When A Tee Shirt Is Not Just A Shirt

For a short time Planned Parenthood sold t-shirts that stated openly and unapologetically "I had an abortion." PP was savagely attacked for this on the assumption that there is something so shameful about having an abortion that no decent person should be encouraged to say so publicly. You can't stigmatize abortion, though, without stigmatizing the women who have had abortions.

Abortion Clinic Days quotes from an op ed piece that appeared in the New Bedford Standard Times:

[C]ontrary to so many unapologetically insulting assumptions, women who have abortions are not silly, shallow, flippant or stupid. They aren't looking for ways to help you ignore the complex reality of their decisions, their circumstances, their lives or the lives of their families. Abortion is one of very few (exactly three) solutions to the ultimatum of an unwanted or dangerous pregnancy. Women don't take it lightly.

Finally and most importantly, if you think you don't know someone who's had an abortion, you are almost certainly mistaken. Statistically, it's nearly impossible not to know someone who has had an abortion. Who are they? They are your sister, your daughter, your mother, your grandmother, your best friend, and your wife. They are old and young and middle-aged. They are married and unmarried. They are wealthy, poor, and middle-class. They are women of every race and religion. They are high school drop-outs and university professors. They are secretaries, pilots, CEOs, soldiers, teachers, bus drivers, beekeepers, postal workers, and talk show hosts. They are newspaper editors. And yes, they are anti-abortion protesters.

Women who have had abortions are not strangers to you. They are women you already know very well. Most of them -- as many as two thirds -- have children. They are women you respect, trust, and love. They are women you live and work with. Look around and see how many women are not wearing T-shirts to tell you they've had abortions. Yes -- that's them.

Around 43% of women in America will have an abortion at some point during their child-bearing years. That's a lot of women making use of a legal option that some believe to be immoral. The fact that it is disputed, however, does not mean that it should be shameful. Opponents of abortion as a legal choice are already winning the battle if women have to be ashamed of having an abortion.

I highly recommend browsing through the above-linked blog, by the way.

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