#Ihadanabortion: Tweeting abortion after the election

By Elizabeth Tenety With Tuesday’s sweep of antiabortion candidates into Congress (including a handful of ‘hardliners‘ who say they would … Continued

by Elizabeth Tenety

By Elizabeth Tenety

With Tuesday’s sweep of antiabortion candidates into Congress (including a handful of ‘hardliners‘ who say they would outlaw the procedure in all circumstances), some pro-abortion rights activists took to Twitter under the hashtag #Ihadanabortion.

Salon reported that the campaign began with a tweet Wednesday morning by @IAmDrTiller: ‘Time for us to come out. Who’s had an abortion? Show antis we’re not intimidated by scare tactics. Use: #ihadanabortion.’

(George Tiller, a Kansas abortion provider, was shot to death at his church in 2009 by an abortion opponent who said he wanted to save unborn children. More on Tiller’s murder here.)

Among the hundreds of tweets that have been sent:

.bbpBox306727010443264 {background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1288374569/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}

Conservatives should stop being so judgemental contraception, sex and abortion. #ihadanabortionless than a minute ago via webMichael Hussey
pushingrope

.bbpBox315595908194305 {background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/135936738/xf0ae7e5bf071bfeea4c75a9a5ea84e5.png) #EDE6D8;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}

1 in 3 women of childbearing age can say #ihadanabortion but I bet they haven’t told you. Support women’s lives; stop the stigma. #prochoiceless than a minute ago via webStephanie Masline
smasline

.bbpBox352879147745280 {background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1288907344/images/themes/theme5/bg.gif) #352726;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}

May 1st, 2009 #ihadanabortionless than a minute ago via webcavale x
cavale

Planned Parenthood said this week that “the results of [Tuesday’s] election are truly alarming when it comes to a woman’s right to choose.”

In a blog post detailing the changing composition of Congress on the issue of abortion, NARAL’s Nancy Keenan characterized incoming House speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) as ”virulently anti-choice” and wrote:

“Many of the anti-choice candidates who won last night ran on messages of limited government, with one hypocritical exception: a woman’s right to choose.”

Antiabortion groups have already detailed their plans to lobby for legislation:

Under current law, funding for abortion and abortion coverage is prohibited through a patchwork of policies, most of which must be annually reapproved in Appropriations bills. The “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” will reduce the need for numerous separate abortion funding policies and ensure that no program or agency is exempt from this important safeguard.

Catholic organizations have also signaled that they will oppose coverage of birth control under the provisions of the health care bill, since they do not view contraception as “preventative medicine.” Dr. John Haas of the National Catholic Bioethics Center told On Faith:

“Contraception does not achieve the prevention of disease but rather disrupts an otherwise healthy reproductive system of the woman . . . Fertility is not an illness but a sign of health, and pregnancy is not a disease. This is not simply a position of the Catholic Church. Traditionally health insurance plans did not cover contraception because the insurance companies themselves did not think that contraception addressed health issues.”

With the right to abortion and health care coverage of birth control likely up for debate, what is the right venue for activists? And, as Salon asked, “Is the Twitter “#ihadanabortion” trend effective empowerment or needless provocation?”

More On Faith and abortion:
Jill Stanek: What to expect from the new pro-life Congress
Catholic America: The disappearing abortion issue
Haas: Why Catholics reject contraception coverage in health care law

Elizabeth Tenety
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  • spaded_glory4

    I [really] don’t understand what the big issue is here…”a woman’s right to choose” is when she chooses to open her legs up, and then she can take responsibility for her choice. Seriously. If I choose to go rob a bank, I have also chosen to deal with the consequences if I get “caught”.The twitter trend is evidence that we need to get liberals out of power, and make them stay out – people with no morals and values that can’t take responsibility for their actions don’t belong in government leadership.

  • shewholives

    Against abortion? Don’t have one.Against abortion? Have a vasectomy.

  • shewholives

    Since the Catholic Church is in no position to judge the morality of others, no one cares what they think.

  • thebump

    It’s sad that there are sick people out there who defend the abortion industry.

  • lxp19

    How about passing a law that says if the pregnant woman doesn’t want the child, then the man who impregnated her has to raise the child, should one be born. Sounds outrageous, right? And yet, we think the reverse is just fine. A screaming double-standard.

  • hebe1

    Abortion needs to be an option. Adoption is great but how many people spend tons of money trying to get pregnant rather than adopt? How many of you anti-choice people have adopted? None? Hmm.TheBump:It’s sad that there are ignorant people out there that kill doctors and think they have a right to demand that all pregancies be carried out and then forget their moral outrage when the unwanted child is born into a bad situation and is neglected and abused.Absolutely birth control should be covered under medical insurance. Do you have any clue at all what a difference birth control has made in marriage? I don’t believe abortion should be covered, although there should be programs to help those who cannot afford, as those are the ones most in need.

  • rannrann

    If the anti-abortion movement were predomiately made up of Muslims instead of Christians they would have been labeled a terrrorist organiation by now, which it is, in reality, just a terrorist organization that murders Doctors, terrorizes health care workers and women and children.It is a shame that the laws of the United States of America are dictated by religious zealouts in the year 2010. Really, it is run by the Christian version of the Islmaic Sharia laws. The anti-abortion movement members are bound and determined that this Nation be run by the Christian version of Islamic Sharia laws.It is shameful, backward, for women to be denied the right to choose an abortion.For all of these anti-abortionists to have been elected in 2010 speaks volumes as to the emotional and intellectual backwardness that has taken over our political system. Shameful, simply, shameful.

  • lepidopteryx

    Since when is the Catholic church in charge of drafting health insurance policies for the rest of us?

  • StewartIII

    NewsBusters: Media Promote Pro-Abortion View Covering Popular Twitter Topic