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As the #youknowme movement takes off, I'm reminded of my project that I created with Jennifer Baumgardner more than ten years ago, about women activists who had abortions. This photo series is still relevant today as many find abortion a taboo subject, and won't talk about their experiences.

I wanted the series to be straightforward so that the simplicity of the women's portraits would standout. This is not a faceless issue. I wanted the viewer to see these women's incredible stories behind the t-shirt. Among the portraits is one of my own mother. The goal is to spark discussion and debate, and not just between people that already hold similar views. This is an issue that is a part of us all. And by speaking up, and telling our stories, we make abortion a less confrontational topic in American society.

Please share your stories and let's start talking.

More info: vignette.global

#1

Florence Rice

Florence Rice

Florence Rice, 86 (at the time the photo was taken), was raised in the foster care system in NYC. She saw her mother only a handful of times throughout her childhood. When she got pregnant as a young single woman in the 1930’s she decided to have the baby. A few years later as a working single mother, she found herself pregnant again and knew that she didn’t want to be like her mother, unable to take care of the child, so she had an abortion. She got a serious infection afterwards from her illegal, unclean abortion. In 1969 when feminists began speaking out about their abortions, Florence was one of the first to do so. Her story underscored a class divide: richer women got safer abortions, poorer women were more likely to end up at a butcher.

Tara Todras-Whitehill Report

#2

Liberty Aldrich And Joe Saunders

Liberty Aldrich And Joe Saunders

Liberty Aldrich and Joe Saunders with their sons. Liberty and Joe had an abortion together early in their relationship, stayed together and eventually had two sons when their lives were better equipped to have children.

Tara Todras-Whitehill Report

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mintyminameow avatar
Mewton’s Third Paw
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Makes perfect sense. Not every abortion is a scary story about an abusive relationship or strict family or medical emergency. Sometimes you’re just not ready, and will get to it later.

metallicagirl85 avatar
Thea Johnsen
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ben Smith: No birth control is 100% safe. Only abstinence. Do you also believe that people shouldn't have sex unless they want children?

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Christina Sersif
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

better equipped to have children...key words there. Would you rather a child be raised in poverty where you and I have to foot the bill or would you rather wait until they can raise the child themselves? Cause lets be honest pro-lifers, you shame welfare mom's and you shame people who get abortions. Nothing wins in your book

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Loretta Hines
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is so my story. But I came from a very dysfunctional family. The first time I slept with my future husband I got pregnant. We were so not ready to be parents. However five years later, after getting married, travelling together, buying a home we went on to have three very wanted and loved children. I did parenting classes. My children are adults now. I taught them to be responsible adults including sex education. I’m 60 now and never regretted it.

lorettahines avatar
Loretta Hines
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That’s my story I came from a dysfunctional family and the first time I slept with my future husband I got pregnant. We we’re totally not ready to be parents. Five years later after getting married travelling, buying a home we went on to have three children. All adults now. I have never regretted it. When I eventually did become a parent I had parenting classes. I wanted to be a good parent when I was ready.

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Gemma Lees
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Kathleen: most doctors agree that a fetus cannot feel anything until 27 weeks and an elective abortion for reasons other than maternal or fetal illness is only performed up to 20 weeks. Ben: No contraception is 100% effective. This couple made what must have been a very difficult decision. Maybe they were students at the time or couldn't find jobs or were living in a tiny flat or had no family supporting them? Unless you have been there, you can't judge.

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Donovan Strader
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well fetus's get a heartbeat at 6-8 weeks, they are LITERALLY ALIVE. People focus too much on how little the abortion hurt the baby, when the baby didn't even get a chance to LIVE

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james vince
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But could avoid getting pregnant too instead of killing a baby. My preferred option would be that. We are promoting casual sex and adults don't take responsibility ,why coz they can have abortion whenever they want.its silly to me. In extreme cases one could understand but it's like I don't want it now so better kill it. Why not ifbi don't want it know I won't have unprotected sex.

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Kikka io
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

sembra anche a me una scelta assolutamente giustificata e ponderata all'interno della coppia.

evemcneil0 avatar
y'all_won't_like_me
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is disgusting! They murdered their baby! Their children's sibling, this is gross. I pray that God opens their eyes so they can see the disgusting thing they have done. You all seem to take murdering the innocent very lightly, this is very sad.

kaliniemann avatar
Anxiety
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You do understand that if they had the kid it would be raised in a poor life and probably would have never enjoyed their childhood because their parents would be too busy working to pay off the bills. That kid would have been raised not in a good childhood, and al likelihood be put into the adoption system, which is no way to grow up.

