Mumsnet demanding that I change my nickname

[AbortionFairyGodmother]

Suddenly after posting on several transgender issue related threads, I am getting a note in my email inbox:

"We wanted to drop you a line about your Mumsnet nickname, because we've have had a few reports from other posters about it and how it has caused distress.

Our aim is to make parents' lives easier by pooling and sharing advice and support, and while we're all for free speech, we really don't feel that this nickname is in the spirit of our philosophy.
We're asking therefore if you can change it please. "

Yeah, well, a lot of parents need abortions. My nickname is here because I am an abortion activist who sends abortion pills to women (mostly mothers!!) who desperately need them and are not in areas where they can access them.

Watch this, women. This is what censorship looks like. No "misgendering" people, no getting too far out of line, no being too public about your activism. Because it will offend someone. Best to make my nickname something like KittensAndFlowersLOL, right?

UN report on North Korea, including forced abortion, compared to Nazi concentration camps.

As reported in the Guardian:

www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/17/north-korea-human-rights-abuses-united-nations

Oh, ok, so you are fine with it then?

Apologies, I got from your posts (about forced abortions and the links you've provided) that you disagreed with it.

BlackRider, she said she wouldn't believe anything on that site.

These are separate issues, to my mind.

Coercion of any woman in pregnancy is wrong. Direct coercion or forced abortion is wrong. Indirect coercion (in the form of making abortion illegal or unattainable) is wrong.

George, then read the thread.

I make no apologies for querying the veracity of the website of such a hateful organisation. They are known for selectively quoting and editing material.

Fourteen year old beaten by family members attempting to cause her to abort, in the US:

crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2015/06/dallas-police-four-charged-with-beating-14-year-old-family-member-to-abort-unborn-child.html/

What country is she sending them too? Not the west then?

Forced abortion in China:

www.news.com.au/world/forced-abortions-in-china-show-abuse-of-policy/story-fndir2ev-1226798591491

If a girl or woman is being coerced into an abortion then they may well be forced into visiting a back street practitioner or physically abused in an attempt to cause miscarriage.

Not sure why you're posting all those links, almond - nobody is disagreeing with you that these cases are terrible. What point are you trying to make?

almond: "The context of the OP's username as being about her providing abortion pills exists only in her head and those of her friends, prior to this thread."
But Dad's comment wasn't on a thread about conditions in China, where it would have made perfect sense, it was on this very thread, the one where the OP spelled out the background and reasons for choosing her name, which she has since changed.
Personally, I was slightly taken aback whenever I came across the OP's former username. But if it had bothered me, then that would have been the time to take it up with her, not three days after she had a) explained and b) changed it. That just smacks of trying to get the boot in long after the OP listened to pp and changed her name out of respect for other people's feelings.

I don't see anyone saying that forced abortion is in any way the same thing as reproductive freedom or that abortion is always a wonderful thing. But it is apparently an incredible relief to the women who profit from the service the OP provides. I don't understand how pointing out how this kind of activism can save lives in any way diminishes the horror of forced abortions.

George, I've made my point several times already. Read the thread.

I hope that the links will be useful to people who care about women's reproductive rights, which have been brought into focus by this thread.

Swan, dad did not say that. This thread is about the OP using that name on other threads.

Dad did not say what? And have people taken issue with the OP's name on other threads? Why are posters still piling on to attack the OP for her former nn, three days after she has explained its provenance and changed it?

Bizarre.

I'm not attacking the OP. I am criticising the stance of various posters on this thread.

Throughout this thread various posters who support the Op have collectively maintained:

1. Abortion should be seen positively/neutrally - it is just a medical term, it is a 'relief.'
2. People who point out that it is not particularly positive for many women are 'offended,' being special snowflakes, putting feelings over material reality.
3. This suggests those posters defending the OP are very poorly informed about abortion issues.

This seems very concerning. It seems as if many posters are unaware or unconcerned that for feminists, a major part of protecting women's fertility rights globally is about preventing forced abortion, which is carried out both by the state in some countries and by family members in every part of the world, including the US and Europe.

The point that women often need abortions has been made repeatedly throughout this thread, do you think people should stop posting links about that too?

Well I can see the conversation has developed, and I can't be bothered to read 8 pages to catch up, but I for one love your username OP! And if it provokes debate - good.

Until you stop banging on about forced abortion, which is nothing to do with this thread or the ops actions, people should indeed keep posting links about the need for abortions to be accessible, because you don't appear to be getting that!

It has everything to do with this thread SM, because this thread is about what the word abortion means to users on this site, who reported the OP to MN, not just about what the word abortion means to the OP.

I absolutely recognise the need for abortions to be accessible and believe the continued campaigning to make them so is essential.