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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Rockabye

Season 7, Episode 9, Aired Nov 22, 2005

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8.9

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145 votes

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After sixteen-year-old Lauren Westley loses her unborn child due to a severe abdominal beating, her father's insistance that Lauren was raped leads detectives to the baby's father, but it isn't long before the detectives realise that Lauren was an active party in her own beating, and the two teens had found it necessary to take the steps they did because the abortion clinic kept putting off Lauren's request for an appointment. Novak faces a tough opponent in her own office when she and Branch disagree over the appropriate action to be taken against Wayne Mortens, the young girl's boyfriend.moreless

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Cast & Crew

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GUEST STAR
Elizabeth Flax

E.R. Nurse
GUEST STAR
Hank Davies

John
GUEST STAR
Fiana Toibin

Nurse

Diane Neal

A.D.A. Casey Novak
Tamara Tunie

M.E. Melinda Warner
Dann Florek

Capt. Donald Cragen
Ice-T

Det. Odafin Tutuola
Mariska Hargitay

Det. Olivia Benson
Richard Belzer

Det. John Munch

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Fan Episode Reviews (11)

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This is exactly why abortion should be legal everywhere.

8.6

"Great"

By BabyKitten199, Sep 03, 2011

Abortion is a touchy topic but let's face it, it's a necessity in an already overpopulated world. Lots of dumb girls get knocked up after having sex just once & if they're stupid enough not to use proper birth control, they should be allowed to get an abortion if they don't want to bring an unwanted child into an already overburdened society. I was so glad that they arrested that sanctimonious doctor in the end. What the kids did was wrong but I can see why they did it. The moral of the story is to get an abortion early, girls, so this won't happen to you.moreless
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Well-written, but deceitful

1.0

"Abysmal"

By jmdoman, Oct 13, 2010

This was a well-written and well-acted episode. The reason for for the low review is that the scenario depicted in the episode would never have happened in real life - therefore, the purpose of this episode was not to entertain, but to deceive - and I take offense at that. Let's look at the scenario. A girl goes to an abortion clinic. The doctor there (presumedly because he has moral qualms about about abortion) lies to the girl. The girl (presumedly because she has no other choice) gets her boyfriend to get a crude home abortion. The doctor is arrested. Now, if you just think about it, there are a few things about this picture that are quite blatently false. Number one: that a doctor who disagrees with abortion would have a job at an abortion clinic. This is just silly. Doctors and nurses who have a problem with abortion don't get jobs at abortion clinics. There are plenty of other places to get work. Anyone who works at an abortion clinic clearly is not troubled by abortion - or else they wouldn't have gotten a job there. Number two: that anyone would have a hard time finding an abortion clinic in New York City, where Law and Order SVU is set. Um...no. Just google "Abortion Clinics New York City." You'll get about 278,000 results. And it's really, really easy to get an abortion. In New York state you don't need parental permission. In some cases it's easier for a girl in high school to get an abortion than it is to get an aspirin. Number threee: That it would be hard to get a late term abortion. Sadly for those of us who have moral problems with abortion, this is not the case. The bottom line is that this is yet another episode of SVU where the writers let their politics get in the way of telling a plausible story. Whatever your views on this subject, I think that you can agree that this sort of deceitful propaganda makes awfully bad television.moreless
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how can you kill your own baby. they go to a clinic and the doctor says she has a fever. so she then goes and its too late. the doctor tells her she can abort. so she has her boyfriend beat the baby to death. then we find doctor lied.moreless

10

"Perfect"

By bloodylonewolf, Aug 17, 2010

we dont know if she was raped or what. we find out that she was pregant and trying to get an abortion. the doctor lied about her fever and such because he didnt want to perform abortions. then get out of the business doc. so she has boyfriend beat the baby out of her after she punches herself a few times. the baby girl dies and they go to court and we finally see them arrest the doc for being a butthead in the end. she was not sick and did call to get a new appt. but they messed around until it was too late to get a abortion. if he didnt want to do it he should not be in that profession. enough said. happy thanksgiving.moreless
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Great episode!

9.0

"Superb"

By Lissical, Nov 18, 2008

When a 16 year old pregnant girl from Virginia is found beaten and nearly unconscious in her New York hotel room, SVU is immediately called. Apparently she and her boyfriend attempted to go to New York to abort the baby but the doctor who saw her refused to help her so she and her boyfriend tried to abort the baby themselves.

