Lena Dunham apologizes for 'distasteful joke' about abortion

Meena Jang


Lena Dunham apologized Tuesday for a "distasteful joke" she made while discussing the topic of abortion during her podcast, Women of the Hour.

The Girls creator came under fire for seemingly trivializing the procedure by saying that she had never had an abortion, but "wishes" that she had to fight the social stigma surrounding pro-choice women.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Dunham explained her comments, writing that she takes "reproductive choice in America more seriously than I take literally anything else."

See photos of Lena Dunham through the years:

"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," Dunham wrote. "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."

Dunham continued, "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."

Read the full post below.

View this post on Instagram

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. 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. 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. 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 sizable donation to abortion funds (https://abortionfunds.org/need-abortion) in New York, Texas and Ohio 💰I look forward to fighting with you all for the next four years and beyond.

A post shared by Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) on Dec 20, 2016 at 6:39pm PST

Advertisement