Lily Allen ‘can’t remember’ how many abortions she’s had

It’s gross that she’s being so glib and attention seeking about something that many women have found incredibly traumatic.

But, she is, and always had been, a bit of a nob.

Some people just see abortion as an easiest way.
My friend, mum of 2, just had her 5th or 6th abortion because she doesn't like contraception and her husband hates condoms.

Yeah this is grim. I mean we don’t know the reasons for each one but surely you’d learn?

Because no one knows who Miquita is

she is best ignored

she is smart enough to know exactly how controversial her comment is and LA loves attention, any attention is good attention for good old Lily some things never change

Exactly this.

It is possible to have two ‘opposing’ views in your own head at the same time.

I am completely in favour of abortion whenever and however many times a woman needs it, women should always have the right to choose and I imagine it is far better for society (and the child!) in most cases that the child is not born.

That doesn’t mean that I think an abortion should be entered into flippantly with no respect for what is actually happening. Even when it’s a bundle of cells it has the potential for life and I do think it’s sad when that is cut short even if it’s the right decision.

I think at the moment the majority of people are pro-choice but most people do still think of human life as being something that should be protected and preserved in most cases. If there is a constant narrative to say women should treat abortion lightly, that terminating up until birth is absolutely fine then there will be a backlash and we could see rights removed

Yes, we need to be realistic. The MN attitude of "if you don't agree with abortion up until birth, you're not pro-choice" isn't widely shared by society. MN is generally quite overzealous when it comes to abortion: I've seen at least three posters on here say it should be legal for a woman to kill a baby after birth. On a thread about Sally Clark, one of them said a mother or father shouldn't go to prison for killing a child until the age of three.

Miquita has had the same amount. Why is it focused on Lily all the time?

So pro choice is only valid if a woman emotionally suffers from said choice?
A cavalier attitude therefore means unworthy of abortion.
Its horrible to see women judge women but yet still
claim to be fine with abortion- you clearly aren’t!

Yes.
If you say "women should be able to get abortions unless... apart from... but not too many..." then you are NOT pro choice.

What exactly is ridiculous about my list?

Which one of those (non-exhaustive) reasons is ridiculous or unlikely?

I cant remember the figure but it was something like 1/3 women have had an abortion which is a not insignificant number. Many of those women will have had more than one.

You are either pro choice or not. I'd have ripped out all my reproductive stuff and burnt it if I could and it's not easy to get yourself 'done' as some man might come along and need your womb for kid having according to doctors.

As someone who would personally favour tighter restrictions and time frames for abortion - first trimester only unless medical reasons or exceptional circumstances, I hate the concept that it means I'm anti choice.

Anti choice is what we had 100 years ago, with no reliable contraception, no morning after pill, and women having much less freedom to consent to sex than now. Anti choice is what a lot of women still have in many countries, including the US because of difficulties getting affordable contraceptives.

I'm pro the choosing happening earlier. I'm pro easily accessible free contraception. I'm pro free and easy to obtain morning after pill. I'm Pro free pregnancy tests being available in women's toilets. I'm pro on more education on contraception and it becoming a societal norm to double up with hormonal and barrier methods where someone wants to be sure they don't become pregnant. I'm pro it becoming the norm for sexually active women to pee on a (free) stuck monthly, just to check, so that any decisions to can be made quickly.

I'm pro sex. But I also think human life even from an early stage is worth something, and so we should try our best not to create it unintentionally, and where we extinguish it, We do it as early as possible. I personally think that's the responsibility that comes from the freedom to control our own fertility.

I deliberately decided to not remember the dates of my miscarriages. Doesn’t mean I am not heartbroken but it was the way I could survive them not remembering the exact date.

Isn’t she a bit of a provocateur? I would take anything she says in the press with a pinch of salt honestly. Not that it matters. It’s her body, her choice. If it is true, she’d be in the minority regardless.

