Woman Reveals Why She Decided To Film Her Abortion

[doggie]

I am all for woman choosing abortion or not but this bothers me as she teaches about birth control and abortions and then chose not to follow her own advice. It really ends up hurting her cause far more as it really fuels the far right that woman are irresponsible about sex/birth control.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/richardhjames/w ... r-abortion

After the procedure, she said: “I don’t feel like a bad person. I don’t feel sad. I feel in awe of the fact that I can make a baby. I can make a life.

“I knew that what I was going to do was right because it was right for me and no one else. I just want to share my story.â€

The video was uploaded to YouTube in March and Letts has now spoken to Cosmopolitan magazine about her decision to share the video.

Writing for the magazine, she said:

I found out I was pregnant in November. I had been working at the clinic for about a year. It was my first pregnancy, and, full disclosure, I hadn’t been using any kind of birth control, which is crazy, I know.

On a whim, I took a test, and it came up two pink lines. The moment when a woman looks down and sees those two pink lines and she’s not expecting to see them, it’s like time implodes and explodes simultaneously. You’re caught in this tornado that just sucks out all the breath in your lungs.

Once I caught my breath, I knew immediately I was going to have an abortion. I knew I wasn’t ready to take care of a child. The guy wasn’t involved in my decision.

OxPUKV-WlKw

[Firiel]

I am all for woman choosing abortion or not but this bothers me as she teaches about birth control and abortions and then chose not to follow her own advice. It really ends up hurting her cause far more as it really fuels the far right that woman are irresponsible about sex/birth control.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/richardhjames/w ... r-abortion

After the procedure, she said: “I don’t feel like a bad person. I don’t feel sad. I feel in awe of the fact that I can make a baby. I can make a life.

“I knew that what I was going to do was right because it was right for me and no one else. I just want to share my story.â€

The video was uploaded to YouTube in March and Letts has now spoken to Cosmopolitan magazine about her decision to share the video.

Writing for the magazine, she said:

I found out I was pregnant in November. I had been working at the clinic for about a year. It was my first pregnancy, and, full disclosure, I hadn’t been using any kind of birth control, which is crazy, I know.

On a whim, I took a test, and it came up two pink lines. The moment when a woman looks down and sees those two pink lines and she’s not expecting to see them, it’s like time implodes and explodes simultaneously. You’re caught in this tornado that just sucks out all the breath in your lungs.

Once I caught my breath, I knew immediately I was going to have an abortion. I knew I wasn’t ready to take care of a child. The guy wasn’t involved in my decision.

Um, what. Taking a pregnancy test on a whim and not expecting it to be positive when you are having unprotected sex? When you work as an abortion counselor? :cray-cray:

I feel like I'm supposed to be sympathetic and think that's so cool, but I just can't muster it.

Emily Letts entered the video into Abortion Care Network’s Stigma Busting competition and subsequently won, causing the film to spread across the world.

Really. An irresponsible* millennial gets an abortion without any input from the guy because, despite a job, she's not ready to take care of a child? That is the opposite of stigma-busting. That reinforces the stigma/stereotypes that the pro-life crowd places on women who get abortions.**

*I do think not using any birth control when you don't want children is irresponsible when you have access to it like she did.

**Other than not using birth control, I'm not judging her decisions. Just trying to say how they would come across to the pro-life crowd. Like the OP said, this story really just fuels the opposition.

[Mama Mia]

Wow. That looked more like something from the Onion, than a real thing. She really didn't come across the way she thinks she does, IMHO.

[Marianne]

She...

What ?!

[2xx1xy1JD]

How exactly does that fight stigma?

It sounds like preaching to the choir. It you believe that it is solely a woman's choice, then this is a video of a woman exercising her choice.

I don't see how this would change someone's mind if they either opposed abortion on demand, or supported the legal right to abortion but still felt that it was morally wrong. Challenging stigma is about getting people to look at something in a new way.

[chaotic life]

So let's gloss over the fact that this is an invasive medical procedure that has risk factors and should not be used lightly, regardless of your position on abortion itself. Responsible use of birth control would have saved her from the risks of infection, scar tissue, and infertility that an abortion procedure runs. As a birth control counselor, I find her irresponsibility stunning. The one thing everyone but the uber fundies agree on is that access to birth control reduces unplanned pregnancies and reduces the abortion rates. An abortion is not a walk in the park here. It shouldn't be treated with such a casual mentality. She certainly cannot claim she couldn't access birth control. She just choose to not bother to be responsible. That bothers me a great deal, and frankly reinforces the stereotypes that people hold against abortion--that it's used in place of birth control and that those who use it are irresponsible and treat it casually and not like the major medical procedure it is.

[RosyDaisy]

This whole story sounds fishy to me. Don't get me wrong. Her body, her choice, and I completely support a woman's right to choose. It's just that the whole thing liked staged to me.

[doggie]

This whole story sounds fishy to me. Don't get me wrong. Her body, her choice, and I completely support a woman's right to choose. It's just that the whole thing liked staged to me.

I was thinking the same thing a christian fake movie?

[usmcmom]

So let's gloss over the fact that this is an invasive medical procedure that has risk factors and should not be used lightly, regardless of your position on abortion itself. Responsible use of birth control would have saved her from the risks of infection, scar tissue, and infertility that an abortion procedure runs. As a birth control counselor, I find her irresponsibility stunning. The one thing everyone but the uber fundies agree on is that access to birth control reduces unplanned pregnancies and reduces the abortion rates. An abortion is not a walk in the park here. It shouldn't be treated with such a casual mentality. She certainly cannot claim she couldn't access birth control. She just choose to not bother to be responsible. That bothers me a great deal, and frankly reinforces the stereotypes that people hold against abortion--that it's used in place of birth control and that those who use it are irresponsible and treat it casually and not like the major medical procedure it is.

