So, being generally six months behind the rest of the pop-culture world, I finally caught up and watched Juno last night. Having made the mistake of reading feminist blogs about it before seeing it, I half-expected to see some overwrought hysterically judge-y scene of Juno fleeing in moral panic from the abortion clinic because her “baby has fingernails”. Whatever. It wasn’t that bad, but her generally awesome calmness about her pregnancy and her chill-the-fuck-out attitude about adoption made me really wish that abortion had a similarly cool heroine, somewhere.
For a lot of women, abortion isn’t the morally fraught hand-wringing decision portrayed on Degrassi (yes, I’m dating myself). It’s not about life, or selfishness, or anything else – it’s just a necessary medical procedure. When I heard a couple months ago that a 23-year-old woman was anonymously blogging her abortion, I figured it would be the standard patronizing crap – it is, however, awesome and absolutely worth a visit. It even has helpful sections like “To The Men Who Put the Killer Kidney Beans in our Bellies: Notes on Etiquette” that you can mail to your deadbeat brother when he knocks up his high school gf. Being from the states, the blog also takes aim at the bullshit that is mandatory pre-abortion counseling - because, you know, we women are just so damned fickle.
For women who are just plain cool with getting an abortion and who are looking for resources on how to manage the crappy symptoms of early pregnancy, there’s an even more pathetic offering of info. If you google morning sickness, for example, you’re going to find a barrage of website that congratulate you on your bundle of vomit-inducing joy and advise you to eat crackers and go to bed. Not exactly helpful for women who have to get back to work and who have an appointment at the Morgentaler clinic Monday morning. For irreverent help, point your browser towards Jezebel’s totally not doctor-approved Guide to Treating the Symptoms of Unwanted Pregnancy.
