Tension mounts between the clinic staff and reality show crew; Denise experiences her first ultrasound.
About Bump+
In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court gave women a choice. Thirty-seven years later, we're giving them a voice. BUMP+ is a provocative web series from Yellow Line Studio that follows the fictional stories of three women facing unintended pregnancies.
Watch the episodes. Share your story. Join the conversation.
Emily's Blog
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Blog
Katie, Hailey, and Denise have been through so much—so much heartbreak. Each journey has been difficult and painful. They’ve made their decisions; and in that sense, each journey is at an end. But now they have to figure out how to live with the choices they’ve made.
I worry for Katie and John. I [...]
New Features
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Bump+ The Conversation Continues
To Our Audience -
Bump+ The Show has come to an end – but the conversation it has sparked is just beginning.
When we launched this experiment, the only thing we knew for sure was that the time for a new kind of conversation about the sensitive topic of abortion had come. We hoped that story [...] -
No Voting
The creators of Bump+ would like to address several errant media reports. Headlines around the world have said Bump+ trivializes the issue of abortion. Fox News has suggested that Bump+ is an “abortion game show.” It is not. We take the stories of our characters and the choices that lie ahead of [...]
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Lauri Deason – Producer
Lauri responds to the question of creating television shows.
To Our Audience -
Bump+ The Show has come to an end – but the conversation it has sparked is just beginning.
As word about Bump+ spread to 64 countries across the globe, controversy and criticism from people on both sides of the debate followed; but instead of listening to them, you found the courage to listen to each other. Six weeks and more than 125,000 site visits later, your responses not only to our characters, but also to each other has proved to the world what we suspected all along – we were right to trust in the goodness and intelligence of our audience. We are intensely humbled by the stories you’ve shared and the respect you have shown to each other. Your partnership has challenged us to see this debate in new ways, and reminded the world that we don’t have to agree to listen and respond with compassion. Thank you for that gift.
Comments on individual episodes have now been closed in order to preserve what was The Bump Experience as it unfolded. A new comment thread has been opened here to keep the conversation going. Please visit this link to share your story and join the conversation.
I can’t site statistics, but I can tell one story of a turn-around (as you call it). My neighbor’s daughter got pregnant out of wed-lock and at the tender age of 17. She was terrified and wanted a quick solution, her mother (my friend) wanted her to keep the baby or at least place the baby up for adoption. It wasn’t until they visited a clinic and had the opportunity to see the baby on the ultra-sound that the mother absolutely could not abort the baby. She saw, at a very early stage, a human being, not a cluster of cells. As I see it, and acorn is still an Oak Tree, just at a different stage of development, so it is with the human species. We, in the neighborhood, have all helped raise that beautiful, now 7 year old baby girl, and the mother has experienced that it wasn’t as bad/terrifying as she originally thought. She does not regret her decision one bit, she obviously loves her child very much, but also because she has experienced great love and understanding through what she thought was the worst possible trial of her life and because of this, she knows that she can endure all things. What a wonderful life experience for her to remember as she goes through undoubtedly more trials in life.
I am not naive, however to think that all girls have as much support, but we can all help change that!
I am responding above to all the comments made earlier, talking about statistics on turn-around rates when girls have an opportuntiy to see the baby before deciding.
I was just trying to put a face to that statistic.
I think Denise’s silliness is her way of coping with her relationship with Buzz. I think we may be overestimating how much her immaturity is a result of who she is, and underestimating the impact of the situation that she is in. We have seen some glimpses of a mature and intelligent Denise, as when she’s around her children and her being bi-lingual. Let’s not make presumptions based on such little information. We still have a lot to find out about these women.
When the Dr. pulled Denise’s hair away during the medical examination there was bruising on her neck. I did not catch this at first either. If Buzz is doing this to her what is he doing to the children? She is in real trouble.
I have been following the series since it aired. Honestly, I was really apprehensive of what would come out of it. As a pro-life activist, I was worried that people would trivialize the issue and and justify taking these three precious (yes, fictional) lives. But after reading all of the comments, yes ALL of them, I get more relieved as the show progresses. The interesting part though is its not the show that gives me this relief, but the people. Finally, we are actually speaking with more depth and logic on both sides, trying to arrive on common ground. That, in itself, is a breakthrough. We don’t have to use harsh words and threats here. I hope this continues throughout the show.
This site saddens me…
What part saddens you?
Clearly she should get out of teh relationship she is in. . . I think she is addicted to pain killers because she asked for them when she first saw teh doctor in the pilot. I hope she gives the baby to a loving family and she can visit him while she gets help for her addiction.
I think she was asking for them for the pain she was experiencing from the abuse that is going on.. not to feed an addiction.
this is great we need a longer one for those that have more time to wach.
And making Denise thank about her relationship with Buzz is good she needs to thank about what she would do if he did leve.It would be graet to see all three aption have a place like ane keeps there baby and one has the abotion and one gives her baby up for adoption.
What is going to happen with Buzz??? I too am more hooked than ever…
if this is going the direction I think it is, I’m more hooked than ever.
True, but I keep wondering if she is really in an abusive situation, or just married to a guy as immature as she is or is simply a jerk. If she or the kids had some bruises, we would be further down that road. Now, it may be that she and Buzz need counseling in order to ‘grow up’ their relationship. Also, she seems more immature than most 20 year olds I know, in fact, more like a pre-teen. So, if she did get ’stuck’ maturity wise it must have been long before Buzz. Also, can you see how being married to someone as immature as Denise would be frustrating? The more I think about it, the more it looks like they both need counseling. Surely the show could provide that for free as well as pre and post natal care.
