Overall, the Law and Order franchise has enjoyed a pretty classy run. But I object to some disturbing anti-feminist themes: specifically validating a right to life agenda and demonizing women's right to choose, fathers forcing pregnancies to term, a mother convicted for murder because she didn't breast feed, an alcoholic woman seeking an abortion thrown into prison to detox and protect her fetus at the behest of an abusive husband, teenage girls tried and sentenced as adults for killing their newborns, opposing parents' attempts to have their disabled daughter undergo a surgical procedure to stunt her growth.

After a difficult pregnancy that jeoporadized both my and my daughter's lives and being advised that another pregnancy would be dangerous, a rapist impregnated me. I was traumatized by the violent rape and demeaning treatment by the police. My husband had a vastectomy; he wanted a wife, not two small children to care for alone. Pre Rowe v Wade, I couldn't have a legal abortion because the baby took legal precedence over my own well being. In other words, it was okay if I died; it wasn't okay to deny a fetus a chance to live. Following cloak and dagger machinations, I traveled to Tijuana for the procedure. Fortunately the facility was clean and safe and the personnel were professional.

Years later, I lived next door to a couple with two children; the oldest so severely disabled she required life long 24/7 care. Her parents were short, slight people who already had difficulty picking up and carrying their normally developing eight-year-old. Thanks to the anti-tax gang there were no state facilities to take her in. The family didn't have money to hire help and were solely responsible for her care. Confined to home, the mother couldn't bring in a second income. Surgery to stunt the girl's growth would have helped immeasurably.

I tuned on last week's L&O episode dealing with an abortion doctor's execution during a church service. When I saw where the plot was heading, I switched channels. Women and men who fought hard for the right to choose are watching a small but powerful cadre of religious right wing dictators turn our victory on its head.

Biology is not destiny.