This was kind of hard to watch at times, especially when we see x-rays of the unborn baby's cracked skull from the self-inflicted beating to kill the baby. As the episode went on, it appeared that Lauren had run away because she was afraid of what her father would say/do when he found out she was pregnant since he basically threw the older daughter out of the house when she got pregnant. I can't blame her for running away for that reason, but if it were me I don't think I would have had an abortion -- thankfully I've never been in that situation before. I didn't really see the point of bringing the judge's abortion views into the episode though. She should have recused herself from the case or shouldn't have taken it in the first place.moreless
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Wow!

10

"Perfect"

By phatboi2006, Aug 22, 2007

So far season 7 is one of my favourite seasons of SVU. This episode was another example of why season seven is excellent. I liked how it included all the main characters. It was a really controversial topic and SVU made a good story about it. I felt sorry for the teenage parents because they tried every method possible to abort the baby but they were in a corner. It was really sad how the doctor purposely made them late to not abort. I think it was horrible that they had no other choice but to beat the mother to kill the fetus. And it wasn't fair that the boy was originally going to be charged with more than the girl. Overall I think this episode was very good.moreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)
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- Goof: Lauren says she tried to buy an 'abortion pill' when she found out she was pregnant after missing her third period. The abortion pill, RU-486, wasn't actually an option for her because it is only used within 64 days of conception. She could have been referring to the morning-after pill (emergency contraception) but that is only effective when used within 72 hours of unprotected sex. Furthermore, Lauren says the pharmacist refused to sell the pill to her because of his 'conscience'. At the time of broadcast, neither RU-486 nor emergency contraception were available over-the-counter in the United States, so the pharmacist couldn't have sold it to her anyway unless she had a prescription from a doctor (Plan B was not approved for over-the-counter sales until late 2006).
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QUOTES (11)
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- Arthur Branch: So you handed the case to the defense. Casey Novak: Wayne still got probation. Arthur Branch: Well, I may be pro-life, but I'm even more pro-law. Arrest that doctor.
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- (Novak and Benson barge in on Dr. Lett.) Dr. Lett: What the hell do you think you're doing? Olivia Benson: Arresting you.
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- (In Judge Petrovsky's chambers.) Casey Novak: The baby was more than 24 weeks old, it could have lived outside the womb. Sophie Devere: But tragically it did not, so it is not a person, not a baby, not an unborn child; it is a fetus. My client is already handicapped by the law, let's not add insult to injury. Casey Novak: The only insult is to the English language.
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- Sophie Devere: I hear Donnelly recused herself from the case. Know anything about that? Casey Novak: Elizabeth and I go back a long way, maybe she didn't want to give me an unfair advantage. Sophie Devere: Or maybe you and Branch mugged her because you were afraid she was gonna throw out your case. Casey Novak: If your motion depends on getting Donnelly, you can't have much of an argument. Sophie Devere: Well, we'll see.
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- Judge Liz Donnelly: And it's my job to try it! I see no reason at all why I should accede to your request or tell you boss to go screw himself! (Donnelly starts to walk away) Casey Novak: Elizabeth! If I have to make this request official, you know I'll win. Please don't make me do that. Judge Liz Donnelly (walks back to Novak): Are you threatening me? Casey Novak: No, I'm asking you as a friend. Judge Liz Donnelly: Branch really got to you, didn't he? Alright, I'll recuse myself. Playing politics with the law, Casey ... you're heading down a slippery slope.
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- Mr. Westley: Lauren tried to kill her baby. Elliot Stabler: Because she was afraid of you. Don't prove her right.
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- Sophie Devere: It's one of those fake abortion clinics. They're springing up all over the country. Casey Novak: I didn't expect to see them here. Sophie Devere: They're trying to clean up Sodom and Gomorrah.
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- Sophie Devere: There are people in this country who want to take us back to the 50's, and look what we've got. A 50's crime.
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- Olivia Benson: You hit yourself? Lauren Westley: (crying) Yes. Olivia Benson: An eyewitness said you were yelling, "Stop, don't " Lauren Westley: (sobbing harder) God forgive me, I was yelling, "Don't stop!"
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- Elliot Stabler: (To Lauren's father) Unfortunately, children aren't disposable.
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- (Talking about the Golden Promise abstinence pledge.) John Munch: These kids take one look at a Britney Spears video and the Golden Promise goes out the bedroom window.
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NOTES (2)
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- International Episode Titles: Czech Republic "Útěk z domova" (Escape from home)
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- Original International Air Dates: Czech Republic March 5, 2009 on TV Nova
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Judge Donnelly: I'm against detention without trial at Guantanamo, but I can still try terrorist suspects. Detention without trial (or legal representation) of suspected terrorists is a contentious political issue.
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