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DONATETwitter Talks are a new monthly discussion and open forum where inroads members can watch and participate in conversations between selected presenters who have been asked to tackle subjects around abortion stigma.
In our first talk on May 2, 2019, members from India, USA, Mexico, Northern Ireland, and Brazil answered questions about the stigmas associated with having more than one abortion experience, pub
The need to explore the topic of multiple abortion stigma was sparked by a range of members-only conversations on the inroads listserv in response to questions from inroads member Karen Thurston’s blog and stigma-busting project 2 Plus Abortions Worldwide, as well as by Kenya Martin’s call for justice and representation for the stories of black people and people of color in the mainstream abortion rights movement in the US, which continues to exclude and ignore these storytellers and in turn, perpetuate multiple abortion stigma. Because of the burgeoning questions and tensions about stigma in “the movement,” I decided to bring people together to explore how #MultipleAbortionStigma is not just a part of the larger general community, but the ways in which stigma shows up in our lives and in the work that we do.
My goal in hosting this Twitter Talk was to facilitate a space where stigma-busters were able to make connections in a cross-cultural dialogue among their peers. I hoped to use the inroads Twitter platform to further amplify voices of a range of people who have been leading the way in combating multiple abortion stigma in the movement. It was important to me that the presenters be from diverse backgrounds and positions of leadership in their stigma-busting journeys since it is often this very lack of representation and prioritization of stigmatized identities that perpetuates stigma within the abortion community. As I began the process of contacting participants to lead the conversation, many shared with me how this topic was important to them and how they were eager unpack the ways that stigma is manifesting in spaces that are deemed to be feminist, pro-choice, and/or a part of the larger movement for abortion.
The selected group of presenters were quickly joined by other followers and inroads members on Twitter. The conversation was at once serious, intellectual, emotional, humorous, and passionate!
Using the following questions as a guide, I hoped to create a moment on the internet that normalized having more than one abortion experience and considered ways to break down the levels of stigma that are affecting the broader feminist community, pro-choice community, and movements for abortion rights. Read through and let us know in the comments your thoughts on #MultipleAbortionStigma, and follow the hashtag on twitter to see more responses. Also, let us know what topic you want to discuss at next month’s Twitter Talk!
The movement for abortion can be a complex and muddy matrix of funding, politics, elitism, morality, and power, which is especially difficult for people who are actively targeted, stigmatized, discriminated against to navigate. Even within the specific theme of multiple abortion stigma, discussants touched on a web of intersecting topics: medical professionals, economic and health care oppression in feminist nonprofit organizations, the ways that morality, classism
Feel free to answer the questions to share your thoughts on #MultipleAbortionStigma, and join us at our Webinar on May 16 from 10 am-11:45 am EDT where we will continue exploring this stigma with presentations from Karen Thurston, Kenya Martin, Barbara Grace Kiconco, Paige Fulton. Register Here.
Let us know in the comments which stigma-busting topic you want to discuss at next month’s inroads Twitter Talk!