Liberty would have had the abortion, Manny the adoption
Honestly, I don't see a girl like Liberty having sex with a boy at 15 much less not taking it very seriously and getting every necessary precaution.
But, if they really felt the need to do two teen pregnancy storylines, it made a lot more sense for Manny to go through a pregnancy and eventually give the baby up for adoption. She had low self-esteem and was obsessed with finding someone that loved her. She was also impulsive for a longtime and never thought of long term consequences. She would have felt that a baby would love her unconditionally and make Craig stay with her before realizing towards the end of her pregnancy that she and Craig were unfit to be parents. A noticeable period of pregnancy would have also strengthened the whole "school slut" reputation that never seemed reasonable. Manny wouldn't have been the only girl in school that dressed revealing and most highschool students don't care that much about cheating between students out of their friend group. Everyone would have remembered the girl that got pregnant in the 9th grade. I know Ashley called them out but there was never any visual proof to validate it.
On the other hand, Liberty had a tendacy to be emotionally distant, analytical, and very goal-oriented. Sure she would still feel some desire to keep her unborn child/the fetus but she seems like someone that wouldn't hesitate to realize the long-term consequences and make the decision to terminate. It's more in line for her character to get an abortion and brazenly tell JT after she did it resulting in a fall out of their relationship. You can still do episodes of the fall out from JT's point of view and it brings up an interesting debate of pro-choice vs. father's rights.
Posted Mar 1, 2019, 12:29 AM UTC
Good points you raised. Especially about Liberty taking every precaution before sex.
I actually always kind of thought the “a baby would give me unconditional love” thing could have been an angle they could have explored with Lola’s too. Tho I did like both abortion storylines
I really liked Lola's abortion storyline, plus she seems like someone to me who wouldn't want kids right away...not sure why
I liked it too, but I think the show also could have easily explored it from a different angle with her abandonment issues as well. Her decision made sense, but I also could have seen the show going in the direction of her wanting to prove she could be a better mother than her own. Idk tho, just a thought