Even many supporters of abortion rights denigrate the women who choose to have abortions. They may not realize it, but when they describe abortion as "horrible," they also insinuate by implication that women who get abortions are horrible (not to mention those who perform abortions). If a person supports abortion rights, it must be because abortion is necessary for a person's autonomy and that, therefore, it is a good choice.

Stormcoming writes:

I am a woman 'of childbearing age'. Essentially, what that means, for those of you who do not happen to own a cunt of their very own, is that unless- and sometimes even if, women like myself take drastic measures EVERY single time we have sex there's a pretty high likelihood of becoming pregnant at least once at some point during those fertile years. Without effort, and sometimes even with efforts to prevent pregnancy we women find ourselves pregnant, often against our consent. We become hostages in our own bodies, to a process we for the most part, are unable to end all by ourselves should we want to.

Many people make the mistake of thinking only very few (or perhaps very bad/stupid/fallen) women have abortions. That's where they'd be wrong. One of the little known realities is that abortion, in America, is all around you. The Kaiser Family Foundation came up with one approximation: "It is estimated that 43 percent of women in the U.S. will have an abortion by age 45 and that more than 30 million have had an abortion since the procedure was legalized in 1973 (based on 1992 rates.)" (Fact Sheet: Abortion in the U.S., October 2002)

That's an estimate that 43% of American women will have an abortion by age 45. Abortion, far from being rare or some isolated event, is a very real and NORMAL part of a large portion of American women's health care.

Once we recognize that abortion is a normal and common aspect of women's healthcare, our approach to it should change:

[T]o label abortion "horrible" is to also label those who provide, assist with, or seek, participate in, or experience abortion as "horrible". PEOPLE are those targeted within, but hidden by the language of 'this form of medical care is horrible'. As people who are part of that form of medical care are inseparable from and essential parts of that action.

Rather than adding to the stigmatization and isolation of those who relate to abortion, instead realize WHO you're talking about.

These same women and people are all around you every day, yet relegated to invisibility. To support women who have had abortions is to support perhaps your mother, your sister, your friend, or your wife, and yes, to support women who read daily Kos. Do not assume they'd have told you, not in this climate, where they are being labeled 'horrible' by proxy. Where to have had an abortion is to be equated to a murderess.

How many people know women who have had an abortion but who don't talk about it because of the stigma attached to the procedure? How many ostensible supporters of abortion rights contribute to that stigmatization, even unwittingly, and thereby keep women they know at a distance?

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