One in Three

If you know three or more women, then it's fairly likely that one of them has had an abortion.  According to the Guttmacher Institute, 35% of US women have undergone this procedure.  Of those women, 61% already have at least one child.

Yet you're not likely to have a happy hour conversation with your best gal pal about the abortion she had last year.  Thus, comedienne Chelsea Handler, who frequently makes light of alcoholism and celebrities' eating disorders, made some waves last week when she openly admitted to having had an abortion at the age of 16.  "Because that's what I should have done.  Otherwise, I would now have a 20 year old kid."

Chelsea Handler:  One in three.

The stigma surrounding abortion is no secret.  Thus, any woman, famous or not, who "comes out" about her abortion is likely to face some hostility or criticism.  Fortunately, the Safe Abortion Project is an organization dedicated to reversing this trend.  This group  encourages women to speak up about their experiences with abortion in order to keep the procedure safe and legal.  There are also forums, such as the National Abortion Federation's blog, which publish women's abortion stories judgment-free to shed light on the myriad reasons why a woman might choose to have an abortion.  These are steps in the right direction.

http://thephoenix.com/boston/news/68790-i-had-an-abortion/

This takes balls

The movement to "break the silence" has unfortunately been co-opted by the other side as well, with religiously-affiliated organizations like Project Rachel and Silent No More.  These groups encourage women to tell discuss their (negative) experiences with abortion in order to address the mythical "Post Abortion Syndrome," and to frighten women out of having abortions themselves.  Nevertheless, women of any religious or political leaning are still more likely than not to clam up about undergoing the most common medical procedure performed in America.

While flipping through channels on any given day, you can see around three shows about boob jobs or facelifts or weight loss surgery, and hear the claims subjects give that this procedure will raise their self esteem or better their lives in some way.  You can also choose from an enormous selection of pregnancy- and baby-related programming, including "Birth Day," "Deliver Me," "A Baby Story," and "Sixteen and Pregnant."  

But the topic of abortion will never rear its head without awkward silence and harsh judgement, because we as a society not only do not respect a woman's right to choose, but barely understand or accept that she might not fucking want to have a kid.  We can accept the idea that plastic surgery or weight loss can positively impact a woman's health or self esteem, but can't acknowledge that the prevention or termination of unwanted pregnancy could have even more profound effects on a woman's ability to support herself financially, finish her education, or better care for already existing children.   Successful women like Rep. Jackie Speier or even Chelsea Handler have attained success in part because they were able to delay childbearing in favor of education and career.  Let's see a TLC two-part special about that.