Who has abortions? According to Marie Stopes Australia, it’s men... and “people”

[AngeloMysterioso]

A Marie Stopes Australia post on Facebook is attracting a bit of attention... 5 pictures, the first one just a graphic that says “Who has abortions?”. The next four slides are-

-Men with uteruses
-People who already have children
-People with a wanted pregnancy
-People who use contraception

Just shy of 800 comments... apparently GC comments were being deleted left right and centre but MSA have updated to say they are no longer “moderating” the discussion.

www.facebook.com/810047862456121/posts/3095104533950431/?extid=sleFTcNldQcFBsya&d=n

This is how they’ve captioned the post...

EDIT: TRIGGER WARNING

Unfortunately this post has attracted discriminatory and hateful comments that are simply unacceptable. As we are a very small team managing this page, we don’t feel we’re able to moderate the comment section any longer.

Our intention was never to erase women and their experiences, instead, we are aiming to highlight the stories that aren’t often told. There are many, many stories and tonight’s post was just a small sample.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this post 💙

Abortion is a sexual and reproductive health service that many people may access, and it’s important that we destigmatise those who may decide to seek an abortion.

From men with uteruses, to people who already have children - the list of people who may have abortions is endless.

Abortion is healthcare, and we will continue to help those who seek abortions access them safely.

Image description: Illustrations - A series of 5 tiles with pink backgrounds and navy blue and white text. At the bottom of each tile there is a white open door with the words “Marie Stopes Australia” next to it.
Slide 1: Who has abortions?
Slide 2: Men with uteruses. An illustration of a man with short black hair wearing a yellow t-shirt carrying a blue satchel bag.
Slide 3: People who already have children. An illustration of 2 people looking to their left. The 1st person has brown hair styled into a plait, gold hoop earrings and a yellow t-shirt. The 2nd person has short brown hair and is wearing a light green collared shirt under a dark green jumper.
Slide 4: People with a wanted pregnancy. An illustration of 2 people looking at each other. The first person has blonde hair styled into a pony tail, is wearing glasses and a light blue collared shirt under a maroon jumper. The 2nd person has black hair in a bun, wearing a green necklace with a blue pendant and a white shirt.
Slide 5: People who use contraception. An illustration of a person with short black hair wearing gold hoop earrings and a maroon turtleneck shirt. They are looking at their cup of tea. There is steam coming out of the yellow cup.

And who do they put first? And they used the C word... ffs

@Clymene

If they'd wanted to be inclusive, why didn't they put:

-Men with uteruses
-Women who already have children
-Women with a wanted pregnancy
-Women who use contraception

Who do that exclude?

I guess its because some of the women who, for example, used contraception may be, erm, 'men with uteruses'.

The 'people with a wanted pregnancy' picture. I can't work out if it's supposed to be a lesbian couple who had assistance to get pregnant (because even Marie Stopes must know that lesbians cannot get pregnant without sperm!), if the person on the left is supposed to just be a bloke with long hair, or if it's supposed to be a transwoman?!

Or maybe it's supposed to represent a non-binary person as obviously no 'cis' person would have both long hair and wear that jumper at the same time

It is insanity though to start pretending that there are men with uteruses, isn't it?

Trans men who still have a uterus maybe a better phrase?

Also I keep wondering when/whether there will be claims about so-called female penises (ha ha ha ha ha!) not being able to get a woman pregnant.

I am pinching myself hard now but still not waking up.

I wouldn’t want Marie Stopes coming anywhere near me if they think men have a uterus

I think you can dress, take hormones and be who ever you like. You can say you are a man if that is what you want but when it comes to biology you are a woman with all that comes with it.

Sorry, I don’t understand all these categories. People with a wanted pregnancy? Why would they abort, I don’t understand?

What a weird bunch of categories...where is ‘women who were raped’, ‘women who age medical issues and cannot carry full term’, ‘women who have decided they don’t wish to have a child and it’s their own damn choice’?!

Sorry, I don’t understand all these categories. People with a wanted pregnancy? Why would they abort, I don’t understand?

