Community Info

Community Information

Below is information about the "What abortion is like, how to get one, etc." community on LiveJournal. To join this community, click here. You may leave the community at any time.

User:

abortioninfo (1488316)

The whole truth and nothing but the truth
unbiased abortion information

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Name:

What abortion is like, how to get one, etc.

Theme:

What abortion is like, how to get one, etc. Unbiased facts only, no judgments, no pressure.

Website:

PP's abortion information page

Location:

Minneapolis, United States

About:

Community Mission

This community is here in order to give people considering abortion honest information about abortion. What it is like, what you can expect, what the law on it is, etc. The owner of this community (

eyelid) is pro-choice and has had an abortion herself, as well as three subsequent wanted pregnancies. For those in the UK, we have a sister community:

abortioninfo_uk.

Many common questions are answered in the Memories section or in the Community Tags. The memories section/tags also contain links to over 150 posts from community members describing their abortion experiences.

Safe Space Rules & Guidelines

abortioninfo is a "safe space." What this means is that we are dedicated to ensuring that people coming to the community can a) feel free to ask questions without judgment/pressure, b) feel safe from being triggered while here, c) feel supported or at least not challenged in whatever life choices they make. Because of the extremely sensitive nature of our community, our safe space policy is somewhat more strict than safe space policies of more general communities like VaginaPagina or Feminist, though

vaginapagina's safe space explanation and policy are informative.

In order to maintain the safe space, here are a few ground rules:

1) No pressuring. No judgment. No cloaking pressure/judgment as "personal opinions" on moral issues (e.g. "I personally believe that you should tell your boyfriend because he has a right to know." "I would never have an abortion past X weeks." "I am disabled, so I don't think it's right to abort because the fetus has downs syndrome.")

2) This is NOT a debate community. Debate leads to judgmental statements, which are not ok here as this is a safe space. So discussing your views on which kinds of abortions are ok and which are not, etc, is not allowed.

3) Lecturing women on their birth control, relationship, and other personal choices is also not allowed. more information on this policy here.

4) pregnancy/baby mentions. We have community members who choose to carry to term, and others who choose to carry to term on subsequent pregnancies, etc. These choices are 100% accepted in Abortioninfo. However, because many women choosing, going through, and recovering from abortions are triggered by/upset by/made emotional by discussions of pregnancies being carried to term and/or babies, we ask that you please:

-use an LJ-cut for announcements that one is carrying a pregnancy to term/birth announcements/comments on an ongoing pregnancy one intends to carry to term

-not ask pregnancy-related questions here unless they are also related to abortion (I'd recommend vaginapagina or a pregnancy community for such questions). If you really need to ask one here for some reason, please put it behind a cut w/a sensitivity warning.

-not use baby/pregnancy icons here

There is more explanation/discussion of this policy here. Again, this policy is not intended to disparage anyone's choice or to make people feel uncomfortable choosing to carry to term. Many abortioninfo community members have chosen to carry to term at one point or another.

Safe Space is not easy! It is not always intuitive. You may inadvertantly say something that violates the safe space, without it even occuring to you that the statement is pressuring/triggering/etc. When this happens, a moderator will probably gently let you know that your statement was problematic. Don't get upset or defensive about it. Again, safe space is hard to get a complete handle on.

Keeping our members safe from trolls and pressure

Pressuring or censuring of people seeking information will not be tolerated, either on this community or in their own journals. If a troll comments pressuring or censuring you, PLEASE let the moderators know right away and they will be banned. Comments on posts are regularly checked but sometimes something could slip by!

Moderator e-mails:

eyelid: eyelid@livejournal.com

musicmz: musicmz@livejournal.com

bjsurvivor: hummersurvivor@hotmail.com

Keeping your identity private/keeping away trolls. Ways to keep anti-choice trolls away while posting in abortioninfo:
=>Friends-only posting. We ban all trolls and do not allow anti-choice members (see below). However, if you post publicly on the community trolls may see your post and follow you back to your personal journal. We strongly suggest that anyone feeling emotionally vulnerable post friends-only.
=>"anonymous" journal. Additionally, you may create a "Throw-away" journal just to post in the community, so that your normal LJ identity remains secret. http://www.livejournal.com to make a new disposable journal.
=>ask the mods to post your question for you. If you do not have a LiveJournal or do not wish to use your LiveJournal here, you can e-mail the moderators with your anonymous question, and we will post it to the community on your behalf. Anonymous commenting is currently allowed so that those who wish to answer questions anonymously can be accomodated. Those trolling will be tracked down via their IPs.
=>using

abortionstories's story_anon journal as an identity. Ask

musicmz about this.

