Teen Voices on Abortion – Let’s Hear From You!
I’m a bit of a pro-choice geek. I’m the type of person to spend my Sunday afternoon in a tiny theater in downtown SF listening to some pipe-smoking, suit-wearing Stanford philosophers debate the “rights and wrongs” of abortion. However, I realized something this weekend – the people who are talking about it aren’t the ones who are HAVING them! The professors didn’t even get their facts straight – they called the morning after pill (or emergency contraception)– a morning after abortion! Completely not true!
Something just seems wrong with this picture… it’s like vegetarians going on and on about the value of eating fish vs. beef. According to the National Abortion Federation, teens and young adults (15-24) have 52% of the abortions that happen in the U.S. Why aren’t we hearing from them?
It seems so common sense, but there are many reasons why women, and especially young women, aren’t talking.
- We are scared of being judged. Everyone has an opinion on this issue, and they will scream it at you before you get a chance to tell them your story. It’s straight up scary!
- There isn’t really a good place to tell it. No one invites teens to Supreme Court sessions on important laws dealing with abortion. They listen to the lawyers and the “experts” and leave the young women who have had them out of the discussion.
- We all feel differently about it. There isn’t one way that women feel after an abortion. We can’t identify some easy answer like the pro-choice and pro-life groups say exists. Without that, it’s hard to feel like you have a community who has your back.
I’ve worked in an abortion clinic, and as an after-abortion counselor, and if I’ve learned one thing, it’s that EVERYONE has a story, and each story is different. None of the stereotypes that people yell about are true!
And if you have a personal experience with abortion, either your own or someone close to you, you can share your story with a completely confidential, non-judgmental counselor with...
After-abortion talkline at 1-800-4exhale (1-800- 439-4253) and click the picture to check out their website.
Perhaps if we could only listen, we might be able to find a way to agree on this oh-so-controversial thing… ‘course, would our voices really be heard? How would the media and all those angry people react if teens tried to tell their stories? Do YOU think they’d hear us?