reality

Before we get into it, there’s a Tiktok trend (not exactly a new one, it probably happens every year around this time) in which a group of graduating high school students, in regalia, dance around to a song, under the caption, “Dance if you beat teen pregnancy.” If someone had a baby in high school, or they’re currently pregnant, they don’t dance. This trend is usually dominated by girls, but this weekend, I noticed a few with exclusively teenage boys. There’s a certain mocking element that’s notable, a portrayal of masculinity worthy of examination.

This week, someone had abortion(s). More below this photo of Shavuot morning flowers.

We are still mired in the question of whether or not providers will be able to continue to mail mifepristone, and this past weekend, Olivia Plath posted on Instagram about having had two abortions via mifepristone.

If you don’t know who Olivia Plath is, here’s a primer: She was married to a dude named Ethan Plath, who was on a TLC reality show called Welcome to Plathville, about a conservative Christian family (with eleven children) living in Georgia. Olivia and Ethan divorced in 2025, and she’s alluded to some pretty gnarly stuff happening in their marriage. On the show, they were shown attempting to navigate some significant religious/cultural/political/lifestyle differences that riled things up with Ethan’s family.

Conservative Christians have abortions. Anti-choice folks have abortions. Olivia Plath has spent a lot of time in those communities, where abortion is vilified, stigmatizedm and pathologized, she understands their mindsets, she probably even shared those mindsets for a time. Coming forward to say that she not only had multiple abortions, but that she doesn’t regret them and she believes everyone should have access to safe abortion is drawing a hard line between her past and present.

There’s a lot that isn’t said in this video: why she hasn’t talked about her abortions before, for example. The fact that no one can tell you used abortion pills unless you tell them, so if you don’t feel safe telling your partner, you can say you’re having a miscarriage. It’s easier to get out of a marriage if there are no children involved. That’s a fact. Olivia’s abortions made it possible for her to escape a controlling relationship - if she’d remained pregnant, she would have continued to be tied to an entire world, not just a husband and his family. Abortion is freedom.

Action item: Go watch Olivia’s video (below). Does it bring up anything for you around multiple abortions, not regretting abortion, self-managed abortion, or a “good enough” reason to have abortions?

Next time: How we learned to talk about women.