I presume that is women who discover serious abnormalities via a scan or discover they have cancer and need to undergo immediate invasive treatment and can't continue a wanted pregnancy.

I have a trans son but i do not agree with the wording as it makes men have rights in women having abortions. It's the one thing i stand strong on, men should never be able to make laws on something they'll never know anything about or have to endure in their entire lifetime. Although i agree transmen can and do have abortions this is the one time the word men shouldn't be used alone without trans at the for front

Thanks @OvaHere, it seems like it is badly written to me, but maybe I am being dense.

I just don't understand this. Have I missed the point? How is "men with uterus" an acceptable phrase and the use of "women" isn't. It's maddening. I don't want to offend anyone who has made a choice for their life but I am bloody offended right now as an invisible woman!

And will there be repercussions with me saying I'm not ok with this?!

Why does it need explaining anyway?
Who is needing to be told who people who have abortions are?
Where are victims of rape? Why don’t they get a mention? What about women who had a one night stand?

I have no problem with men with uteruses being on the list but why put them before women and then not even use the word women?

It’s not about explaining pregnancy or abortion. We all know who gets pregnant and who has abortions - it doesn’t really need to be explained. It’s pure flag waving.

@WildAboutMyPlanet

Thanks *@OvaHere*, it seems like it is badly written to me, but maybe I am being dense.

No it's not you. It is badly written.

So blokes, men, males, AMAB people might want to access MS services

Men with uteruses - so just women, females, AFAB people

The rest applies equally to both sexes

People who already have children - Dads [the men kind) have children
People with a wanted pregnancy - blokes who have a pregnant partner
People who use contraception - blokes who use condoms

Nice and clear language. Not exclusive at all. Slow hand clap.

“Who has abortions? If you are pregnant, or think you might be, and need to talk to someone - or just need some practical and honest advice about pregnancy, we are here to help you.”

There you go - that’s all you need.

Men don’t have uterus. They just don’t.

Women and girls have abortions. No body else

Cheeky fuckers

Done with these disrespectful organisations. Done with their idiotic blah blah.

They need to have a good hard look at themselves and own the fact that they are disrespecting women and girls and trying to erase us

Cheeky fuckers

Wow, just wow. Completely unbelievable. Surely women and girls would be the first in anyone’s mind no matter their views on abortion? Include F2M and non-binary identifying females (apologies if term is incorrect for the latter) as they need to understand these services too but the order makes no sense.

Imagine trying to make sense of that if English was not your first language or a language you were completely secure in?

I have never seen an organization willingly offend and overlook 100% of their clientele in a single ad.
There should be a global uprising protesting the erasure of women and girls. Enough is enough.

Why is it acceptable to offend women in this way? I just don't get it!

As others have said, literally everyone knows who needs abortions, there is no need to explain this. And to say 'people who already have children' implies that men have abortion as they can be 'people who already have children'. Same for the contraception one. It's ridiculous.

The also have an image description. The person in the first picture is 'a man'. Not a 'trans man', a man. The rest of the people in the other pictures are 'people' or 'a person'.

How can an abortion service not mention the word woman at all?! How is this progressive when it's so offensive?

Sorry meant to attach a screenshot of the image description

I think as a society we should be more inclusive and change the way we speak and communicate. So I don’t think it’s so much the ‘men with uteruses’ line, more the fact that at no point did it mention women anywhere. Just ‘people’.

Had it said ‘people with uteruses’ I think it would have been better. Then men and women are all of equal footing.

I’m a woman, I’m happy to be referred to as a person or a people.

The image descriptions are meant to help visually impaired people know what is being shown in a photo. These ones are shit. How is a visually impaired person meant to know if there is a man or woman in the photo? Is it transphobic of them to want to know?! Not very inclusive for the visually impaired is it.

But we all know trans rights matter more than anybody else's so as long as their feelings aren't hurt then who cares how it affects anybody else.

The image descriptions are meant to help visually impaired people know what is being shown in a photo. These ones are shit. How is a visually impaired person meant to know if there is a man or woman in the photo? Is it transphobic of them to want to know?! Not very inclusive for the visually impaired is it.

Exactly.