Policy on pro-life members: Initially, we allowed pro-lifers to join and comment here freely. Unfortunately, the vast majority of pro-lifers who joined or commented here attacked our members. Trolling is a serious concern here because many members of

abortioninfo are in very emotionally vulnerable situations. Therefore, we took a poll of the members on whether or not pro-lifers should be allowed to join the community. The membership voted strongly in favor of forbidding pro-lifers to join the community, in order to keep our vulnerable members as safe as possible. Poll here. Therefore, no pro-lifers may join the community. If you are pro-life and feel that you can keep to the community rules, feel free to email the moderators and request membership.

Information: where to get it and how to help

If you've had an abortion or have medical knowledge about abortions: please feel free to join our community and help out other people who need information. Most of our community members have had abortions and just want to "be there" for someone else who needs help. Firsthand knowledge can be very useful to women who want to know what to expect.

Informative Websites

Good websites for general abortion information:
VaginaPagina's abortion information page. Very down-to-earth and informative, put together by

psycheknot, an abortioninfo member.
Planned Parenthood's abortion information page
Religious Tolerence's abortion information page
National Abortion Federation's page about abortion. Myths, facts, stories, etc.
British Pregnancy Advisory Service (for those in the UK)
Marie Stopes International, Another UK site (this site has a quiz to help you think about your decision)
FDA's site on the safety of mifepristone (RU-486)
Sister Zeus's site on Herbal abortion options
PubMed. This is a database of the National Center of Biotechnology Information. Basically, it's a government-maintained site that allows you to search an enormous database of medical studies. You only get the abstracts, though.

In the U.S., you may also wish to call the National Abortion Federation hotline with questions relating to unplanned pregnancy or abortion. The NAF Hotline is a national toll-free source of information about abortion. They provide callers with unbiased, factual information about abortion in English, Spanish, and French. The Hotline is free, completely anonymous, and offers services to everyone, regardless of their individual situation. note however: the usefulness of the hotline is limited because it is often impossible to actually get one's hotline call answered; it appears to be woefully understaffed.

Call toll-free 1-800-772-9100
Weekdays: 8:00 A.M.-9:00 P.M. Eastern time
Saturdays: 9:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M.

Good website for general birth control information:
Planned Parenthood's birth control information page

After-abortion support:
Exhale - they also have a US phone line where you can call to talk to counsellors

Site to help you make your decision if you have an unplanned pregnancy:
Pregnancyoptions.info
Planned Parenthood: What if I'm pregnant? site
Backline is a toll-free all-options pregnancy choice counselling line. No pressure. 1-888-493-0092

Religious pro-choice counselling: The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. They can discuss your spiritual concerns with you.

Worksheet to help you decide between surgical and medication abortion: WhichMethod

Good websites for statistics on abortion:
Alan Guttmacher Institute (lots of abortion statistics, very respected institution)
Center for Disease Control (US Government Health Service Agency)

Abortion funding: The National Network of Abortion Funds

Locating an abortion clinic:
Abortion Clinics Online
National Abortion Federation
Our list of recommended clinics (compiled by the community moderators)

If you are in a country where abortion is restricted or illegal: Women on Web may be able to get you a safe medication abortion.

Related communities:
pregnancy estimates:

amipregnant
pregnancy decision-making:

pregnancychoice
UK abortion information:

abortioninfo_uk
stories from people who have had abortions:

abortionstories (closed community - join to read stories)
stories from people who have had abortions and specifically don't regret them:

imnotsorry
community discussing herbal contraception and abortifacients:

bloodmoonherbs
birth control information:

birthcontrol (note: good info, but NOT a safe space community, so you may receive judgment or attacks there),

birthcontrolled
general women's health information:

vaginapagina

Memories::

566 entries

Interests: