The overturning of Roe sparked 'renewed urgency' around women sharing their abortion stories. Here’s why.

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark legislation that made abortion legal for everyone in the U.S. The ruling nearly a year ago sparked a massive public outcry. After all, the decision didn't reflect public opinion — six in 10 Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

In response, an army of women spoke out and shared their abortion stories on social media. The actress Busy Philips launched the #YouKnowMe campaign, which aimed to show the public that many people —including some they know — have had an abortion.

“The statistic is one in four women will have an abortion before age 45,” she said on her show Busy Tonight. “That statistic sometimes surprises people, and maybe you’re sitting there thinking: I don’t know a woman who would have an abortion. Well, you know me.”

Phillips, who had an abortion at 15, later followed up on Twitter. "Let's do this: if you are also the 1 in 4, let's share it and start to end the shame. Use #youknowme and share your truth," she wrote.

Stories poured in.

"I was 21 and batshit terrified. All I felt was relief afterwards. And I was on the pill. Nothing is 100%. That's why we must have access to safe care," one woman wrote.

"I was 19 years old and in my second year of college. I knew I had degrees to finish. I had an abortion," another wrote. "I am a public school teacher in the Bronx. My life of service and activism might not have been. I’m grateful to have lived in New York and had access."

Another offered this story: "I was 23 years old when I had my abortion. I was single, in crushing debt and could barely take care of myself at the time. It would have been cruel and abusive to have a child in that lifestyle. Women should make their own decisions for their body."

Philipps wasn't the only celebrity to publicly share her abortion story. Paris Hilton and Halsey also opened up about their experiences. "I was a kid and I was not ready for that,” Hilton told Glamour UK, of having an abortion in her early 20s. Halsey wrote an open letter to Vogue, writing that abortion "saved my life" after an incomplete miscarriage.

"My abortion saved my life and gave way for my son to have his," Halsey wrote, referring to their child, who is nearly 2 years old. "Every person deserves the right to choose when, if, and how they have this dangerous and life-altering experience. I will hold my son in one arm, and fight with all my might with the other."

One year after Roe was overturned, people on social media continue to come forward and tell their stories, including one Twitter user who recently shared that she had an abortion when she was 18 "because I was not ready to be a parent." She added: "I don't regret my decision. I did what was right for me at that time. Every pregnant person should have the same discretion to choose."

How storytelling is a tool for 'stigma-busting'

Experts stress that it is important that women speak up about their own experiences. "Many organizations and individuals have worked for years to end stigma around abortion, and creating safe spaces for people to share their own stories is a core part of that work," Megan N. Freeland, director of health communications at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, tells Yahoo Life. "While sharing abortion stories is not new, the overturning of Roe v. Wade has sparked renewed urgency around storytelling as a tool for stigma-busting."

Sharing these stories "humanizes the issue," one women's health expert, Dr. Jennifer Wider, tells Yahoo Life, adding, "It takes it away from the politics and illustrates real-life situations."

"It really stresses that everyone knows someone who has had an abortion, whether it's a mother, sister, friend or daughter — they just may not know that's the case, because people are ashamed about it," Dr. Lauren Streicher, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, tells Yahoo Life. Streicher says there's a domino effect with this, noting that she was recently at an event where an 80-year-old woman shared her abortion story. "She said: I was so ashamed about it, but I'm finally now talking about it," Streicher says.

Streicher says it's "really symbolic" that women are speaking up about their own experiences and the impact that having an abortion has had on them. "People don't understand how pervasive the need for women to make this decision is — to protect their own life and health and ... family," she says.

Freeland says she hopes these stories will help encourage women to feel less alone and less ashamed if they need abortion care. "No patient should ever delay seeking care because they fear they’ll be judged, nor should providers be harassed for providing care that patients need," she says.

As for the future of abortion care in the country, experts say it's uncertain.

Streicher points out that anti-abortion laws have a larger fallout than just abortion care. She cites a recent poll of medical students interested in specializing in ob-gyn that found nearly 58% of respondents said they were unlikely or very unlikely to apply to a residency program in a state with abortion restrictions. More than 75% of respondents said that access to abortion care would influence where they would pursue their residency.

"The downstream effect of all of this is that states are criminalizing doctors and ob-gyns say: I'm not practicing in that state," Streicher says. "Women won't be able to find someone to deliver their babies or to have a Pap test. That's going to impact women's health care beyond getting an abortion."

Wider says that we're living in "a very challenging" time for women's health care. "Many people couldn't imagine a reality in which Roe was ever overturned," she says. "If it stays this way, I think networks will continue to help support women who are seeking abortions to cross state lines and receive a safe and medically sanctioned procedure."

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