According to McElhenney, when “Charlie Wants an Abortion” was pitched to FX, there was a pretty massive problem: you weren’t allowed to even say the word “abortion” on TV! McElhenney and the rest of the team pushed back because they felt it was so important to be able to talk about the topic. As he put it:
“[…] It’s an issue that, regardless of how you feel about it, on what side of the aisle you sit, the idea that you can’t even discuss the idea of the word on a television series felt anathema to the entire idea of what it is to be an American. If we can’t communicate with one another then we’re gonna fail. Now, we take that to the extreme, because we have extreme characters […]”
He went on to admit that sometimes he and the show’s other writers look back with regret and realize that they really messed up while handling a sensitive topic, but he would much rather they try to talk about those things and fail than not talk about them at all. Indeed, the show’s creatives have been honest about how they mishandled the transgender character Carmen, played by cisgender woman Brittany Daniel, for example, and it seems like even when they’ve committed a misstep, their hearts are usually in the right place. Comedy is at its best when it pushes boundaries, and “Always Sunny” is always pushing the limits.