‘My Body My Life’ Seeks Experiences of Abortion During the Covid-19 Pandemic

9 February 2021

Although one in three British women will have an abortion during their lifetime, the decision to terminate a pregnancy continues to be stigmatised. Many women who have an abortion will internalise that stigma, and experience isolation and shame as a result. This may explain some of the negative aspects of abortion experiences, and why some people wish to conceal it. ‘My Body My Life’ is a public engagement project that seeks to address this stigma around abortion by bringing real stories of abortion into the open. These stories show how an unplanned pregnancy is a part of so many people’s lives, how different people have made their decision about having an abortion, and what the process was like for them. The hope is that by creating a space in which everyone can share their stories, the project will contribute to opening up conversations about real experiences of abortion – positive and negative – to enable us all to speak, to listen, and to understand without judgment.

On the ‘My Body My Life’ website (https://www.mybody-mylife.org/) visitors can read people’s stories of abortion in their own words. Originally collected as part of Open University (OU) research into women’s experiences of abortion, this research has grown into a broad public engagement project co-led by OU and the University of Oxford. It now includes this website, a (pre-Covid-19) travelling multi-media exhibition and a booklet of abortion stories that is available at BPAS clinics across the country.

‘My Body My Life’ is looking to talk to people about their experiences of abortion during the Covid-19 pandemic. If you would like to share your story please email them for more information at: mybodymylife@open.ac.uk