5,000 Women Announce Their Abortions

In the October 10 edition of Ms. Magazine, released next week, 5000 women will publicize to the world that they had abortions.  Though only roughly 1,000 of these woman will be included by name in the magazine, the rest will be posted on the magazine's website.  The "We Had Abortions" fall edition of Ms. will use the list of names as a petition to send to the U.S. Congress in an effort to advance and bring attention to the abortion-rights movement in America.  The release of the list comes at a crucial point in the abortion debate as now, more than ever, the prospect of the overturning of Roe v. Wade seems more like a reality.  On November 7, the citizens of South Dakota will vote to ban abortion in their state, even in the extreme cases of rape or incest.  And like the gay marriage voting initiatives of a few years ago, feminist groups predict the dominos will begin to fall, state by state.  The Ms. Magazine petitioners, who include Ms. founder Gloria Steinem and actress Amy Brenneman, hope to confront America's discomfort with the issue of abortion and the women who choose to have them.  As feminist writer Angela Bonavoglia writes of the list, "Whatever our moral and ethical issues are about abortion--and there are many--it makes clear that the women who have abortions are not alien and apart."  While I agree with Bonavoglia that it's necessary for America rethink abortion-- to deny it as a sin, to accept it as something far more common than we care to admit, and to view it as a right-- my question is this: By announcing to the world that you aren't ashamed of having had an abortion, isn't it implicit that an abortion is something to be ashamed of?  Moreover, as someone who believes strongly in the concept of choice, I feel that publicizing the decision to have an abortion conflicts with the fundamental pro-choice principles of privacy and self-determination.  The pro-choice movement is predicated on the idea that the government should not have a say in abortion.  Meanwhile, the Ms. Magazine list appeals to politicians.  As the president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, the group that publishes Ms., said of the list, "All of this seems very dire."

•Bonavoglia: Fearless on Abortion
•N.Y. Sun: Defending, Regretting Abortion