holisticsexualhealth:

“Keep Abortion Rare” is a pretty common phrase in the political and cultural conversation around abortion.

And it isn’t just coming from anti-choice folks – more often, it’s actually coming from the pro-choice side.

Declared proudly by former President Clinton and repeated by “pro-choice” politicians over the last decade, the phrase often accompanies a plea to keep abortion legal.

You’ll see it on signs and banners at an abortion rally,  with the phrase: “Keep Abortion Safe, Legal, and Rare.” 

This sentiment is often championed and portrayed as “something we can all agree on.” But is it really a desire we have, let alone one that we should be making heard?

Is it even right?  How does this kind of logic affect the abortion movement and all those who seek abortions?

1. We Can’t ‘Keep Abortion Rare’ Because It Isn’t

Abortion isn’t rare.

1-in-3 women in the United States will have had an abortion by the time she is 45.

This is an experience that a lot of people have had, and it’s far more common than many of us are willing to admit. Thanks to that big awful bubble of stigma, many of us just keep our stories locked up and hidden away in shame.

One of the worst lies we can tell about abortion is that no one is having them.

This only serves to make those who have had, or are considering, an abortion feel that much more alienated and alone. So let’s be honest about it.

Read more about how dominant narratives around abortion are based in shame, stigma, and silence in my article here.

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