Britney Spears' Unwanted Abortion Is a Common Experience

In her new autobiography, The Woman in Me, Britney Spears reveals that she had an unwanted abortion while in a relationship with Justin Timerberlake. Writing about the pregnancy, she says:

It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated. . . .

But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.

If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.

To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.

The revelation exposes the heartwrenching meaning previosly hidden in Spears' music video Everytime. A refrain in the lyrics "I guess I need you, baby" was widely interpreted when the song was released as referring to her missing and needing her ex-boyfriend, Timberlake. But with the revelation of her unwanted abortion, the video is clearly to her grieving the loss of their baby.

The video begins with Britney identified as herself, arguing with a cold and angry boyfriend who casts tabloids to the ground with the headline "Britney's Shocking Secrets Revealed." Pushing through the crowd and paparazzi to a back stage room, Britney collapses into a hot bath. There she imagines blood on her hands; contemplates suicide, sinking below the water; envisions her dead body on a table in a hospital separated only by a curtain from a young woman joyfully giving birth to her newborn child. All the while singing the refrain.

Without my wings, I feel so small

And every time I try to fly, I fall

I guess I need you, baby

And every time I see you in my dreams

I see your face, you're haunting me

I guess I need you, baby

Fortunately, whether she only contemplated or actually attempted suicide, she did not die. Though the same cannot be said of the thousands of women who have died from suicide after an abortion. But given the fact that unwanted abortion is strongly linked to a worsening of mental health, and elevated risk of psychiatric hospitalization, it seems likely that her loss contributed to her subsequent mental health problems which in turn led to the controversial conservatorship which stripped her of control over her own estate.

Sadly, the pressures that led Britney to accept an unwanted abortion are not unique. Recent research shows that only one-third of women freely choose abortions according to their own preferences. The remaining 67% feel pressured to abort contrary to their own preferences. In 10% of the cases, the pressure is so extreme that women classify their abortions as "coerced." Unsurprisingly, the more pressure women face the more severe they tend to rate its negative effects on their lives.

Britney is not alone in facing an unwanted abortion. In fact, her experience is typical of the vast majority of women. For most, abortion isn't a pathway to greater freedom and happiness. Instead, it is a ticket for loss, alienation, and impacted grief.

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