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Donovan Strader
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Honestly how can you look at your two adorable children and live with the fact that you murdered a human being. If it was me, every time they talked for the first time, took their first steps, grew into fun adults and had children of their own, I would never be able to stop thinking about how I took that away from another child, it really is horrible.

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Kaja Łapińska
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Scary that children will know they had sibiling but their parents did not let them survive

taryn_wallace_7 avatar
Taryn Wallace
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a wonderful story and I'm so happy that they were able to come to a decision as a couple. Ultimately yes it is the woman's choice, however I do feel like if you are in a relationship with a man (extenuating circumstances aside) he should be able to have a say. Ultimately it is up to the woman but as a partner (again as long as there is love and trust in the relationship) he should be allowed to have an opinion.

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Michelle Studenski
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4 years ago

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Michele Stiles
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4 years ago

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Rotten. They used abortion to kill an innocent fetus because “ they weren’t ready” SMH. That’s pure murder

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Anna Neemus
Community Member
4 years ago

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Exactly. You knew the consequences so grow up and deal with it. Mothers who abort are no different than deadbeat fathers.

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Katherine Lindley
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4 years ago

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it is NOT ok to kill a baby when YOU can take birth control. are you women too f-ing lazy to take a pill??? or do you just like the control of killing an innocent baby.

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Foxxy
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It’s not a baby it’s a fetus and contraception is not 100% effective. Stop making assumptions.

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Kathleen Lorentz
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4 years ago

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Hope they’ve learned about all the methods of contraception that are available to them

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Ronda Brunner
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4 years ago

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Two of them and neither responsible enough to practice birth control over murder

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Tasha Day
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

NOT ALL BIRTH CONTROL IS 100% EFFECTIVE.... STOP TROLLING EVERY PHOTO... DUMMY

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Leah Helbig
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4 years ago

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Omg are these people serious right now. I got pregnant at 18 married my boyfriend had my son that i really didnt want at that time abortion never crossed my mind it was my stupid fault for not being more careful in that situation. Now I couldnt imagine not having him in my life he is a high honor roll student and the most caring person the world is a better place with him in it. I also am still married to his father 18 years we have been together and have 3 kids total life hasnt been easy but its not a cupcakes and roses and if you play you pay these people like this are pathetic. If your not raped its your fault your pregnant not the babies and your a murderer

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Mick Fowler
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

*You're* as in "You're amazing with *your* knowledge for how to live *your* own life must be applied to everybody else's lives." Murder? *You're* a murderer if you ever have *your* cancer surgically removed at some future date, hopefully never. Tumors are living cells! What gives you the right? *You're* an arrogant busybody, helping to keep women down with *your* one-size-fits-all decrees.

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#3

Jenny Egan

Jenny Egan

Jenny Egan, 25 (at the time the photo was taken), was raised in a rural Oregan town in a Morman family. When she was 16 she got pregnant by her boyfriend from sex that was not totally consensual. After the abortion, which she had without telling her family, her parents received a letter from a group called the Brotherhood informing them of her procedure. Her mother was horrified and ordered her to leave the house.

Tara Todras-Whitehill Report

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#4

Sebastiana Correa

Sebastiana Correa

Sebastiana Correa, 28 (at the time the photo was taken), got pregnant as a foreign exchange grad student in Connecticut. Signficantly Sebasitan’s mother is an ardent pro-life activist who runs an orphanage for the children of unwed mothers in Brazil. As scared as Sebastiana was, her first thought when she found out she was pregnant, was “thank God I’m in America where I can have a legal abortion”.

Tara Todras-Whitehill Report

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mintyminameow avatar
Mewton’s Third Paw
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I like how they don’t give an excuse or reason. She just wanted one so she got one. Even this highly educated woman who is clearly smart still wanted an abortion.

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#5

Holly Fritz

Holly Fritz

Holly Fritz, 35 (at the time the photo was taken), got pregnant living at home as a high school student in Buffalo, NY. She just assumed that she should get married to her boyfriend and embark on a life not unlike her mother’s who also had gotten pregnant by her high school sweetheart, got married, and had Holly. When Holly turned to her mother for advice, she was surprised that her mother urged her to have an abortion, rather than a shotgun wedding. Holly is now a high school teacher in NYC, married, and is the mother of a toddler, Zoe, pictured in the photograph with her.

