A new project spearheaded by Planned Parenthood asks women who’ve had abortions to talk about it publicly, part of an effort to keep the issue in the minds of the public — and lawmakers — even when there’s not an immediate fight over abortions at hand.
One of those women, Franklin resident Hadleigh Tweedall, spoke at a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday. She talked about finding out, in the second trimester of her pregnancy, that her baby had a serious condition and wouldn’t survive.
“While it’s painful and uncomfortable for me to admit, I had an abortion, and this is what it looked like for me,” she said. She wants to reduce the stigma around the procedure so that lawmakers lower restrictions on it, she said.
This isn’t the first time advocates of abortion rights have shared personal stories at the state Capitol in the hopes that lawmakers might notice and sympathize. Planned Parenthood held a similar press conference last year, during a debate over a number of high-profile anti-abortion bills. Those bills ultimately ended up passing.
But Planned Parenthood organizer Francie Hunt said she thinks it’s more effective to get these stories in front of lawmakers consistently, not just during a specific debate.
“It’s not something that’s going to be ‘one and done,’ ” she said. “We’re going to continue to grow those voices and we’re going to be able to now identify those stories and utilize those stories in advocacy.”
During this year’s legislative session, a number of new abortion restrictions were being considered — such as requiring women to have an ultrasound before an abortion — but most have been withdrawn for the year. Conservative lawmakers say they want to wait and see what happens in other states, where similar laws are being challenged in the courts.
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