SOLÈNE REVENEY / LE MONDE
A wave of guilt-driven testimonies. That is what Masha (who did not provide her last name) found when she searched for information after deciding to have an abortion in June. That day, the 27-year-old sexuality content creator was certain of her choice, but wanted to find the stories of people who had gone through something similar. "I knew that one in three women in France have an abortion, but I realized I didn't have any representation of abortion I could relate to, no model to hold on to," she explained.
Stunned by the number of anti-abortion posts that her social media feeds suggested during her search, the Nîmes native decided to film herself, documenting her medication abortion day by day in a vlog, which she posted on her Instagram profile three weeks later. The day after taking the first pill – medication abortion involves taking two medications in succession, one to end the pregnancy and the other to expel the embryo – she testified plainly: "I'm very, very tired and I didn't expect to bleed today."
"I wanted to show what an abortion really is, so that there would be a plurality of perspectives," said Masha, who has posted about motherhood, relationships, and sexuality on social media since 2018. "Some women go through it very well, almost without tears; others can experience a lot of pain without regretting it, so there has to be all kinds of stories. The fact that I suffered physically doesn't take away from my psychological relief. It's not all black or white."
