--- title: Pro-Life Downton Abbey Lady Edith Abortion Episode: Some Context description: Warning: Spoilers below for the Feb. 9 episode of Downton Abbey. (MORE: Catch up with TIME's recap of last night's episode) Even before last night’s... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7114420/downton-abbey-pro-life-abortion/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-02-10T16:55:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-25T05:53:03.982Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Pro-Life Downton Abbey Lady Edith Abortion Episode: Some Context og:description: Warning: Spoilers below for the Feb. 9 episode of Downton Abbey. (MORE: Catch up with TIME's recap of last night's episode) Even before last night’s... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7114420/downton-abbey-pro-life-abortion/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34098014d31dd4b1/698a8d5001168250cd98b378/140210-downton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Downton Abbey - Lady Edith og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pro-Life Downton Abbey Lady Edith Abortion Episode: Some Context twitter:description: Warning: Spoilers below for the Feb. 9 episode of Downton Abbey. (MORE: Catch up with TIME's recap of last night's episode) Even before last night’s... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34098014d31dd4b1/698a8d5001168250cd98b378/140210-downton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) # A Pro-Life 'Downton Abbey' Episode? Not Really > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Ally is a digital financial services company offering online-only banking, including checking and savings accounts, through Ally.com and its mobile apps. Launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in financial services, Ally was built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Feb 10, 2014 4:55 PM UTC  Part Seven Sunday, February 16, 2014 9 – 10pm ET on MASTERPIECE on PBS Robert and Thomas return from America. Bates disappears for a day. Edith prepares to go abroad. Suitors flock to Mary. And Rose makes her move. Shown from left to right: Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith, Hugh Bonneville as Lord Grantham and Elizabeth McGovern as Lady Cora (C) Nick Briggs/Carnival Film & Television Limited 2013 for MASTERPIECE This image may be used only in the direct promotion of MASTERPIECE CLASSIC. No other rights are granted. All rights are reserved. Editorial use only. USE ON THIRD PARTY SITES SUCH AS FACEBOOK AND TWITTER IS NOT ALLOWED. Part Seven Sunday, February 16, 2014 9 – 10pm ET on MASTERPIECE on PBS Robert and Thomas return from America. Bates disappears for a day. Edith prepares to go abroad. Suitors flock to Mary. And Rose makes her move. Shown from left to right: Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith, Hugh Bonneville as Lord Grantham and Elizabeth McGovern as Lady Cora (C) Nick Briggs/Carnival Film & Television Limited 2013 for MASTERPIECE This image may be used only in the direct promotion of MASTERPIECE CLASSIC. No other rights are granted. All rights are reserved. Editorial use only. USE ON THIRD PARTY SITES SUCH AS FACEBOOK AND TWITTER IS NOT ALLOWED. Nick Briggs—Carnival Films by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Feb 10, 2014 4:55 PM UTC **Warning: Spoilers below for the Feb. 9 episode of** [**_Downton Abbey_**](http://topics.time.com/downton-abbey/)**_._** (**MORE**: [Catch up with TIME’s recap of last night’s episode](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/02/09/downton-abbey-season-4-episode-6-recap/)) Even before last night’s episode of _Downton Abbey_ aired, viewers had decided that the show was making a political statement about [abortion](http://topics.time.com/abortion/). At [one anti-abortion website](http://liveactionnews.org/downton-abbey-story-affirms-pro-life-values-spoiler/), the episode was discussed — along with future spoilers, so don’t read if you’ve only seen last night’s installment — for including a storyline that “affirms pro-life values.” In the hours since it aired, many viewers have come to the same conclusion. Here’s what _actually_ happens in the episode: Viewers already knew that Lady Edith, after a semi-secret night spent with her semi-fiancé Michael Gregson, is pregnant. Not only is she unmarried, but her beau is also missing — he moved to [Germany](http://topics.time.com/germany/) so he could get a divorce from his institutionalized wife and marry Edith, but he’s been incommunicado for weeks and nobody knows where he is. If he returned divorced and ready to wed Edith, her pregnancy would be scandalous, but the scandal would fade; with him missing, Edith knows the baby will be a scandal that could turn her into a social outcast for life. She makes an appointment to get an abortion, but when she shows up for the procedure — tortured by the thought of “killing the wanted child of a man I’m in love with,” while another patient cries in the next room — she changes her mind and leaves. All of that sounded, to many viewers, like an argument against abortion: --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- But applying a modern-day debate to _Downton_’s plot actually make much sense. In the context of the show, the episode isn’t “pro-life” at all. First of all: The pro-life/pro-choice debate hadn’t crystalized into those terms at the time. But moreover, as Aunt Rosamund is aware, an abortion would have been both illegal and dangerous for Edith. Those were factors any woman would have considered. At the time, British law about abortion dated all the way back to the [Offences Against the Person Act of 1861](http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/24-25/100/crossheading/attempts-to-procure-abortion). Per the law, a woman who attempts to end a pregnancy was guilty of a felony, the punishment for which could be as harsh as “penal servitude for life.” (Though the law had been updated a few times between the 1860s and the 1920s, it still stood.) It wasn’t until [1967](http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1967/87/pdfs/ukpga%5F19670087%5Fen.pdf) that abortion was decriminalized. Plus, in the decade after the time that Lady Edith changed her mind, [more than a quarter](http://www.gapminder.org/documentation/documentation/gapdoc010.pdf) of all maternal mortality in England was caused by abortion. (By contrast, [a 2012 study](http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/23/us-abortion-idUSTRE80M2BS20120123) found that today a woman is 14 times more likely to die giving birth than from getting a legal abortion.) Even though Edith’s social class could have ensured a safer experience for her than many other women could afford, the risk was still high. Then there’s the fact that Edith _wants_ to have the baby — if anything, it’s about her choice. In her dialogue, she describes the fetus as a “wanted child”; she always wanted to have the baby, so her decision at the abortionist’s flat is less of a realization about the beauty of motherhood, and more a recalculation of her own strength. A pregnant woman who wants to have a baby deciding to do just that isn’t a statement on either side of the abortion debate. And since it’s a TV show, there’s another factor in play: drama. The _real_ choice doesn’t actually come down to Edith’s motivations, but rather those of the show’s creator. When this season aired in England, another plot line — Anna’s rape — drew fan uproar too. _Downton_ creator Julian Fellowes made a statement, [as quoted in _The Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/oct/08/downton-abbey-rape-scene-defended-julian-fellowes), that could apply just as well to Edith situation: “The point of our handling is not that we’re interested in sensationalising but we’re interested in exploring the mental damage and the emotional damage.” If Edith had gone through with the abortion, it might have fueled an episode or two of scandal. But giving Edith a baby out of wedlock in a show set in the 1920s is a decision that could (literally) give birth to seasons’ worth of drama. That’s an apolitical choice — neither anti-abortion nor pro-abortion — but when it comes to television, it’s the choice that matters most. (**MORE**: [Why 2014 Should Be The Year We Talk About Abortion On TV](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/01/23/why-2014-should-be-the-year-we-talk-about-abortion-on-tv)) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7114420/downton-abbey-pro-life-abortion/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7114420/downton-abbey-pro-life-abortion/"},"headline":"A Pro-Life 'Downton Abbey' Episode? Not Really","datePublished":"2014-02-10T16:55:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-25T05:53:03.982Z","description":"Warning: Spoilers below for the Feb. 9 episode of Downton Abbey. 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