New Amsterdam Fans Are Thanking The Show For Season 5 Episode 7's Roe V. Wade Storyline

The NBC hit "New Amsterdam" has always walked a fine line between real life and fiction. The medical procedural set and filmed in New York City, per Deadline, filmed an eerily prophetic 2019 episode about a flu pandemic, initially titled "Pandemic." Then as the novel coronavirus wreaked havoc on New York and the rest of the world, the real hospital where the show is filmed began taking in COVID-19 patients. The episode never aired.

The series stars Ryan Eggold as idealistic Dr. Max Goodwin as he takes over the New Amsterdam public hospital and tries to reform its old bureaucratic ways to better serve its patients. As the real pandemic shut down production of all entertainment projects, "New Amsterdam" donated medical supplies and PPE to the New York State Department of Health, per USA Today. As production restarted and the show continued its current five-season run, it continued addressing real-world health issues. Showrunner David Schulner even received a letter from the World Health Organization praising the series' ability to "fold in public health issues and approaches that don't often make it to hospital or medical television shows." WHO especially appreciated "perhaps the most important aspect of the show, an aspect of health that we hold centrally to our mission, the 'person centered' approach to health the show takes."

Despite the heartbreaking news that Season 5 will be its last, "New Amsterdam" hasn't stopped addressing hot topics. The most recent episode has fans buzzing over its Roe v. Wade storyline.

"New Amsterdam" Season 5, Episode 7, titled "Maybe Tomorrow," refers to Dr. Max Goodwin's promise to keep asking "How can I help?" to make the world better. It came at the end of a long day: June 24, 2022, as the fictional hospital grappled with the very real Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The episode addressed the matter of legal abortion as a healthcare issue from many angles, including a doctor having had the procedure, an anti-abortion patient needing a D&C to treat her cervical cancer, a heated protest, and an administrator who fought for legal abortion in the 1960s. As showrunner David Schulner told TVLine, "The women in our writers' room had very specific and passionate issues that they wanted to address."

Many fans appreciated that the show tackled the important issue. "@NBCNewAmsterdam was powerful tonight! Thank you for shedding light on reality!" @LindaInChicago tweeted, also encouraging people to vote in the November 8 election. "Thank you for addressing abortions rights being denied, for addressing how our rights being taken away lead to other's rights being taken away," @WendyWa91875117 said. "This is affecting everyone." A third user, @TreesNuthouse, wrote, "Thank you for this show, it's such a shame how our Country has gone backwards." 

Of course, not all viewers appreciated it, with one tweeting simply, "turned it off." On the TVInsider recap, one reader called the episode "totally inappropriate. TV shows are suppose to be non/reality." Have they been watching the same program?