Thread by @monaeltahawy

In 1996 I had an “illegal” abortion in Egypt and in 2000 I had a “legal” abortion in the U.S. I use inverted commas because I reject the State’s attempt to control my uterus. feministgiant.com/p/abortion-is-… #AbortionIsNormal #AbortionRightsAreHumanRights

I reject its power to declare what is “legal” or “illegal” when it comes to my abortions.

The State--and the Supreme Court--can fuck off with its opinions about what I can and can’t do with my uterus.

That control belongs to me.

feministgiant.com/p/essay-disres… #AbortionIsHealthcare

I'd told a few friends privately about my abortions but it took me 25yrs to write/speak about them publicly.

Why? Was I not brave, I ask in Abortion is Normal, the 1st essay I wrote about them for Safe Abortion Day in September 2021

Why is there so much silence around abortion?

I commissioned @itmeansagift to translate that first essay I wrote about my abortions into Arabic because I know how rare and difficult it is to see someone from my background writing about their abortions feministgiant.com/p/- #AbortionIsNormal #AbortionRightsAreHumanRights

I decided to finally speak to say what I'd long yearned to read: I had an abortion because I didn't want to be pregnant. That’s it. In so many abortion narratives, it was as if women were pleading for a mercy and forgiveness that belonged to no one to give feministgiant.com/p/essay-lies-s…

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

And that was in the U.S., where abortion had been federally protected. So imagine the silence now, after the Supreme Court overturned #RoevWade.

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. And to say: 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 did not want to have a child. feministgiant.com/p/essay-lies-s…

I am glad I had my abortions. They gave me the freedom to live the life I've chosen.

1 in 4 pregnancies end in abortion. Criminalizing abortion will not make it rare. It will make it dangerous & deadly for the most vulnerable people who can get pregnant
feministgiant.com/p/abortion-is-…

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