The showrunner of AMC's hit zombie drama "The Walking Dead" stepped forward Wednesday to defend his show's portrayal of morning-after-pill contraception.
Glen Mazzara's advice to groups who claim that last Sunday's episode inaccurately portrayed how the drug is used: Forget the morning-after pill, and take a chill pill, because it's only a TV show.
"The producers and writers of 'The Walking Dead' are fully aware that the morning-after pill would not induce an abortion or miscarriage," Mazzara responded in a statement obtained by TheWrap. "We exercised our artistic creative license to explore a storyline with one of our characters, not to make any pro-life or pro-choice political statement. We sincerely hope that people are not turning to the fictional world of 'The Walking Dead' for accurate medical information."
The series raised a lot of ire last week by employing the so-called "morning after" pill in its Nov. 20 episode, and it had nothing to do with the ever-raging pro-choice-vs.-pro-life debate.
During last week's episode, Lori (played by Sarah Wayne Callies) pops a bunch of morning-after pills in an effort to terminate her pregnancy, but vomits them back after she changes her mind.
Lori's use of emergency contraception set the internet ablaze almost immediately — because critics felt that the show was presenting misleading family-planning information.
The American Civil Liberties Union was one of the more vocal detractors.
In a blog post titled, "Walking Dead Is Wrong on Emergency Contraception, Stick to Zombies," the organization huffed, "'The Walking Dead' is not doing its fans or themselves any favors by promoting false information. Lori is several weeks pregnant and the morning-after pill can't induce a miscarriage. What it can do is prevent pregnancy if taken within 5 days of unprotected sex; although the sooner it is taken the more likely it is to work."
The ACLU had plenty of company in its nay-saying. Flavorwire chimed in, blogging, "Seriously, 'Walking Dead' writers: Do you just not know how emergency contraception works, or did you assume we didn’t?"
One can only hope that Mazzara isn't next forced to clarify that eating brains isn't a wise dietary choice.
