A reader writes:
I read Jessica Valenti’s article about how women should not be pressured to talk about their abortions because those personal stories shouldn’t be necessary to make people “understand how basic and necessary abortion rights really are.” I immediately thought of Harvey Milk giving his address at Gay Freedom Day over 45 years ago, shortly before his assassination. He implored his gay brothers and sisters:
You must come out. Come out… to your parents… I know that it is hard and will hurt them but think about how they will hurt you in the voting booth! Come out to your relatives… come out to your friends… if indeed they are your friends. Come out to your neighbors… to your fellow workers… to the people who work where you eat and shop…
Where would the gay rights movement be in America if not for the indomitable courage his brothers and sisters showed in telling the world that they are gay? Would Bowers v. Hardwick still be law?
Yes, women getting abortions must tell the world their stories. That is how people realize that their family members, their relatives, their friends, their neighbors, and their co-workers would be hurt by legislating away their rights. That is how you turn an impersonal story into a personal one. The pro-life segment knows this and uses it to their advantage repeatedly by, for example, parading people who admit they were conceived from a rape and are glad their parents didn’t abort them. If those who think abortion should be legal don’t tell their personal stories, they are making it that much harder for others with no skin in the game to support them.
The Dish 