#ShoutYourAbortion: Women share experiences of abortion to break stigma

A large number of women have shared their stories of abortion over social media in an attempt to end stigma attached to the procedure.

Pro-choice demonstrators wearing white clothes covered in fake blood chant and hold signs while blocking traffic at a rally on the corner of 4th and Pike in Downtown Seattle on July 1, 2015. The activists called out several US states over their attempts to shut down abortion clinics. Source: AAP

Thousands of women have shared their experiences of abortion on social media in an attempt to break down stigma.

US abortion activists Amelia Bonow, Lindy West and Kimberly Morrison started the hashtag #ShoutYourAbortion on Friday to allow women to tell their stories.

It came in response to a US House of Representatives vote  to defund the women's health organisation Planned Parenthood.

Since then, thousands of women have tweeted the hashtag, with #ShoutYourAbortion trending in the Australia, the United States and Europe.

Hashtag creator Amelia Bonow told Buzzfeed that she had shared her experience of having an abortion on Facebook to "vocally align myself with Planned Parenthood".

But many Twitter users have objected to the women’s posts and and posted pro-life messages under the hashtag.

Others have stated that adoption, not abortion, should be an alternative to an unwanted pregnancy.