Just say abortion
By Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts | June 14, 2021, 2:53 p.m.
Category: Abortion Access, Health Care Equity
It’s time to retire the terms “women’s health care” and “a woman’s right to choose.” Neither one is a reasonable substitute for the word “abortion.”
Why? First, they cover up the word ‘abortion’ through euphemism — a function of abortion stigma, which encourages people to believe that “abortion” is a bad word and needs to be concealed. Equally important, these phrases erase the trans and non-binary people who have abortions. Leaving out trans and non-binary people when we talk about abortion is transphobic, because abortion isn’t just for women; it isn’t “women’s health care,” it’s health care. (Plus, we know abortion is about much more than the “right to choose.”)
However, abortion stigma, the shared social and structural attitude that abortion is wrong or undesirable, is rooted in patriarchal ideas about gender. Scholars who work on abortion stigma have theorized that this stigma is a response to noncompliance with gendered ideals of womanhood — specifically, the ideals of motherhood and of women’s sexuality as something reserved for reproduction. In other words, when someone has an abortion, they’re perceived to be transgressing their assigned gender, either by rejecting the idea they should become a parent or by signifying that they had sex for a purpose other than reproduction. This stigma is inflicted differently depending on someone’s age, race, class, faith, etc.
Using language like “women’s health care” to refer to abortion doesn’t push back against gendered abortion stigma. It just enforces another aspect of stigma, the transphobia of excluding trans and non-binary people, who also get pregnant and have abortions. Anyone who can get pregnant can have an abortion. But for people who are marginalized because of their gender identity, gender expression, or gender nonconformity, getting an abortion in an often gendered health care system can be difficult already, and feminized language like “women’s health care” only makes that experience more difficult.
Non-inclusive language around sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion, creates and maintains obstacles to care. The prevalence of “women’s health care” as a euphemism for abortion can make it difficult for someone who isn’t a woman to talk to their insurance provider about abortion coverage. It can actively prevent trans and non-binary people from finding information about abortion, including where they can get care. It can exclude people who can get pregnant or who’ve had abortions from conversations and communities where they could otherwise share their experiences. Phrases like “women’s health care” are not only stigmatizing but also worsen health disparities for trans and non-binary people. Excluding trans and non-binary people is transphobic — period.
We can push back against abortion stigma and transphobia at the same time. Don’t use euphemisms or evasive language to avoid saying the word “abortion”, this reproduces stigma; don’t use non-inclusive language that overemphasizes “women’s” health care, this excludes trans and non-binary people and reproduces transphobia. There’s plenty of work to do to exile abortion stigma and transphobia from our world, and in the case of talking about abortion, the solution is simple: just say the word “abortion” instead.
It’s time to retire the terms “women’s health care” and “a woman’s right to choose.” Neither one is a reasonable substitute for the word “abortion.”
Why? First, they cover up the word ‘abortion’ through euphemism — a function of abortion stigma, which encourages people to believe that “abortion” is a bad word and needs to be concealed. Equally important, these phrases erase the trans and non-binary people who have abortions. Leaving out trans and non-binary people when we talk about abortion is transphobic, because abortion isn’t just for women; it isn’t “women’s health care,” it’s health care. (Plus, we know abortion is about much more than the “right to choose.”)
However, abortion stigma, the shared social and structural attitude that abortion is wrong or undesirable, is rooted in patriarchal ideas about gender. Scholars who work on abortion stigma have theorized that this stigma is a response to noncompliance with gendered ideals of womanhood — specifically, the ideals of motherhood and of women’s sexuality as something reserved for reproduction. In other words, when someone has an abortion, they’re perceived to be transgressing their assigned gender, either by rejecting the idea they should become a parent or by signifying that they had sex for a purpose other than reproduction. This stigma is inflicted differently depending on someone’s age, race, class, faith, etc.
Using language like “women’s health care” to refer to abortion doesn’t push back against gendered abortion stigma. It just enforces another aspect of stigma, the transphobia of excluding trans and non-binary people, who also get pregnant and have abortions. Anyone who can get pregnant can have an abortion. But for people who are marginalized because of their gender identity, gender expression, or gender nonconformity, getting an abortion in an often gendered health care system can be difficult already, and feminized language like “women’s health care” only makes that experience more difficult.
Non-inclusive language around sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion, creates and maintains obstacles to care. The prevalence of “women’s health care” as a euphemism for abortion can make it difficult for someone who isn’t a woman to talk to their insurance provider about abortion coverage. It can actively prevent trans and non-binary people from finding information about abortion, including where they can get care. It can exclude people who can get pregnant or who’ve had abortions from conversations and communities where they could otherwise share their experiences. Phrases like “women’s health care” are not only stigmatizing but also worsen health disparities for trans and non-binary people. Excluding trans and non-binary people is transphobic — period.
We can push back against abortion stigma and transphobia at the same time. Don’t use euphemisms or evasive language to avoid saying the word “abortion”, this reproduces stigma; don’t use non-inclusive language that overemphasizes “women’s” health care, this excludes trans and non-binary people and reproduces transphobia. There’s plenty of work to do to exile abortion stigma and transphobia from our world, and in the case of talking about abortion, the solution is simple: just say the word “abortion” instead.
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