I SO agree with all you've written. Her flippant attitude makes me believe she got pregnant just so she could have an abortion.

[Firiel]

I SO agree with all you've written. Her flippant attitude makes me believe she got pregnant just so she could have an abortion.

I was actually wondering about that but was a little afraid to say it. I'm glad you did. I am just having so much trouble buying the fact that an abortion counselor would simply not be using birth control. It all just sounds so easy and flippant.

[SunnyAndrsn]

Curious as to why she would need a surgical abortion at just a few weeks gestation?

Why didn't she use Plan B after she had un-protected sex?

Why wasn't RU486 an option?

She says she was just a few weeks (2-3) along in the Buzzfeed article, which means she took a pregnancy test as soon as she missed her period. Hmmmm...I agree this sound like this was completely calculated, and it's a total misfire for abortion rights.

All of the circumstances surrounding this make her look like a total idiot.

[SoybeanQueen]

I don't think this will help in the long run. She comes across as irresponsible. I agree that no one should dictate how she feels about it. I'm pro-choice and had this nagging feeling of being a little offended after I watched it. Not sure I could pinpoint why, but it made me uncomfortable.

Talk about a double-whammy of offensiveness for conservative Catholics, though! She talked about abortion and the failure of natural family planning in the same story.

[Chowder Head]

Actually I think it might be a fake christian movie. I saw an article on it on a christian site last night. I am just trying to remember where.

[Mecca]

This whole story sounds fishy to me. Don't get me wrong. Her body, her choice, and I completely support a woman's right to choose. It's just that the whole thing liked staged to me.

Thank you. It would not surprise in the least if we later find out this was all staged by some crazy anti-choice group. It is becoming very common place for people to make up shit to get attention and try to discredit others. Even though we do see a lot of positive things come from the Internet, hoaxes are one of the downfalls to social media.

[twin2]

Thank you. It would not surprise in the least if we later find out this was all staged by some crazy anti-choice group. It is becoming very common place for people to make up shit to get attention and try to discredit others. Even though we do see a lot of positive things come from the Internet, hoaxes are one of the downfalls to social media.

Agreed. This is all too perfect. A birth control counselor, forgoing birth control, having an abortion, filming it and saying she doesn't feel sad about it...

I guess it is possible it is true, but it is pinging my hoax-dar.....

[Mecca]

Agreed. This is all too perfect. A birth control counselor, forgoing birth control, having an abortion, filming it and saying she doesn't feel sad about it...

I guess it is possible it is true, but it is pinging my hoax-dar.....

I agree. It sounds like everything I ever heard about women seeking abortions from my fundie family growing up. "See how callous she is! See how sexual education fails! See how evil these people are that work at these places!" I don't know. This just reads all too perfect for me.

I also read this girl is a an actress. Hmm...

[latraviata]

This whole story sounds fishy to me. Don't get me wrong. Her body, her choice, and I completely support a woman's right to choose. It's just that the whole thing liked staged to me.

I agree!

[freedomjesusfootball]

I mean, if you truly think an abortion is not a big deal and is a simple medical procedure for women, then why would you film it? it's like filming a pap smear. And being a sex / abortion educator and not using condoms with irregular partners is some dumb shit. I'm all for sexual liberation, but with a condom, please, for public health's sake.

it does seem kind of hoaxy.

[polecat]

I don't know if it was "real" or not, but I do know that when I had a similar procedure for a missed miscarriage, there was quite a bit of noise from the vacuum (is that what it's called?). That room was extremely quiet.

[ADoyle90815]

Agreed. This is all too perfect. A birth control counselor, forgoing birth control, having an abortion, filming it and saying she doesn't feel sad about it...

I guess it is possible it is true, but it is pinging my hoax-dar.....

I agree, this story sounds like a hoax to me, since a birth control counselor would be more likely to take Plan B as soon as possible after unprotected sex.

[Chowder Head]

I agree, this story sounds like a hoax to me, since a birth control counselor would be more likely to take Plan B as soon as possible after unprotected sex.

Plus not be "surprised" the stick showed positive.

[chaotic life]

I think the theory of a hoax is actually a strong one. It absolutely plays on the stereotypes and prejudices about abortion and begs you to condemn her for her callous lack of feeelings for the BABBBYYYY.

Of course, all it does is invoke a feeling that she is a complete idiot and irresponsible to be having sex without birth control, but back in my anti-choice early years, this type of story would have been precisely the kind pranced out to condemn all abortions.

But then again, the Kermit Gosnell story is sadly real, and the PP director from TX is still spouting her new-found anti-choice stance for profit. So perhaps it is not a hoax but I truly hope it is.

[Mary Margaret]

Oh goody. Matt Walsh has latched on to the "self-worshipping death cult known as modern liberalism," warning that "acceptance — however moderate – of a deep and depraved evil, will color your soul in blackness, and send you barreling into a darkness that will utterly distort your moral compass, leading you to bow at the altar of the Culture of Death, where abortion is the highest sacrament."

themattwalshblog.com/2014/05/07/this-is-my-positive-abortion-story/

This has got to be fake. It's just too damn perfect.

[Mama Mia]

I don't know whether the story itself is real or a hoax, but the agency that gave it an award appears to be real.

[notsocommon]

This whole story sounds fishy to me. Don't get me wrong. Her body, her choice, and I completely support a woman's right to choose. It's just that the whole thing liked staged to me.

Good, I am not the only one!