Unapologetic abortion: Writer Katha Pollitt says it's time to stop the language of shame around abortion

Katha Pollitt argues that the language around abortion doesn't reflect the realities of who is choosing the procedure, that even major pro-choice organizations speak in a lexicon heavy with apologies and shame. She says it is time to change that, to reflect the side of abortion that is - in her words - a social good.

Emily Letts made headlines last spring when she posted a video on YouTube. It shows her having an abortion, and it detonated debate. Emily Letts is an abortion counsellor from New Jersey and about a month later she reflected on the procedure. Her openness about her abortion should be celebrated and encouraged, according to my our guest, Katha Pollit.

Katha Pollitt is a poet, columnist and the author of a new book called Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights. She was in New York.

People are as unlikely to agree about the way we talk about abortion as they are about abortion itself.

Joanna Erdman has tracked the evolution of the conversation in Canada. She is the MacBain Chair in Health Law and Policy at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

What do you think? Does the way we talk about abortion in Canada need to change?

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This segment was produced by The Current's Kristin Nelson.

From The Current Archives

Changing language in the anti-abortion crusade