Abortion is for Everyone

I believe unconditionally in the right of people with uteruses to decide what grows inside of their body and feeds on their blood and endangers their life and reroutes their future. There are no ‘good’ abortions and ‘bad’ abortions, there are only pregnant people who want them and pregnant people who don’t, pregnant people who have access and support and pregnant people who face institutional roadblocks and lies.

Lindy West

With all the public rhetoric around abortion in the United States, there are often misconceptions about who is accessing abortion care and who abortion care is meant to serve. The bottom line is that anyone with a uterus might at some point need/want an abortion. 1 out of 4 women in the United States will have an abortion by the time they reach age 45. The data shows that people of all gender, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds access this care.

Below are a few resources that illustrate who really is getting abortions–and it’s not who you think. We have all likely absorbed some stereotypes about the ‘typical’ person getting an abortion. Here are a few resources to help broaden that definition and understand in a more data-driven, holistic way how varied the people getting an abortion truly are.

For the data

• Guttmacher: Demographics

  guttmacher.com

  If you want hard data, the Guttmacher Institute is your friend for all things sexual and reproductive health-related. They conduct epidemiological research regarding these topics in the United States and globally.

For your commute to work:

• The Abortion Diary Podcast

  The Abortion Diary is the intersection of self-expression, healing, and the art of story-sharing and story-listening. We are dedicated to creating a space for people to share stories they haven’t been able to share and listen to stories they haven’t been able to hear. These are the stories we share.

Stars who have had abortions — they’re just like us

• 11 Powerful Women Who Have Spoken Out About Their Own Abortion

  elle.com | Alex Holder | March 5, 2017

• Celebrities Share Their Abortion Stories After Restrictive Laws Pass

  refinery29.com | Molly Longman | May 20, 2019

Check out online postings — and even an entire book — of people’s abortion stories

• Shout Your Abortion

  Amelia Bonow, Emily Nokes, Lindy West

  The “#ShoutYourAbortion” movement began in 2015 in response to the federal government’s revived efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. This decentralized, grass roots movement seeks to normalize and destigmatize abortion by uplifting personal stories. The founders of the movement have now compiled many of these into a multimedia book, which is available for purchase.

If you are more of a visual learner:

• The Abortion Diaries

  Penny Lane | October 1, 2005

  THE ABORTION DIARIES is a documentary featuring 12 women who speak candidly about their experiences with abortion. The women are doctors, subway workers, artists, activists, military personnel, teachers and students; they are Black, Latina, Jewish and White; they are mothers or child-free; they range in age from 19 to 54. Their stories weave together with the filmmaker’s diary entries to present a compelling, moving and at times surprisingly funny “dinner party” where the audience is invited to hear what women say behind closed doors about motherhood, medical technology, sex, spirituality, love, work and their own bodies.