#ShoutYourAbortion Is Out Here Trying to Destigmatize Abortion
The stigmatization of abortion has been an important (and heated) topic for women for as long as we can remember. But with the House voting to defund Planned Parenthood last week, the issue is coming back to our forefront in a major way again. #IStandWithPP tweets have been flooding the timeline after the ruling, but over the weekend, women have been speaking more openly about their reproductive rights with #ShoutYourAbortion, a hashtag started by activists Lindy West, Amelia Bonow, and Kimberly Morrison.
The campaign to defund PP "relies on the assumption that abortion is to be whispered about." #ShoutYourAbortion pic.twitter.com/r1ilpCVr30
— Lindy West (@thelindywest) September 19, 2015
Through this hashtag women have been bravely sharing their abortion stories, how their abortions have impacted their lives, and how helpful Planned Parenthood has been in an effort to normalize these conversations.
My abortion was in '10 & the career I've built since then fulfills me & makes me better able to care for kids I have now. #ShoutYourAbortion
— Lindy West (@thelindywest) September 20, 2015
Abortion is a medical procedure, not a moral quagmire. It is more dangerous to give birth than it is to have an abortion. #shoutyourabortion
— Clementine Ford (@clementine_ford) September 21, 2015
I've never wanted to have children, so I had an abortion. I'm thriving, without guilt, without shame, without apologies. #ShoutYourAbortion
— favianna rodriguez (@favianna) September 21, 2015
Of course, there's been a lot of opposition—some even calling it "secular Satanism"—but the hashtag is still going strong and women are continuing to challenge this stigma that shouldn't be a stigma.
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