Thursday, Nov 4, 2010 6:01 PM UTC
Tweeting your abortion
Is the Twitter "#ihadanabortion" trend effective empowerment or needless provocation?
Topics: Abortion, Broadsheet, Love and Sex, Life News
Women are taking to Twitter with a blunt statement of fact: “I had an abortion.” In fact, so many are tweeting about their experience that the hashtag “#ihadanabortion” began trending on the site yesterday. It all started with a tweet from @IAmDrTiller: “Time for us to come out. Who’s had an abortion? Show antis we’re not intimidated by scare tactics. Use: #ihadanabortion.” The responses came streaming in:
I’ve had an abortion. It was not an easy decision, but it was the best one for me. #ihadanabortion
Almost half my life ago, #ihadanabortion. I’m not sorry. I’ve never been sorry. I will never be sorry. Just very, very grateful.
1992, 1998. #ihadanabortion
Yep, #IHADANABORTION.. more than one, now that I am ready I am now 7 months pregnant w/ my 2nd child…my body, my decision!
Those who are ANTI-choice shd B glad #ihadanabortion. I went on to finish college, support myself, marry … have 2 honor students. Nice, huh?
#IHadAnAbortion @ 17 … no one helped much; every1 tried to protect the dude’s reputation. Yuk. Grateful I had the option. I vote #prochoice.
Others tweeted their support or said things along the lines of “I haven’t had an abortion, but I would if I got pregnant.” There are surprisingly few anti-choice tweets and, for the most part, the thread feels like a small, intimate conversation — so much so that I feel trepidation writing about it. That’s the whole point, though — to take this private conversation public, to scrub the “a-word” of stigma and shame. This is part of a long tradition of feminist consciousness-raising, it’s just that the medium has changed.
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