Lena Dunham has come under fire on social media again after saying she “wishes” she had an abortion.
Dunham made the statement in the latest episode of her Women of the Hour podcast, reports nydailynews.com.
During the episode she talked about a visit to Planned Parenthood when a girl asked Dunham if she would take part in a project involving women sharing stories about abortions.
“I wanted to make it really clear to her that as much as I was going out and fighting for other women’s options, I myself had never had an abortion,” Dunham said.
“And I realised then that even I was carrying within myself stigma around this issue. Even I, the woman who cares as much as anybody about a woman’s right to choose, felt it was important that people know that I was unblemished in this department,” she added.
Dunham further went on and said: “I feel so proud of them for their bravery, for their self-knowledge, and it was a really important moment for me then to realise I had internalised some of what society was throwing at us and I had to put it in the garbage.
“Now I can say that I still haven’t had an abortion, but I wish I had.”
Dunham’s comments have been criticised by many over Twitter, with users condemning her insensitivity towards women who have undergone the procedure themselves.
She later apologised with an Istagram post.
“My words were spoken from a sort of ‘delusional girl’ persona I often inhabit, a girl who careens between wisdom and ignorance (that’s what my TV show is too) and it didn’t translate.
“That’s my fault. I would never, ever intentionally trivialise the emotional and physical challenges of terminating a pregnancy. My only goal is to increase awareness and decrease stigma. I take reproductive choice in America more seriously than I take literally anything else, and therefore own full responsibility for any words I speak that don’t convey this truth clearly.
“I know plenty of people will never like a thing that leaves my lips, mea culpas or no, but this apology is for the women who have placed their trust in me.
“You mean everything to me. My life is and always will be devoted to reproductive justice and freedom. You know how in some households you curse and have to put money in a jar? Well in mine, if you mess up your pro-choice messaging you have to give a sizeable donation to abortion funds in New York, Texas and Ohio. I look forward to fighting with you all for the next four years and beyond.”
