User Reviews

The series has been through several cases exploring the pro-life and pro-choice debate. I'm glad to see that they're continuing this pursuit in light of recent technology, unafraid of the complexities involved in the issue, and put forward new issues for us to think about when faced with difficult decisions--dignity of life in all forms.

Anyone interested in speculating what considerations Mike has gone through in his mind when he stops his attempts to present the jurors with the doctor's family photos?

In a show that touts itself as being "ripped from the headlines", "Dignity" lives up to that name by being one about the ongoing controversy in regards to abortion. Beginning with the apparent murder of a abortion-providing doctor, the story never takes a stand on either the pro-choice or anti-abortion side. In fact, it allows its principal actors dialog that represents both.

Not only does ADA Rubirosa (Alana De La Garza) have a bout with her conscience, but her feelings have an effect on co-chair, Executive ADA Cutter (Linus Roache). Even detectives Bernard (Anthony Anderson) and Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) have a debate, representing opposing viewpoints. Only Sam Waterson's DA McCoy remains opinion-less.

In an ongoing story element, Lt. Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson) receives more bad news about her cancer, leading the viewer to suspect that things may get worse for the popular character.

The final scene sets the stage for tensions to come between two major characters.

I do not understand why, especially for an episode around a topic that causes such highly emotional reactions, the writers of this series would pick EDS as the genetic syndrome. There are many different types of EDS, and each one has different symptoms. But I take offense in having a show tell me that my life is not worth living because I have this syndrome. Mine is the hypermobility type, my symptoms include lax joints, and excessive skin stretching. Vascular type causes much more severe symptoms, but even then there is no way to know how severe the symptoms will be until the child gets older. Regardless of where you fall on the abortion issue, the least they could have done would be to choose a disease process that would cause suffering in the child (not that we do not suffer, but I would not even consider not being here!). I know.... this is a TV show..... BUT, people do not go any further than fiction to get their news anymore and to deliberately mislead them only perpetuates ignorance.

Considering that I have been living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome for 40 years myself, this episode was a major emotional roller-coaster for me! I almost turned it off a quarter of the way through, but I did manage to stick it out to the end, which was very hard to do when every other scene seemed to question my "quality of life" and my very right to exist because I have a gene mutation. I really think that the L&O fact-checkers were seriously slipping in the last couple seasons. The following DOES contain some episode spoilers. So stop now, unless you want to learn some ACTUAL FACTS about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome before you get to see the episode.

There are 6 types of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and I have the rarest and most dangerous form, the "dreaded, deadly" Vascular type, which nowadays has an average life expectancy of around 40 years. In the court, Richard Thomas, as the defense attorney, said that the EDS baby would have a "normal" life-expectancy, which tells me that the baby had one of the 5 lesser-affecting, but more common, types of the condition. I was under the impression that you had to have a live skin puncture biopsy to determine the type, but if you can do it through an amniocentesis, it could only possibly identify one of 5 of the 6 forms, as researchers have still not identified the genetic basis of the Hypermobile type yet. While it can be a very seriously painful and disabling condition, even the most significant cases of the worst types very rarely require the "round-the-clock medical care" that they mentioned 3 different times in one hour as a fact-of-EDS-life.

They kept referring to EDS as "the fragile skin disease," and the defense attorney said it was caused by a protein deficiency in the skin. First of all, it is not a disease, which implies something contagious or cancerous; EDS is a congenital disorder, caused by defect in a specific gene, usually present from conception. Sometimes it is considered to be a caused in some individuals by a spontaneous genetic mutation in utero, because they can't find any prior family medical history, but that could be affected by a number of things, so I don't know that spontaneous mutation is as common as claimed. Regardless, it is a genetic-mutation-based collagen disorder, present before birth. While fragile skin is a predominant symptom of Vascular EDS, each type is actually caused by a defect in the production, or the absence, of a different specific type of collagen, which is the glue and rubber bands that holds your whole body together. For example, Vascular type is caused by a defect specifically in the gene that is supposed to produce type 3 collagen. Each type of EDS affects much more than just skin, and other symptoms can include; joint connective tissues, causing joint dislocations and hypermobility; the structure of blood vessel walls; fragility in the structures of certain organs; and a variety of other things, depending on which type of collagen is affected. Most rubber-skinned folks in circus sideshows have had EDS, most likely the Classical type, while most contortionists usually have either Hypermobile or Classical types. Vascular type actually has the most fragile skin, so the with claim that the baby would have a "normal" life expectancy, seemed to me like they confused two different types, and didn't understand the very basics of the types of the condition. All they had to do was check the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation website to get the most basic information that they missed. @@ Although, the picture of baby after he was born did appear to have some of the facial characteristics of someone with Vascular type; I wonder if maybe a L&O staff member just had a baby or child diagnosed with EDS, but were still too emotionally involved at the moment to have yet absorbed any accurate information? Either that, or the bad fact checking that I noticed right after Criminal Intent moved to USA (for example, in one of the first USA episodes of CI: drinking mouthwash is not Robotripping; that's cough syrup, like Robotusin, hence the name *sigh*) had infected the NBC episodes as well towards the end?

The hardest part for me was the doctor on the stand saying that anyone with EDS will have a life without dignity, and the ONLY "responsible" medical decision is to prevent us from being born!? WTF!? When it first aired, I had to call my mom to warn her about the emotional roller-coaster nature of the episode, and specifically about what the doctor said about people with EDS being incapable of having dignified lives, and she was angered, but not surprised, that it is was in the episode, as it wasn't the first time she, or I, had heard that attitude among medical "professionals." Like the geneticist we saw when I was 12, who had never seen anyone else with EDS before, but had read a paragraph about it, who "pitied" my mom, telling her, right in front of me, that it was too bad abortion wasn't legal when I was born, stupidly assuming that they could have tested for EDS prenatally back then, and, as a geneticist, she knew they couldn't have; and even if they could have, assumed that my mom would have automatically made that choice just because her kids weren't genetically "perfect" (whatever the hell that is). Ignorance of disabilities breeds fear and hatred of people with them, which was kinda part of the whole plot of the episode, oh, the irony...

Abortion is a very touchy, controversial, not easily decided subject and it's reflected in the lack of a coherent script in a usually well written show. Here we have people bringing their personal feelings into their jobs over and over again and if they can't then they shouldn't be doing them. None of it is believable. None of the alleged "conflicts" between Lupo and Green. Or Connie suddenly changing. It all comes across like the writers wanted to say something or start a conversation, but in the end decided "To hell with it. Just make it pro-life."

All of this is certainly not helped by the very uncharacteristically terrible acting by ALL concerned in this episode. And I do mean all. No one turned in anything except a wooden and very forced performance as if every word was being dragged out of them by the director, likely because of the bad writing. I understand that when you want someone to play a sanctimonious, holier than thou type you automatically call Richard Thomas' agent (who for some reason some people refer to as an "actor" (though he decidedly can not act outside of playing this one defined kind of precut role)), but does everyone else have to play down to his maudlin level?

Law and Order has handled this subject and many other controversial ones before. They usually do a very good to great job. They just plain blew it all around this time.

Silly. Facts went out the window in this one. Characters were absurd. The idea that these self absorbed people could 'know' that the baby was happier is severe and ludicrous projection. Lots of sludge here. Projection upon fetuses and infants by adult humans is simply mental confusion. Ideas about souls and the ilk are poetic at best and preposterous and dangerous at worst.

The acting is forced. As though the actors don't like being used as puppets to espouse silly absurdist religious doctrine and apologetic.

If you are prolife you'll like this one. If you have a no sky daddy its likely you will find this episode absurd.