Tara Todras-Whitehill Report

#6

Barbara Ehrenreich

Barbara Ehrenreich

Barbara, 64 (at the time the photo was taken), has had two abortions and two children. She is a grandmother, best selling author and columinist. Her column “Owning Up To Abortion”, published last summer in the NY Times op-ed section was part of the idea that sparked my project. In the article, she writes: “Honesty begins at home, so I should acknowledge that I had two abortions during my all-too-fertile years…Choice can be easy, as it was in my case, or truly agonizing…But assuming the fetal position is not an appropriate response. Sartre called this “bad faith,” meaning something worse than duplicity: a fundamental denial of freedom and the responsibility that it entails. Time to take your thumbs out of your mouths, ladies, and speak up for your rights. The freedoms that we exercise but do not acknowledge are easily taken away.”

Tara Todras-Whitehill Report

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#7

Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem, 71 (at the time the photo was taken), entered the feminist movement the day she covered Red Stockings abortion speak-out for New York magazine, and finally owned the abortion she had had several years earlier. She describes her abortion as the first time she acted in her own life, rather than let things happen to her. She had her abortion when she was 22. Gloria went on to found several pro-choice organizations, including Voters for Choice and Ms. Magazine and considers reproductive freedom to be the most significant contribution of the 2nd wave

Tara Todras-Whitehill Report

#8

A’yen Tran

A’yen Tran

A’yen Tran, 25 (at the time the photo was taken), was raised by a single mother in a progressive NYC household. During her teenage years she had a “radical” boyfriend who was emotionally and sexually abusive, and isolated A’yen from her community. She got pregnant, and began waking up to how bad her relationship was. She had a methotrexate abortion and a few days later spoke publicly about it at a Judson Church event emulating the 1969 speak-outs. Even though she is a self-identified abortion activist, she was surprised by how hard it was to talk in personal terms about abortion.

Tara Todras-Whitehill Report

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#9

Jennifer And Gillian

Jennifer And Gillian

Jennifer and Gillian –Jennifer, 35 (at the time the photo was taken), left, journalist and activist, has written about abortion for more than a decade. She was frustrated that all the reporting on the issue, including her own, devovled into a “debate” between pro-life and pro-choice forces. She felt that what was being lost were the voices and faces of people that had abortions. In 2003 she started making t-shirts, resource cards, and working on a film that put the spotlight back on the women. Gillian and Jennifer have been close friends since they lived together in Boluder, CO in 1992. Gillian, 36, had an abortion in 2000 with the man who was to later become her husband and with whom she now has a daughter. She is also a film maker, and Jennifer asked her to direct a film on women’s abortions stories from the campagin. They collaborated, and the result is “Speak out: I had an abortion” film.

Tara Todras-Whitehill Report

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D-m Keilman
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dana that is an InfoWars video. And it was filmed in Austin. That's about as close to being an Onion video without being an actual Onion video.

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#10

Rosalyn Baxandall

Rosalyn Baxandall

Rosalyn Baxandall, 65 (at the time the photo was taken), had an abortion in the 1960s and then again when she thought she was in menopause. She was the first speaker at the famed Redstockings abortion speakout in 1969.

Tara Todras-Whitehill Report

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D-m Keilman
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Depending on what you consider abstinent, one can still get pregnant if ejaculation occurs even without penetration. Nothing is 100%.

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#12

Loretta Ross

Loretta Ross

Loretta Ross, 51 (at the time the photo was taken), is a major figure in the reproductive justice movement. She is the co-author of Undivided Rights and organized women of color for the 2004 March for Women’s Lives in Washington, D.C., an event that brought unprecedented support from communities of color. She got pregnant in high school and had the son, losing a scholarship to Radcliffe in the process. At a student at Howard University in 1970 she found herself pregnant again. In D.C., abortion was legal, but Loretta needed her mother’s signature in order to have the procedure. Her mother refused and Loretta ended up forging her signature and having a very late term abortion.

Tara Todras-Whitehill Report

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Christine Meadows
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why add negative comments. If you dont like this story, move on. This is an awareness piece not something everyone can be judgemental on.

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#15

Dawn Martin

Dawn Martin

Tara Todras-Whitehill Report

#16

Roberta Todras

Roberta Todras

Tara Todras-Whitehill Report

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Beverly Ferrel
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So glad Colin is here to mansplain everything to us women who don't know anything...

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#17

Amy Richards

Amy Richards

Tara Todras-Whitehill Report

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Brandy Flanagan
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It’s real easy to sit back and judge others. Just throw “Cause God said so” in there and somehow that just makes your point of view valid. That’s weak sauce.

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