I am pro-choice but I still think there does need to be some limits around abortion and I am not in favour of an attitude to abortion that makes it like getting a cyst removed. Jenny Slate the US comedian also did this and trivialised abortion and it is not only distasteful its actively harmful. I think at the moment the majority of people are pro-choice but most people do still think of human life as being something that should be protected and preserved in most cases. If there is a constant narrative to say women should treat abortion lightly, that terminating up until birth is absolutely fine then there will be a backlash and we could see rights removed.

I also think cavalier attitudes to life impact on society, if we all felt that way then why try to prolong life at all in ill people or support disabled people? Why not just get rid of that which is not wanted and let only the productive survive?

Ok that was a rather extreme framing but the point stands, how we view life shapes society and I don't want us to become a society where life is not held in deep respect and protected by default.

Many women have multiple abortions for various reasons. Why does it have to be shameful?

Hopefully your daughter will hear this and realise that it's okay to make decisions about her own body.

Why are people being so judgmental to the OP for posting this? Lily Allen openly discussed her abortions on a podcast. It's not as though someone leaked her medical records. People are just trying to censor the discussion because it contradicts the "no woman aborts a baby lightly" narrative.

She had a stillborn son and severe PND after the birth of her second daughter. Small wonder she was reluctant to go through another pregnancy.

''English women are so lucky to have access to this service, even the unfortunate victims of the combination of their own mental health, patriarchy, lack of discipline and arrogance of privilege.''

Well said. She doesn't represent the majority, its a sick culture where people who are unwell expose themselves so we can throw peanuts at them and feel righteous.

You don’t know that she’s using abortions as contraceptive. You don’t know what she goes through on a daily life (failed contraceptive/rape/medical reasons).

I am glad she lives in a country where she is able to have safe, free abortions. It should be every woman’s right to have the choice.

I have already given my tuppence worth on the subject of the thread but just have to come back to say that AIBU is really wild! You have a poster, @MyUmberSeal commenting specifically on the topic of the thread, then just a few posts later, after someone comments on what she said, claiming that she had "no idea" about the topic and never mentioned it! Pretty crazy stuff!

The laughing at the romance of the man paying for the abortion - they are laughing at how absurd their thought process was 20 odd years ago when she was a teenager.

They are sneering at male entitlement too.

I actually applaud her for tearing down the taboo of abortion, even if they are doing it awkwardly.

English women are so lucky to have access to this service, even the unfortunate victims of the combination of their own mental health, patriarchy, lack of discipline and arrogance of privilege. LA doesn't have to be a perfect woman to receive healthcare, she doesn't have to talk about it in a serious way, if her style is to be flippant about everything. She is not a doctor or an expert, she is a flawed woman, who is figuring out her trauma.

The binary pro-life/pro-choice that argued on here doesn't reflect most people's views on abortion. Very few ascribe full personhood at a missed period and want all abortion banned. Equally very few in reality are comfortable with full-time abortion on demand. Many get around that moral quandary by arguing that it doesn't happen in reality. For most people though, I think at some stage of pregnancy, the foetus becomes something of worth, even if always behind the mother's wishes.

So it's entirely possible to believe in LA's right to those abortions, whilst feeling sad that human life can be created and destroyed so flippantly. It's entirely possible to feel that an embryo foetus is a living early human being, with unique DNA, and that it is special, whilst also accepting that it's survival is only a second of its mother at that stage.

Thinking LA should have the right to those emotions doesn't mean you have to think of an abortion like getting a mole removed. It can still be sad. It can still be a moral choice that you disagree with, even if you think legally it is her decision.

I’m at a loss as to how many people think it’s ok to not use contraception and not want a baby! Not only that but to end the life they made by being lazy or irresponsible and not taking precautions!
Nearly half a dozen abortions. Wow.
let’s hope her body doesn’t let her down when she wants to go full term.

& before all you pro choices jump down my throat!!!
I’m entitled to my opinion as well as you.