Last week, the new episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit involved a group of high school girls who decided to get pregnant together. Sound familiar? I thought so. Even though some of the details differ from the Gloucester, MA, news story (the girls in the show attend a Catholic prep school in Manhattan, and there is a murder involved), the plot and its characters ooze with real-life references.

Fidelia, one of the pregnant girls, made a promise with her boyfriend to abstain from sex until marriage (hello Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus). But then Fidelia, channeling Jamie Lynne Spears, gets pregnant, only this time it’s with another guy’s baby.

“It rocks, huh? We’re totally gonna be the hottest MILFs on the block,” she says to Detective Olivia Benson, who stares back at her in disbelief. “A baby is not an accessory,” Benson replies. “It is not a bracelet or a pair of earrings or a slammin’ pair of jeans. . . Do you know the odds of a teen mom finishing high school? Forget college or any other dream that you might have. Life as you know it is over now.”

Fidelia’s pregnant friend offers a scary and arguably obvious reaction: “What’s the big deal? That Vice President lady’s daughter is gonna have a baby, why can’t we?”

Law & Order is known for its “ripped from the headlines” episodes, but you can find controversial news stories and cultural issues all over TV dramas these days. Have you seen any? Write and let me know.

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