Thread by @monaeltahawy

Last September, for Safe Abortion Day, I finally wrote about my two abortions feministgiant.com/p/abortion-is-…

For as long as patriarchy can shroud abortion with silence, it will continue to stamp it in shame. So I broke my silence to break free of shame. #ourabortionstories feministgiant.com/p/essay-lies-s…

I decided to finally speak to say what I had long yearned to read: I had an abortion because I did not want to be pregnant. That’s it. In so many of the abortion narratives I read, it was as if women were pleading for a mercy and forgiveness that belonged to no one to give;

it was as if they had to prove they were “worthy” of the abortion–whether by virtue of the pain they had endured in becoming pregnant (rape/incest) or the pain they would endure by carrying the pregnancy to term;

And that was in the United States, where abortion was federally protected for almost 50yrs. So imagine the compounded interest accrued in silence in countries where abortion is illegal. And now in the U.S., after the Supreme Court overturned #RoevWade feministgiant.com/p/abortion-is-…

I was inspired to finally write about my abortions after I read and blurbed Dr. Meera Shah's book You're the Only One I've Told--The Stories Behind Abortion. Come see Dr. Shah and I in conversation on July 20 at @strandbookstore
feministgiant.com/p/event-femini…

Read all my writing on abortion here.

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I was not raped. I was not sick. The pregnancies did not threaten my life. I did not already have children. I just did not want to be pregnant.

I am glad I had my abortions. They gave me the freedom to live the life I have chosen. feministgiant.com/p/abortion-is-… #ourabortionstories

Abortion bans are intent on punishing us for daring to take ownership of our bodies and our sexual desire outside of the norms. They aim to police our bodies and punish us for sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman. feministgiant.com/p/essay-the-se…

We do not owe anyone an explanation or a reason for our abortion. Much like we insist on rejecting the “worthy victim” scenario of sexual assault, so too must we reject the “worthy recipient” of an abortion.

Abortion is a human right, not a bonus or a reward we must earn.

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It's free--no paywall or ads. If you can pay, it helps to keep it free.

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And my essays on abortion are also available in Arabic, translated by @itmeansagift

I know how difficult it can be to speak publicly about abortion. And it was important that my writing about it be available in both of my languages.

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