# I had an abortion and all I got was this lousy t-shirt **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 27, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014 "2004-07-27T00:26:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/21 "2004-07-27T03:02:18Z")
How about I Had a Lobotomy and all I got was the Presidency of the U.S.? heh heh ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/22 "2004-07-27T03:04:57Z")
> [@Lynn Bodoni](#): > > One would think so, but there are quite a few women who are opposed to abortion in general who get abortions. I’ve learned this from my own experience as a client escort, anecdotes from other escorts, data from the women’s clinic that I escorted for, and various information sources like [this](http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/anti-tales.html). > > And no matter what the OP says, this IS about abortion rights. I was going to link to that site earlier. I have a copy of those stories on my hard-drive. I can never quite work out whether they represent some sort of cognitive dissonance, or just pure hypocrisy. Some of the tales are simply staggering. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/23 "2004-07-27T03:15:21Z")
I AM A PREMATURE EJACULATOR I HAVE GENITAL WARTS MY ANUS ITCHES I STILL WET THE BED I AM ATTRACTED TO TEENAGE GIRLS I JUST FARTED AND IT WASN’T A DRY FART I LOVE JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE I SLEPT WITH DICK CHENEY I LAUGH AT “fAMILY CIRCUS” I VOTED FOR ASHCROFT ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/24 "2004-07-27T03:20:18Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > I AM A PREMATURE EJACULATOR > > I LAUGH AT “fAMILY CIRCUS” pervert ---
**Author:** ![cmason32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@cmason32](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmason32)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/25 "2004-07-27T03:22:06Z")
And, of course, the t-shirt to be most ashamed of: > [@](#): > > I am a Charter Member of the Straight Dope Message Board ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/26 "2004-07-27T03:24:15Z")
> [@Queen Tonya](#): > > Show me a church that’s trying to ban craptaking, then we’ll talk. 🙂 Well, Breatharians, sort of, I think… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/27 "2004-07-27T03:26:15Z")
Bah, these shirts are made because the person wearing them _wants_ to provoke a reaction, so that they can feel holier-than-thou. The most minute negative reaction they get from the shirt will, in later tellings, be turned into “A bunch of slack-jawed, right-wing zealots were throwing feces at me and calling me a whore just because of my shirt!” Only an immature asshole would wear such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/28 "2004-07-27T03:30:02Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > Bah, these shirts are made because the person wearing them _wants_ to provoke a reaction, so that they can feel holier-than-thou. The most minute negative reaction they get from the shirt will, in later tellings, be turned into “A bunch of slack-jawed, right-wing zealots were throwing feces at me and calling me a whore just because of my shirt!” > > Only an immature asshole would wear such a thing. But how is that different from any other strident religious or political expression? Do only assholes wear pro-life shirts? ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/29 "2004-07-27T03:46:50Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > But how is that different from any other strident religious or political expression? > > Do only assholes wear pro-life shirts? Big difference between a shirt that says “Vote pro-choice” and that piece of filth. But yeah, if you had some ardent Pro-Lifer who was wearing a shirt with a picture of an aborted fetus, etc., etc., they would be an immature asshole too. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/30 "2004-07-27T04:22:21Z")
Personally, I look at it this way-no one should feel ashamed about having had an abortion-but it’s still personal. Just because something is personal doesn’t make it shameful. Masturbation is personal. Does that mean it’s shameful? Shall we wear shirts saying, “WOOHOO-I am masturbating like a mother fuck!” (Come to think of it, that might be a pretty good idea!) Now, if one wants to wear one of these shirts, that’s fine. I think they’re kind of tacky, but then, there are a lot of t-shirts out there that are way worse than this one. I would caution the wearer that she might get a reaction she didn’t want. I don’t mean the whole blame the rape on a short skirt. I mean considering what a volatile issue abortion is (people are literally slaughtering each other over it), I would not feel comfortable wearing such a shirt. That being said, I could see someone wearing this shirt just for shits and giggles. Hell, I think it would be pretty funny if a man wore one. Might make people go :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/31 "2004-07-27T04:34:27Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > I AM A PREMATURE EJACULATOR > > I HAVE GENITAL WARTS > > MY ANUS ITCHES > > I STILL WET THE BED > > I AM ATTRACTED TO TEENAGE GIRLS > > I JUST FARTED AND IT WASN’T A DRY FART > > I LOVE JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE > > I SLEPT WITH DICK CHENEY > > I LAUGH AT “fAMILY CIRCUS” > > I VOTED FOR ASHCROFT And yet I’d _still_ date you, wicked studmonkey. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/32 "2004-07-27T04:54:46Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > Big difference between a shirt that says “Vote pro-choice” and that piece of filth. > > But yeah, if you had some ardent Pro-Lifer who was wearing a shirt with a picture of an aborted fetus, etc., etc., they would be an immature asshole too. What the hell? “Piece of filth?” Is it the _word?_ Would you be more comfortable with “I had a legal, clinical procedure, which some people are trying to limit access to”? Remember the [context](http://www.rockymountainbullhorn.com/Week_38_2004/inhale_exhale.html) these are worn in: > [@](#): > > The word is “feminist.” Though most would say I embody the word feminist, I’ve discounted and denied it my whole life. I just didn’t understand what it truly meant until I went to Washington, D.C. for the largest pro-choice march in history. […] > Gloria Steinem, Ashley Judd, Hillary Clinton or Ani DiFranco—all there showing support—didn’t move me. […] …it was the woman wearing a fashionable baby T-shirt with the words “I had an abortion” emblazoned across her chest. > […] > This woman and her shirt stuck in my mind all day. This wasn’t a shirt you would see a woman wearing anywhere else; not a shirt you can buy off the rack at Old Navy. I thought about her as my friends and I decked ourselves out in pro-choice regalia. As we gathered signs, slapped stickers on our shirts and listened to speeches, she was on my