Mona Eltahawy Profile picture
Sep 28 10 tweets 6 min read
It is #InternationalSafeAbortionDay.

I have had 2 abortions. 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. feministgiant.com/p/abortion-is-…
When abortion is “illegal,” it does not make it rare nor eradicate it. It makes it dangerous and often deadly for the poorest and most vulnerable people who can get pregnant.

Abortion must be safe and accessible to all.

feministgiant.com/p/essay-disres… #InternationalSafeAbortionDay
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. #InternationalSafeAbortionDay Mona holding a sign saying ...
One of the reasons I decided to finally speak was because 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 feministgiant.com/p/essay-lies-s… #InternationalSafeAbortionDay
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 (through rape or incest) or the pain they would endure by carrying the pregnancy to term feministgiant.com/p/essay-on-abo… #InternationalSafeAbortionDay
It was as if they had to prove their abortion was a ‘good’ one because they were ‘good’.

Abortion bans are driven by zealots and puritans. feministgiant.com/p/essay-the-wh… #InternationalSafeAbortionDay
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. feministgiant.com/p/essay-the-se… #InternationalSafeAbortionDay
Abortion is normal. It is healthcare. Remember that as we mark #InternationalSafeAbortionDay on September 28.

One in four women has had an abortion (the study presented date on cis women), including me. feministgiant.com/p/abortion-is-…
All my essays on abortion are free to read and share--no paywall or ads.

Subscribe for free to my newsletter.

If you can pay, it helps to keep it free.

feministgiant.com #InternationalSafeAbortionDay
It can be difficult to write about abortion and I wanted to make sure my essays were available in both of my languages.

Thanks to paid subscription to my newsletter, I commissioned @itmeansagift to translate them into Arabic
feministgiant.com/p/- #InternationalSafeAbortionDay

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More from @monaeltahawy

Sep 29
Yesterday, an ageist, misogynist fuck thought that calling me an "old lady" was the height of insult. The irony being, of course, that I regularly post #ThisIs55 and write about being perimenopausal. So here are some old lady pictures of me celebrating #ThisIs55 📷 @rerutled Mona from the shoulders up,...
Please don't anyone write to tell me "you don't look 55/you look great for 55." That is not the compliment you think it is. I am 55. That's it. I look whatever I look right now. Mona is an "old lady" who loves the way she looks. 📷 @rerutled Mona sitting at a table wit...
Mona is an old lady who writes quite frequently about being an old lady
feministgiant.com/p/essay-menopa…
Read 13 tweets
Sep 29
I wrote this letter to white women cheering Iranian women because I’ve had white women come to my events and ask how they can help Muslim women over there somewhere far away because it’s easier than actually doing something about women over here.
It is way past time for white women in the U.S. who have ever asked “How can I help Muslim women” and “Why do Muslim women submit to misogyny?” to start obsessing instead over their white sisters who benefit from white supremacist & theocratic patriarchy
feministgiant.com/p/essay-dear-w…
It is harder to see Foot Soldiers of the Patriarchy when they look like you.

It is easy to see theocrats when they don't look like you.

feministgiant.com/p/if-amy-coney… #IranProtests2022 #mahsamini
Read 12 tweets
Sep 29
We are more than what's on our heads and what's in between our legs:

In Iran, women are fighting against theocrats who enforce hijab by burning shit down, including their hijab.

In the U.S., what are the women who are fighting against theocrats who enforce abortion bans doing?
As you watch the glory and power of the feminist revolution against theocrats in Iran, ask yourself where the fuck is your feminist revolution against theocrats in the U.S. feministgiant.com/p/essay-dear-w… #IranProtests2022 #MahsaAmini
Glory and power to the women in Iran who have seized the narrative and become object and subject.

Glory and power to the women in Iran for serving us this challenge.

feministgiant.com/p/essay-women-… #MahsaAmini #IranProtests2022 #IranRevolution2022
Read 4 tweets
Sep 29
Mona is an old lady who reminds everyone of the importance of moisturizing one’s vagina and also of telling ageist misogynist fucks to fuck off feministgiant.com/p/moisturize-y…
Mona is an old lady who writes quite frequently about being an old lady feministgiant.com/p/essay-menopa…
And Mona is an old lady who has written and spoken extensively about the importance of profanity feministgiant.com/p/essay-why-i-…
Read 5 tweets
Sep 28
In Iran, women are fighting against theocrats who enforce hijab by burning shit down, including their hijab.

In the U.S., what are the women fighting against theocrats who enforce abortion bans doing?

It is #InternationalSafeAbortionDay. Where is your feminist revolution?
It’s imperative to understand that the theocrats who look like you and those who don’t both follow the same rule book: control desire and control our bodies. More simply: Control.

Enforced hijab.

Enforced pregnancy.

feministgiant.com/p/essay-dear-w… #InternationalSafeAbortionDay
The patriarchy atop theocracy melange of Iran’s “morality police” is easier to see because it is so visibly expressed in enforced hijab.

But what is the enforced pregnancy of the Christian zealots in the U.S. but a melange of patriarchy built atop theocracy right here?
Read 8 tweets
Sep 28
September 28 is #SafeAbortionDay. Last year, for that day and in solidarity with the right to safe and accessible abortion for all, I finally wrote about my "illegal" abortion in Egypt in 1996 and my "legal" abortion in the U.S. in 2000

feministgiant.com/p/abortion-is-… #AbortionRights
I use inverted commas because I reject the State’s attempt to control my uterus. I reject its power to declare what is “legal” or “illegal” when it comes to my abortions. The State can fuck off with its opinions about what I can/can’t do with my uterus. That control belongs to me
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.

I am glad I had my abortions. They gave me the freedom to live the life I have chosen. Mona holding a sign saying "I have had two abortions.&q
Read 6 tweets

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