1923 Fans Slam Taylor Sheridan For Promoting “Pro-Life Message” In Series Finale

Out of all of the issues in the 1923 series finale, Taylor Sheridan being too “pro-life” is the complaint we’re going with? Seems like a reach…

By now, most of you have probably seen the 1923 series finale, the official conclusion of the second Yellowstone prequel series. Then again, with the White Lotus Season 3 finale on last night, maybe you haven’t got around to it yet… either way, we’re getting into some spoilers. You’ve been warned…

The 1923 series finale was pretty devastating, and I have to be honest, I’m not sure how anyone didn’t see it coming. It was never going to be sunshine and rainbows, it was never gonna be the happy ending that everyone was rooting for, especially when it came to Spencer and Alex. We saw Jack die in the penultimate episode, and then it was barely revisited in the finale, and we also saw Donald Whitfield die, as well as his right-hand man Banner Creighton. I have to say, I was rooting for Banner’s redemption… hated to see him get capped after helping Jacob Dutton. But of course, the tragic ending was the death of Alex after giving birth to an extremely premature baby. Granted, with modern medicine and serious intervention, a baby can survive being born around 24 weeks these days, but in 1923? No chance. However, after it was born, Alex, who was suffering from severe frostbite and in need of immediate surgery, declined in order to spend a few fleeting moments with her newborn who would surely die. Only problem is the newborn didn’t die, and then Alex did….

Does it make any sense at all? No, not really, unless Alex thought her new baby boy only had a few hours to live and she planned to spend every second with him. Did her refusing surgery keep the baby alive? Of course not. Was it a sacrifice? No. So in hindsight, she probably should’ve gotten the surgery and she would’ve returned to find her baby still alive and she could’ve lived happily ever after with Spencer (you know, minus some hands and feet). But she made a choice, albeit a silly one, and that’s that…. baby John Dutton was born. Which John? Well, that’s very unclear, but more on that HERE.

All in all, I actually thought the series was pretty damn good, as did many others, especially compared to the Yellowstone series finale. But, a number of people are unhappy with the death of Alex, a number are mad about Whitfield’s barbaric sexual torture, and a number of people are mad that the show seems to have completely messed up that whole “7 Generations” thing, which is essentially the overarching theme of the entire Dutton family story. Not sure how Sheridan is gonna write his way out of that conundrum…

But a small, and rather loud, group of fans are angry that Taylor Sheridan has used 1923 to push his alleged “pro-life propaganda” on fans of the Yellowstone universe. Pro life propaganda, eh? Yeah I guess…

A number of comments on Reddit took major issue with Alex dying, and claimed that Sheridan used it as a vehicle to push some pro-life messaging:

The whole section at the end with Alex comes across as pro life propaganda. Which isn’t surprising, after watching most of Sheridan’s shows.

That part upset me so much. I had a stillbirth at 7 months after slowly going septic and I have to agree with the other comment that says it feels like weird pro life propaganda. He unnecessarily shows so much suffering only to misrepresent a 24 week birth.

That is 100% what it was.

What kind of mother would choose her life over her child’s.” is 100% “pro life propaganda.”

It’s more propaganda to push the narrative of “partial birth abortion” which the “pro life” crowd is always using as a way to rile up their base against “baby killing libs.” Alex did not die to save the life of her child – certainly some women would choose to die for their child to live, which is totally ok, that’s what the right to choose is about, after all.

Sheridan is very clearly an American Republican and this seems like miracle touting religious nonsense. No amount of logic would suggest you should sacrifice yourself for a 24 week premie. It would have been one thing if she dies and they kill the baby off as well. But the fact they vindicate her decision by having the baby live through such impossible circumstances almost comes across as pro life propaganda.

TS’s politics are pretty easy to guess.

Even with human milk, I’m sorry, there is literally no way a 24-5 week old would survive back then even with every advantage available at the time. It strikes me as bizarre pro-life propaganda.

I totally agree about it being some sick pro-life propaganda.

Making a political point with the 26 week old fetus being a-ok, slurping down goat milk like a champ even though 26 week old babies don’t have fully functioning digestive systems, lungs, brains, etc. And killing off the mother in the process. Fucking bizarre and 100% making a political statement.

He’s one of those people that places all value to a woman based on her ability to get pregnant, give birth and raise children.

Some even took to X to echo the same sentiment:

i’m so pissed they killed off Alex in 1923 just for the creators stupid and shitty pro-life message

— alison ⚢ (@strawbrryfemme) April 7, 2025

Actually, 1923 is poorly written woman-hating racist violent pro-life trash, so probably right up your alley!

— MJ (@notbymj) April 6, 2025

I think you could point to a few examples of Yellowstone being marginally pro-life… Kayce explicitly denies his father’s wish to force Monica to have an abortion, and then we see the effect that Beth’s hard on her… it was the driving force behind the hate for her brother, Jamie, which ultimately culminated in her killing him.

But to say that Alex choosing (wouldn’t that be pro-choice?) to die with her baby in 1923 was a creative decision designed to do nothing more than push some right-wing, pro-life agenda is such a reach to me. Nobody is arguing that we should be letting mothers die in the delivery room. C’mon…

But it really is the ultimate sacrifice to lay down your life for someone you love, and Alex was content to make that sacrifice for her baby (let’s just ignore the fact that it wasn’t scientifically necessary), as her character says:

“The mother who would choose herself over her child is no mother at all.” 

As a father of two, I’d say it’s hard to argue with that sentiment if I were somehow in the position of being forced to choose my own life over one of my kids. I wouldn’t think twice about it.

But I think the Western cowboy thing immediately pegs Sheridan as a Republican, but then some fans watch the Duttons return the land to the Broken Rock Tribe in Yellowstone, and are quick to scream “WOKE.” His shows have called out vegans and the so called “clean energy” of wind farms, but have also called for proper stewardship of natural resources, and shined a spotlight on the plight of Native Americans, especially abused women. Sheridan is also called a sexist for the way he portrays his female characters, but then you see a badass like Beth Dutton or Zoë Saldaña’s Joe McNamara in Lioness, and the women are clearly running the show.

He also tackles the woke military and questions the wars in the Middle East in Lioness, he addresses the prison industrial complex in Mayor Of Kingstown, and even roasted Bud Light in Landman. Hell, Yellowstone is all about fighting against corporate greed and land grabbing in the American West, rich people and developers buying up the state of Montana… not exactly waving the so-called pro-big business Republican flag. And in 2017, he was even critical of Donald Trump saying “can we just impeach the mf’er right now?” He walked that back more recently and called Colorado’s attempt to remove him from the ballot “dangerous sh*t.”

In 2022, Sheridan told The Atlantic that he laughed at people who called him Republican:

“They refer to it as ‘the conservative show’ or ‘the Republican show’ or ‘the red-state Game of Thrones.’” And I just sit back laughing. I’m like, ‘Really?’ The show’s talking about the displacement of Native Americans and the way Native American women were treated and about corporate greed and the gentrification of the West, and land-grabbing. That’s a red-state show?”

I think it’s safe to say that Sheridan’s politics are nuanced, but of course that doesn’t fly in today’s digital world where you’re expected to toe the party line at all times. Don’t get me wrong, I think we need a more conservatives in Hollywood, but I just don’t think it’s as simple as that when it comes to Taylor Sheridan.