mind. And when we marched, feeling proud of ourselves for making the journey east to be part of something important, I kept thinking of her and her unapologetic statement. > > While marching along Pennsylvania Avenue with thousands of other women, I saw the baby T-shirt woman again. I touched her arm and asked her where she got her shirt. She told me she had made them and that I could have one. She pulled the same baby T-shirt from her bag, handed it to me and was gone. I pulled it on. My friends were surprised and so was I. No turning back now. I was telling everyone within sight that I, too, had made a choice and that it wasn’t shameful. I was finally accepting the choice I had made. > […] > I say thanks to the young woman in the baby T-shirt for forcing me to see that being able to make these choices is the legacy of the feminist. Or [here](http://www.nodefinition.com/oldstuff/000325.html): > [@](#): > > The excitement was palpable; even at 8 in the morning there were women everywhere in huge crowds, giving away t-shirts and signs and readying themselves to make HERstory. The front of my t-shirt had a plain white star without words, I got a Sharpie and wrote “I had an abortion” in large letters across the front; this would be a day without apology or shame for taking charge of my reproductive freedom. > > […] > > I saw some anti-choice protesters with graphic signs and words of hate being blocked by choice protectors. Men screamed at me “Repent, abortionist!” and a woman held a placard that said “NOW National Organization of Witches”. Others had signs that said “I regret my abortion”. I took great pride in marching past these people and letting them know with my voice, my stance, and my expression that I wasn’t afraid and I wouldn’t be silenced. This shirt is not everyday wear. It’s intended for specific situations that are about visibility and expression. Does a woman holding a sign that says “I regret my abortion” offend you? Is the sign a “piece of filth?” Would it be different if she wore her message on a T-shirt? Both women are making a simple statement about something that’s both intensely personal and unavoidably political. Neither of them are going to bust it out at Disneyland, dude. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/33 "2004-07-27T05:26:08Z")
Man, you wanna get into angry, tacky shirts, how about this one: _YOU_ ARE AN ABORTION But seriously, the shirt is disgusting. Abortion is disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/34 "2004-07-27T05:33:13Z")
Abortion is different. This shirt is not like ones I have seen that say, “I am a survivor of rape”, or similar proclamations. Like it or not, many millions of people hold the honest conviction that abortion is murder. That is not just a catch phrase. They really believe that abortion is the senseless killing of utterly innocent human beings. So to see the issue taken in such a flippant manner is terribly insulting, rude, and immature. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/35 "2004-07-27T05:44:00Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > Abortion is different. This shirt is not like ones I have seen that say, “I am a survivor of rape”, or similar proclamations. Like it or not, many millions of people hold the honest conviction that abortion is murder. That is not just a catch phrase. They really believe that abortion is the senseless killing of utterly innocent human beings. So to see the issue taken in such a flippant manner is terribly insulting, rude, and immature. How about a shirt that is supportive of the Iraq war? Millions of people believe that the invasion of Iraq represented the senseless killing of utterly innocent human beings (a ridiculously over the top characterization of abortion, btw). Would a pro war shirt be a “piece of filth?” ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/36 "2004-07-27T05:50:41Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > How about a shirt that is supportive of the Iraq war? Millions of people believe that the invasion of Iraq represented the senseless killing of utterly innocent human beings (a ridiculously over the top characterization of abortion, btw). Would a pro war shirt be a “piece of filth?” Possibly. Although the design of the shirt is simple, its use will end up being, not to simply express support, but to provoke. So yes, if someone wore a pro-Iraq-war shirt, that was designed to provoke people who did not support the war, it to would be a piece of filth, and the wearer an immature asshole. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/37 "2004-07-27T05:51:35Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > Abortion is different. This shirt is not like ones I have seen that say, “I am a survivor of rape”, or similar proclamations. Like it or not, many millions of people hold the honest conviction that abortion is murder. That is not just a catch phrase. They really believe that abortion is the senseless killing of utterly innocent human beings. So to see the issue taken in such a flippant manner is terribly insulting, rude, and immature. Then they need to get over themselves. Not everybody holds the same opinion about abortion, duh. Just because some people see it as “senseless killing” does not mean that everyone else’s free speech should be held to that (possibly erroneous) belief. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/38 "2004-07-27T05:57:08Z")
> [@kung fu lola](#): > > Then they need to get over themselves. Not everybody holds the same opinion about abortion, duh. > > Just because some people see it as “senseless killing” does not mean that everyone else’s free speech should be held to that (possibly erroneous) belief. I never said that they should not be allowed to wear the shirt. I just said that they are most likely immature assholes looking to provoke other people so that they can feel superior and persecuted. What does freedom of speech have to do with this? Am I not allowed to criticize a person for what they say? ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/39 "2004-07-27T05:58:44Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > Possibly. > > Although the design of the shirt is simple, its use will end up being, not to simply express support, but to provoke. > > So yes, if someone wore a pro-Iraq-war shirt, that was designed to provoke people who did not support the war, it to would be a piece of filth, and the wearer an immature asshole. With all the t-shirts and bumper stickers, there sure are a lot of immature assholes out there. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014/40 "2004-07-27T06:00:09Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > With all the t-shirts and bumper stickers, there sure are a lot of immature assholes out there. No argument here. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abortion-and-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt/257014.md?page=3)