Guide Note

Abortion Man is a short film appearing on the website WayOutTV in which a superhero, the titular "Abortion Man," beats up pregnant women to free their boyfriends from the responsibilities of fatherhood. The film opens with a man receiving a call from his girlfriend, informing him that she is pregnant. He then calls on Abortion Man, who appears to the sound of the Superman theme song and flies off to save the day. Abortion Man then pummels the man's girlfriend, causing her unborn fetus to fly out into some nearby bushes.

WayOutTV is the creation of comedian Damon Wayans. The site bills itself as an "incubator to develop innovative television shows for the internet." Wayans himself appears in a number of the channel's videos, and his brother, Michael Wayans, appears in Abortion Man.

The film has generated some amount of controversy on the Internet, prompting some to label it misogynist and offensive. The blog What About Our Daughters compares the video to hate speech and the work of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, and notes that Toyota and other large corporations advertise on WayOutTV, and thus sponsor this kind of content. Though other WayOutTV sketches require viewers to verify their ages, there are no such restrictions on Abortion Man.

Fast Facts

1. Uploaded on April 14, 2008
2. Character is billed as "the solution to one of man's most daunting fears."