Shame is something that seems uniquely adopted by women—much more so than our male counterparts.

We women are taught to apologize for everything. There are numerous blogs out there illustrating how women say “I’m sorry” for things, like being bumped into by another oblivious person who wasn’t watching where they were going.

This notion of permanent culpability has infiltrated the arena of reproductive health. Many articles and blogs that are in support of pro-choice initiatives often use the most harrowing stories to convince the reader of its viewpoint. We usually read stories of women who were pregnant and then found out devastating news that their baby would not survive much beyond birth and suffers from some debilitating abnormality.

It is so easy to feel compassion for women in this situation. But what about women who have abortions for other reasons—can we extend the same compassion to them?

Why are we not defending a woman’s right to choose period: without having to back it up with a devastating story?

A common argument when defending Planned Parenthood is to cite the fact that only three percent of their services are abortion-related. We try to minimize the fact that Planned Parenthood does perform abortion services (and thank God for that) in order to defend the other services it provides and make it seem like less of a “bad guy.”

Oftentimes, when women have an abortion they tell next to no one about it. The fear of shame and the guilt dumped on us by society is just too much to bear. The abortion becomes our little secret that we will take to the grave.

When a woman has an abortion it is common for her to feel utterly, desperately alone. It is likely that she doesn’t know anyone else who has….

Credit: http://ikengachronicles.com/the-right-to-shame-how-the-abortion-debate-is-killing-women/