On Tuesday evening, Lena Dunham took to Instagram to post an apology for controversial comments she recently made about abortion during her Women of the Hour podcast.
During an episode titled "Choice," Dunham—a staunch reproductive-rights advocate—discussed coming to terms with her own internalized stigma about abortion during a visit to a Texas Planned Parenthood, in which a woman asked her to share her own abortion story.
"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 in the podcast. "And I realized 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 then said that this type of stigmatization is frequent among women and added, "Now I can say that I still haven’t had an abortion, but I wish I had."
Her comments provoked the ire of many who felt she was trivializing abortion, and after an outpouring of criticism, Dunham posted a message apologizing for her statements.
“My latest podcast episode was meant to tell a multifaceted story about reproductive choice in America, to explain the many reasons women do or don’t choose to have children and what bodily autonomy really means,” Dunham wrote. “I’m so proud of the medley of voices in the episode. I truly hope a distasteful joke on my part won’t diminish the amazing work of all the women who participated.”
She continued, saying: "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 trivialize the emotional and physical challenges of terminating a pregnancy. My only goal is to increase awareness and decrease stigma."
Read Dunham's full apology below:
