Seattle writers Amelia Bonow and Lindy West recently launched a campaign on Twitter called #ShoutYourAbortion.
Wendy Syfret of Vice reported:
We Spoke to a Founder of #ShoutYourAbortion About Rejecting Shame
Seattle writer Amelia Bonow says she cried all day when she heard Republicans in Congress were attempting to defund Planned Parenthood. Years before, she’d had an abortion at one of their clinics and described it as a wonderful experience. She never regretted her choice, and spoke about it among her community that she describes as “feminist liberal, punk rock, queer, women, and people who talk about everything that mainstream culture isn’t supposed to talk about.” But seeing the mounting propaganda being leveled at the organization, she realized she never really spoke publicly about her terminations. And never widely expressed how lucky she felt to have access to that choice and “not be forced to become a mother when I didn’t want to be one.”
The next day she shared her abortion story on her Facebook page, viewing her previous hesitation to speak widely about it as proof that she’s internalized a level of shame around her choice. She texted her friend, the writer Lindy West, about it, and West had soon screen-shotted her post and tweeted it to her more than 60,0000 followers with their agreed hashtag #shoutyourabortion. Within hours it had blown up and women were sharing their own experiences, told without the usual frame of guilt, shame, regret, and terror.
Here are some tweets with the hashtag:
Because a fetus is not a life, but an unwanted child born into poverty and neglect is. #ShoutYourAbortion
— Livia Scott (@LiviaLove) September 23, 2015
Let's remove the stigma from having women make their own choices. #ShoutYourAbortion http://t.co/20mIBFCITO
— The Mary Sue (@TheMarySue) September 23, 2015
No woman wants to have an abortion, however majority of those who have had one were thankful for CHOICE. PERIOD.
#ShoutYourAbortion
— Bimm #StandwithPP (@bimmerella) September 22, 2015
Abortion is a responsible and moral choice. You have the right to a safe abortion and no one can take that away from you. #ShoutYourAbortion
— Lauren Rankin (@laurenarankin) September 22, 2015
#ShoutYourAbortion is about dismissing the stigma attached to a medical procedure. It’s not about ‘glorifying’ anything.
— Naomi (@_naomijosephine) September 21, 2015
(Image:Source)