My original plan for today was to post a nice, fluffy review of the movie Zerophilia. But, that’s going to have to wait for another day because when I came to log on, I found the internet pretty much in this state. Why? Well, because one woman, Angie Jackson, decided to tweet and make a video about her experience about getting a medical abortion.
My first response was actually less than stellar. It was, “Oh, shit! This means I have to write a different article.” My second reaction was “Huh, this is kinda…hinky.” Not because I’m against abortions or have any individual problems with medical abortions specifically (background, I used to work for NARAL) but because I was sure how I felt about announcing it over Twitter. That’s what made me feel hinky. When I started writing this article I felt that Twitter wasn’t the most dignified of mediums to talk about abortion. But, then I got to thinking and reading about everything that was happening and going on (it was not pretty).
Angie Jackson decided to publicize her experience with getting a medical abortion because she felt that there was too much silence, secrecy, and shame surrounding a perfectly legal medical procedure. So, she decided to use the most popular media tools available to her: Twitter and Youtube among them. And she’s right, there is shame and a sense that getting a medical abortion should be a deep, dark secret like an evil twin that you keep hidden the attic. This can be seen in the responses that Jackson has been getting on her Youtube and Twitter account. When I look at the situation this way, my hinky feeling disappear. Abortion needs to be spoken about in ways that will reach the audience. In this day and age, this means content is expressed through blogging, vidding, and tweeting.
I now leave you with the musical styling of Amanda Palmer with her songs “Mandy Goes To Med School” and “Oasis.”
For more information on this subject please checkout this interview with Angie Jackson.
