Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards urged women Tuesday to push the pro-abortion movement to the next level by publicly bragging about their own abortions, saying the next step is get rid of the “stigma and shame” surrounding abortion.
“I think it’s time for us to be bold,” Richards said at a women’s conference in California. “And so I want to ask you to do something or think about doing something. And that is to share your own story. This is the time to do it.”
Ticking off a list of stories women should tell in order to rid the practice of killing unborn babies of an unwanted negative stigma, Richards said it’s important for women to speak publicly about their visits to Planned Parenthood clinics, and their experience with abortion. (RELATED: The New York Times Op-Ed On Late Term Abortion, Fixed)
“Maybe you had a pregnancy and you had to make a decision,” she said. “And thank goodness you could make that decision in consultation with your doctor and with your family, and not your member of Congress. Those stories are important to share, because you’ll never know the thousands of women that you give courage to or comfort to because you shared your story.”
The politics of abortion won’t change until people are convinced that killing unborn babies is “just part of life,” Richards said. Their attitudes have to change, and the culture has to change, so that it’s considered acceptable to violently end the life of a fetus in the womb if the unborn baby is unwanted by his or her mother.
“It’s something that we have to get rid of stigma and shame about,” Richards said. “And so if we do that, I think we can make progress.”
Many pro-abortion activists have already embraced Richards’ suggested tactic, but it has been met with mixed reviews by others who are pro-abortion but do not think the practice should be celebrated. Actress Lena Dunham ticked off pretty much everyone when she told a podcast audience in December she hasn’t yet had an abortion, but wishes she had the opportunity.
“It’s a difficult decision for all women, and, while some have the procedure without any emotional baggage, many women feel conflicted about terminating a pregnancy,” one woman wrote in The Daily Beast, revealing a divide over the tactic even among pro-abortion activists. “Dunham’s flippant attitude is insulting to women who have actually gone through it.”
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