September 24, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – The pro-abort social media campaign intended to challenge abortion's negative stigma has elicited strong reaction on both sides of the life issue.
#ShoutYourAbortion is a Twitter hashtag started last Friday by a couple of U.S. abortion activists in response to efforts to defund Planned Parenthood in the wake if its baby body part trafficking scandal.
The hashtag operates on the contention that the push to defund the abortion giant “relies on the assumption that abortion is still something to be whispered about” and calls on mothers who have aborted their children to “shout” about it on social media.
“My abortion was in '10 & the career I've built since then fulfills me & makes me better able to care for kids I have now,” states a tweet from Lindy West, one of the founders.
She proceeds to lash out against anyone who challenges her on Twitter, using foul language throughout.
In one exchange, West is questioned regarding whether the rights of all should be protected, including unborn children, to which she replies that “fetuses are not people and do not have rights.”
Another founder of the pro-abortion campaign, Amelia Bonow, relates the rationale behind starting the hashtag in an unsettling Salon.com column, titled “My abortion made me happy,” where she states she is grateful for her abortion.
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“We've been brainwashed to think we must regret our abortions,” Bonow says. “I have a good heart, and feel only gratitude for mine.”
She also tweeted, “I'm already a person so my right 2 life usurped that of the cells threatening to become person that I didn't want to make.”
Women joined in from across the world, with nearly 70,000 from countries like the U.S., the U.K, Australia, and Ireland using the hashtag between Friday and Tuesday, according to The Guardian. A Facebook page had received almost 4,000 likes but is now deactivated.
“I've never wanted to have children, so I had an abortion. I'm thriving, without guilt, without shame, without apologies,” said one tweet, and “I've had 2 abortions. I don't have to justify or explain them to anybody. My life is more valuable than a potential life,” said another.
“I had an abortion in May because I am 21 and want to enjoy my youth,” stated a third, before going on to claim she would be “an amazing mom one day too.”
The hashtag's message is a clear departure from the abortion movement's repetitive claim of wanting abortion to be “safe, legal, and rare.”
Bonow demonstrated this when she tweeted, “I refuse 2 live in a country where abortion is 'rare'. Far 2many wmn need abortions & all wmn need access w/o shame.”
Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards congratulated the abortion activists behind #ShoutYourAbortion, stating, “Thank you @thelindywest and @ameliabonow for getting this going! Fearless women right here. #ShoutYourAbortion.”
The pro-life response has included a #ShoutYourAdoption hashtag and other references such as Shout Your Baby, plus a column for The Federalist from a woman who chose life for her unborn child, titled “I Shout My Son's Life.”
Others challenged the pro-abortion hashtag directly.
“Abortion does not make you unpregnant. It makes you the parent of a dead child,” said one tweet.
“#ShoutYourAbortion is trending…what a sad day. That's like Hitler tweeting #ShoutYourGenocide,” said another.
And another posed, “Destroying Sea Turtle eggs: Felony Destroying Eagle eggs: Felony Destroying a Fetus (Human): Get high fives on Twitter.”
Conservative blogger Michelle Malkin posted about the #ShoutYourAdoption hashtag and also tweeted, “Shout this LOUDER: #PPSellsBabyParts.”
“One day we will look back & wonder how we dehumanized the unborn like we have. Just like slavery & the Jewish holocaust,” tweeted pro-life advocate Abby Johnson, also pondering, “Can you imagine living in a time where people brag about killing another human being?? Oh wait, we do.”
Many people shared their personal experiences with adoption with both hashtags, including numerous contributors who'd been adopted thanking their mothers for choosing life for them.
The battle over Planned Parenthood funding continues, as Tuesday the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved a Continuing Resolution that would deprive Planned Parenthood of government revenue for one year unless it agrees to not perform abortions or fund other entities that do.
