Cosmo Special: ‘How Abortion Changed Our Relationship’

Women’s sex magazine profiles couples who aborted.

Looks like Cosmo is running out of sex tips – and the end result isn’t pretty.

As a “Special Report” for February’s issue, Cosmopolitan published Liz Welch’s piece entitled, “Our Choice: How Abortion Changed Our Relationship.” Welch introduced her article, which profiled couples who chose abortion, by speculating, “Abortion can test a relationship, cement it, or end it as Cosmopolitan discovered in speaking to the four couples here.”

Cosmopolitan, a “lifestylist for millions of fun, fearless females who want to be the best they can be in every area of their lives,” boasts more than three million subscribers.

“Ending a pregnancy,” Welch acknowledged, “is always a difficult decision. But these women didn’t make it on their own.” She explained, “Peek behind the doors of your local women’s health clinic and you might see something surprising: men.” “Surprising,” because, well, abortion mills like Planned Parenthood ooze with “between a woman and her doctor” rhetoric, not to mention the “Not in Her Shoes” campaign.

Speaking of Planned Parenthood, Welch lavishly quoted its president, Cecile Richards. Richards gushed, “Men are much more involved in decisions involving birth control and pregnancy as well as termination these days.” As an introduction to Welch’s piece, she praised, “The more people tell their personal stories the better. It gets these conversations out of the political realm and into people’s real lives.”

Welch delved into these “real lives” by dividing the couples into four stories:

  • “We knew we weren’t ready for a baby.”
  • “It changed things so much that we split up.”
  • “We decided to get serious after the abortion.”
  • “It was the humane thing . . . and it devastated us.”

In the personal stories, Welch left footprints by highlighting the most vital quotes from the couples:

  • 24-year-old Frisco: “I told Cindy [his girlfriend] I would support her whatever decision she made, including being there for her and the child if she wanted to keep it.”
  • 23-year-old Cindy: “I want to be a mom one day. And I know it will be the right time when the idea of getting pregnant gets me excited.”
  • 24-year-old Kristina on her abortion at Planned Parenthood, “I appreciated how normal they made everything. Goonies played in the waiting room, and Beyonce was on the stereo during surgery.” 
  • 23-year-old Brittany on choosing abortion: “I called him to say I was pregnant. We both cried, but then I said, ‘This is too emotional. I have to be logical.’”

Brittany: “In the room, the doctor asked, ‘How many weeks along is she?’ A nurse replied, ‘Diez,’ just as the anesthesia needle stuck into my arm.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                But it was at the end of her article that Welch completely betrayed her take on life and choice. She placed a blurb for post-abortion hotline urging, “call the Exhale After-Abortion Talk Line for agenda-free counseling,” in order connect to a “pro-voice” community (hmm, does that rhyme with anything?). 

This is “agenda-free,” according to Cosmo:

List of Exhale Sponsors:  

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation

Compton Foundation

Mary Wohlford Foundation

The California Wellness Foundation

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation

The Ford Foundation

The Moriah Fund

Perhaps this is Cosmos’ sordid way of taking responsibility for its content the rest of the year. When your fare is dedicated to telling women how much and how good their sex should be – with a  “Holiday Sextacular” piece, hyping strip clubs to women, and labeling waiting until a second date for sex as “100% outdated” – you should prepare them for possible consequences, and the feminist-lefts approved solutions to them.

— Katie Yoder is Staff Writer, Joe and Betty Anderlik Fellow in Culture and Media at the Media Research Center. Follow Katie Yoder on Twitter.