Kris -
Thanks for continuing to watch, and for adding your voice to the conversation. If you read the character description for Denise on her page, I believe it will answer some of these specific questions for you. A closer look at Denise’s first medical exam in the pilot episode (and the doctor’s reaction) will also be revealing.
I think you bring up a very interesting point about how frustrating it is to deal with someone like Denise on a daily basis. Part of what I find interesting about her is that she is not an “easy” case for anyone. She and her family need comprehensive and long term help, regardless of the decision she makes about this pregnancy. But that’s a huge commitment, and one that would stress the financial and time resources of even the non-profit agencies on both sides of this debate, let alone an individual. I think we can agree that, for Denise, the problems in her life won’t be solved by either decision about the pregnancy. I have found myself lying awake at night these last few weeks, thinking about what I – personally – would “do” about the “problem” of Denise if she were my neighbor or co-worker. (I think the same things about Hailey and Katie, but in different ways.) I know the “right”, socially appropriate answers. But would I have the courage to get involved personally – especially knowing that I’d be committing to stay involved or risk doing more harm?
Thanks for having an open mind about this forum and what it can accomplish. We remain hopeful, not that we will manipulate anyone into giving up their own convictions, but that we will continue to provide a safe and productive forum for discussion that will allow everyone to explore the issue in ways that they haven’t. Hopefully the above at least assures you that we are taking the subject seriously. I am looking forward to sleeping again when the series ends and I find out what happens to the characters along with the audience.
Lauri Deason
Producer
Thanks for your thorough answer. There are several ways in which she is mature, however. She does already recognize her baby as a baby. At least she is not lying to herself on that very important fact. And I don’t think an abortion would do anything but force her over an emotional cliff. She knows its a baby and I don’t think she will turn into an abuser and do her baby harm.
I’m not sure Denise’s silliness about the ultrasound is realistic. This is her third baby, and surely she would be aware of the stages of development. It seems like the producers are trying to downplay the importance of seeing an ultrasound in the decision making process. It is my understanding that around 90% of women who see an ultrasound of their baby choose not to have an abortion.
Well, she is on the show for free medical care– so she may not have had much in the way of prenatal care for her other kids. Also, many OBs don’t do an ultrasound until the biggie at 18 weeks… she may have never SEEN a child that tiny before!
It actually had me wondering if she had ever seen an ultrasound. Maybe she didn’t have the money to with her first two children? It’s hard for me to relate to Denise but I keep reminding myself about what Sister Mary Agnes wrote as a comment on the pilot episode. Often times abused women get “stuck” at a certain age. Denise’s silliness, according to Sister, is quite accurate of how some victims of abuse behave.
Why is it your “understanding” that 90% of women who see an ultrasound decide not to have an abortion? Most women in the US who have planned pregnancies will see an ultrasound and presumably not choose abortion if their intention was to have a baby. Even staunch pro-life supporters will not quote such a gross overestimate of the supposed power of a sonogram– most will say 40-50% will be persuaded by a sonogram to not have an abortion.
A quick google search shows that roughly 90% of women shown an ultrasound at a crisis pregnancy clinic (therefore not a planned pregnancy) choose life for their child. I saw numbers from 85% to 95% so settled on ‘roughly 90%’.
Where did you get your 40-50% number? And I don’t think Planned Parenthood or abortion clinics offer ultrasound to their clients. Do they? If not, why not? Do they not want their clients to think of the baby as a baby, but just a cluster of cells? Is that dealing with the situation realistically, or promoting a lie for monitary gain?
One issue with the 90% issue, Kris– if a woman goes to a crisis pregnancy center, she’s probably looking for help in HAVING the child. After all, she knows they don’t do abortions… so even if she doesn’t realize the full ranges of services they provide (the ones here stick with the family until the baby enters Kindergarten), she knows they will help her HAVE the baby.
Likewise, a woman who walks into planned parenthood is probably planning on an abortion.
So at the point when most women appear ‘on the radar,’ they’ve already made up their mind– to REALLY study this and get accurate #s, you’d have to get a large pool of pregnant women who hadn;t yet decided between ‘crisis pregnancy center’ and ‘abortion clinic.’
**That said, I wonder how many women really have unplanned pregnancies and HAVEN’T thought about how they would handle it beforehand…. is there really a large pool of ‘undecided’ moms out there? Or do most generally lean one way or the other?**
I don’t think abortion has been studied enough, because it is so limited by privacy laws. And of course, the abortion clinics don’t want to be examined and regulated. I don’t know what sorts of statistics they keep and what sort of follow-up they have. According to Focus on the Family which helps to provide ultrasound machines to crisis pregnancy centers, the ultrasound, in addition to counseling, results in a 60% greater incidence of choosing life over counseling alone. I suppose these rates vary by clinic and the ones I saw earlier had a higher incidence. I don’t know how many women know when they walk through a crisis pregnancy clinic door, or a Planned Parenthood door, that there is a real difference between the two.
Where do you come up with that statistic? I think it’s absurd
Turn-around rates with ultrasounds:
Dr. Eric Keroack, medical director of AWC, reported to MassNews in February 2002 that in a study he did of 238 women who he gave an ultrasound to before as going in for an abortion, 74% chose to keep their children.
In 2000, a preliminary study said 95%, but those figures didn’t hold up with time.
Focus on the Family had done ultrasounds on 411,838 as of March 2008, with a turn-around of 91%.
In August 2009 there was a report published by Options Pregnancy Resouce Centers that said their turn-around rate was 75% on those who had ultra sounds, but only a 30% turn-around without one.
In other words, statistics on turn-around rates are all over the map, but all of them are pretty high rates. In other words, it’s not absurd. It just depends on which study you’re talking about.