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abortion tweeting

So, I'm sure by now you've heard of this woman who's Tweeting her abortion.

I didn't have strong feelings about it either way until I just ran across some cranky second-waver's blog post about it. The blogger feels insulted by what she sees as shameless self-promotion, as if this woman is cheapening the seriousness of the fight for reproductive rights with her overshare Tweets. And there were plenty of pearl-clutching comments supporting that point of view. Pro-choice feminists calling it disgusting, tasteless, idiotic, etc.

I couldn't disagree more. When I was going through my first miscarriage, it was a godsend to find just one really well-written blog post about it. There's not a whole lot out there. And I've written about my own miscarriage experiences on my blog, too. I said it in the comments section and I'll say it again:

"Writing about this stuff is such an incredible release. Everyone expects us to just shut up about it and keep our icky little woman problems to ourselves. I think it's refreshing to see a woman who refuses to be shamed into silence and just puts it out there."

Yes, Twitter is narcissism itself. But at least this woman is putting something substantive out there. And if people really find it disgusting, it's pretty easy to just...you know...not read it. Why do I suspect that these ladies would be opposed to public breastfeeding, too?

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Permalink Reply by DLBK on March 10, 2010 at 7:24am

Good for her. As you guys might remember, I went through a miscarriage and abortion two months ago and it brought me a lot of comfort to hear from other women who had gone through the same, so know that I wasn't the only one. Statistically I know how common miscarriage is, but statistics aren't going to comfort me.
I honestly considered sharing my ordeal on Facebook. I told all my co-workers why I was going to miss work and told a bunch of friends who hadn't known I was pregnant.

Every abortion is different and I find it very helpful to hear about other women's situations and choices and reasons.

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Permalink Reply by Mamawho on March 12, 2010 at 2:34pm

My mind went first to surgical abortion, and I was a bit squicked, as I would have been with any medical procedure. When I realized it was RU 486, I thought that was pretty awesome. If I ever needed to terminate a pregnancy, I'd be very interested in that route. But there's something scary about taking a pill to do what used to require a surgery. It would be a huge comfort to have real people share their stories about what it was like.

I don't remember where I read it, but she comes from a bizarre cult background, which influenced her decision to be very public about this abortion.