urgent reality needed for women, no matter what the circumstances, to be able to make the choice over her own body – and future.
Kimberley Bond is a Multiplatform Writer for Harper’s Bazaar, focusing on the arts, culture, careers and lifestyle. She previously worked as a Features Writer for Cosmopolitan UK, and has bylines at The Telegraph, The Independent and British Vogue among countless others.
