Two-thirds of women would not tell their family if they were considering having an abortion, new research has found. The study was conducted as part of a campaign to end abortion stigma, as nearly 80% of women believe it should be discussed more openly.
Published by the sexual and reproductive health charity Marie Stopes International, researchers from YouGov found that only 33% of women would tell their family about a potential abortion. While 62% would confide in a sexual partner, only 34% would speak to their friends and 6% would only speak to a medical professional about their decision.
This is despite the fact that 92% of women identify as pro-choice, and 79% think abortion should be more widely discussed. In The UK, one in three women will have an abortion in their lifetime – with abortion figures across England and Wales reaching 200,000 this year according to the Department of Health and Social Care.
Now, Marie Stopes has launched a new campaign called #SmashAbortionStigma where they encourage supporters to speak out about their reasons for being pro-choice. While the charity doesn’t necessarily expect personal – and often very painful – experiences to be shared on social media, some high-profile supporters have shared their own abortion stories in an attempt to normalise the conversation.
One of whom is Liberal Democrat MP Heidi Allen, who delivered a powerful speech about her won abortion back in June 2018 during a discussion on Northern Irelands formerly oppressive abortion laws. It was admissions like hers – which she told Grazia was 'the hardest thingI 've ever done' – that made for monumental moments in the effort to legalise abortion in Northern Ireland, showing the true power that simply using your voice can have. Now, she’s backing the Marie Stopes campaign by encouraging more women to speak up.
‘Women want to talk, and our research shows that open and honest conversations about abortion help women and girls feel informed, educated and supported when it comes to making their own choices about their own bodies,’ Dr Caroline Gazet, Clinical Director for Marie Stopes UK, said in a statement.
‘The UK is a pro-choice nation,’ she continued, ‘but with a small minority of anti-choice voices threatening abortion rights worldwide, it is more important than ever that we smash abortion stigma and champion the right of women to access abortion care.’
Knowing that the UK is pro-choice, these findings do raise questions about why women still feel too ashamed to talk to the people they trust most. Do we hear those small anti-choice voices so loudly that we worry our family and friends aren’t as supportive as they really are? Or, have we simply applied the endless judgement that comes with being a woman to this very common procedure too?
It seems that despite a huge majority of people supporting abortion in the UK, women still face immense pressure to treat it as a shameful secret. And while it’s not women’s responsibility to publicly share their own turmoil to end that stigma, it is worth noting that talking to someone about abortion can have a larger impact on the overall shame around it.
Whether it’s helping you process your experience, or opening the conversation for those you care about, talking to supportive family and friends about abortion is important.
To find out more about [Marie Stopes campaign, click here](http://bit.ly/SmashtheStigmaMarieStopesieStopes).
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Heidi Allen: 'Speaking About My Abortion In The Commons Was One Of The Hardest Thing I've Done'