Buffy The Vampire Slayer Wants To Have An Abortion

Yep, you read that right.  "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" has never shyed away from controversy, tackling issues like underage sexual activity, rape, domestic violence, sudden deaths, and drug abuse, now Buffy is going full-steam ahead into the topic of abortion.

"Buffy The Vampire Slayer" was the first major television show to officially continue its story in comic book form.  Now other shows like "Angel", "Charmed", and now "Smallville" are continuing their story past their final episode.  Currently in its 9th "season", Buffy is living in San Francisco and trying to cope with a changed world after Vampires and Slayers have become known world-wide (with Slayers perceived as the villains), and she destroyed "The Seed" (the source of magic in our world) at the end of the previous season.  Working as a waitress and living in an apartment with two roommates who are uncomfortable living with a Slayer, Buffy has discovered she is pregnant, but doesn't know who the father could be, having blacked out recently at a party.  After confiding her situation to the only known offspring of a Slayer, Buffy makes the decision to have an abortion.

According to series creator and comic book executive producer Joss Whedon, this was something they put a lot of thought into and made sure that it was a hard decision for Buffy, and that it was treated with respect from the creative side,

"It's not something we would ever take lightly, because you can't. You don't. It's not an easy thing for anyone,"

After a 50-issue "Season 8", Joss Whedon wasn't entirely pleased with the outcome, feeling the series because too overblown and "comic-booky".  It was then that Whedon decided to break down the stories planned for Season 9 and bring the story back to a woman at important stages in her life.

"Buffy was always about the arc of a life, and it wasn't ever going to be one of those shows where they were perpetually in high school and never asked why.  It was about change. So there's never a time when Buffy's life isn't relevant."

Series writer Andrew Chambliss said that the idea of Buffy's pending abortion was a natural progression of the story,

"Given the specifics of Buffy's life at this point in the season — facing a new kind of vampire threat, barely able to keep a job — it seemed like it would be dishonest for Buffy to not at least entertain the question of whether she should keep or end the pregnancy."

This issue of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 9" only hit newsstands yesterday.  At this point, apart from who the father of the baby is, there is uncertainty as to if Buffy will actually go through with the abortion.  With the unpredictable nature of Whedon's storytelling, there is no telling how this story will continue.

via USA Today