The internet has been buzzing since word of Britney Spears’ abortion hit the news cycle ahead of the release of her memoir, The Woman in Me. Only about two full pages out of the memoir’s 277 pages are dedicated to telling Spears’ abortion story, yet hundreds of articles and social media posts now center this narrative. From sharing the news to calling out Justin Timberlake to finding new meaning to her “Everytime” music video, the internet has a lot to say.

And though several celebrities have released their abortion stories this year – including Leslie Jones, Kerry Washington and Paris Hilton – none of them resonate like Britney’s.

In the book, Spears describes becoming pregnant during her and Timberlake’s relationship — the two dated from 1999 to 2002 — as a surprise, but not a tragedy. According to the book, Timberlake was strongly against the idea of the two becoming parents, which led to her decision to have an abortion.

“Abortion was something I never would have imagined choosing for myself, but given the circumstances, that is what we did,” wrote Spears.

To protect her privacy, Spears opted for a self-managed medical abortion at home, which only Timberlake and her then-assistant Felicia knew about. She describes her experience as extremely painful, which included “excruciating cramps,” sobbing and screaming in pain for hours, wondering if she was going to die.

“To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life,” Spears writes, describing the physical pain she endured.

The reaction this story has received begs the question: Why do we care so much about Britney Spears’ abortion — something that occurred over 20 years ago? How does Spears’ abortion fit into the reproductive justice conversation today?

“She’s actually articulating a lot of the things that people who have abortions say and feel before they share their abortion stories,” said Renee Bracey Sherman, co-executive director of We Testify, an organization committed to increasing the spectrum of abortion storytellers.

Her story is complex and human

Abortion has been painted as a binary, with strong opposing views and an either/or approach, especially as the battle for abortion rights in some states remains up for grabs. But this can leave some people who have abortions conflicted, feeling like they need to fit into a box.

“Either you love your abortion or you regret it,” said Bracey Sherman.

According to Guttmacher, there is little research surrounding people who have negative emotions towards their abortions and the way abortion is politicized causes stories that express feelings of regret to be minimized or exaggerated to fit a side.

There is no cookie cutter pro-choice or pro-life abortion story, which Spears models. She felt pressured, yet made the choice she felt would best fit her relationship at the time.

Spears wrote that she “kind of” understood why Timberlake thought they weren’t ready to have a baby and so they opted for abortion.

“If he didn’t want to become a father, I didn’t feel like I had much of a choice. I wouldn’t want to push him into something he didn’t want,” said Spears.

This isn’t an isolated experience. Some women participating in the Social Sources of Women’s Emotional Difficulty After Abortion study shared that the pressure they felt from parents or partners led to resentment or regret of their abortion in some cases.

“People who are more likely to have ambivalence about their abortions or come to regret them, it’s usually because they felt like the decision overall wasn’t in their control, which is what she described,” said Bracey Sherman.

A 2020 study showed that five years after their abortion, 84 percent of people reported having positive feelings or no feelings at all about their abortion.

“Even if they had difficulty making the decision initially, or if they felt their community would not approve, our research shows that the overwhelming majority of women who obtain abortions continue to believe it was the right decision,” Corinne Rocca, Ph.D., MPH, and associate professor at UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, said of the study.

Lisa Rowe, clinical social worker and CEO of Support After Abortion, says that more people are calling in for support as at-home abortion has grown and allowed for a more isolated experience when those having an abortion don’t have a network of support.

“They’re finding themselves dealing with their experience all by themselves and for some people, that’s a benefit to them, but for others that can be challenging,” said Rowe.

Britney’s sex sells

Spears was both a symbol of sex and purity — both the Madonna and the whore — even though she was only 16 when her first hit, “Baby One More Time,” was released in 1998.

“That first Rolling Stone cover was so pivotal in how Britney Spears was presented to the world,” said Lynn Comella, Ph.D., Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies and Chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary, Gender and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

This 1999 magazine cover, shot by David LaChapelle, provided a visual to this dynamic: A teen girl laying on silk sheets, talking on the phone, while wearing lingerie and holding a Teletubby doll.

“She really embodied this contradictory cultural space that so many young women find themselves in, where they’re expected to be virginal, and yet they’re hyper-sexualized as well,” said Comella.

“Britney not a virgin” has 44,600,000 Google results at the time of this writing, with the top stories discussing her mention in the memoir of the “eternal virgin” image pushed onto her. Spears and other pop stars of the 90′s were marketed as “purity champions,” who were saving themselves for marriage. Spears faced media scrutiny in 2002 when Timberlake, and later she, revealed that they in fact did have sex.

“I think the cultural obsession with teenage girls and women’s sexuality comes out in a lot of ways around Britney Spears, with this seeming obsession about whether or not she had ever been sexually active,” said Comella, citing the double-standard that saw few speculate about Timberlake’s sexual status.

This dynamic followed Spears throughout her career, from the 2003 Madonna VMAs kiss to questioning her status as a mother.

“I think if people had found out she had had an abortion, I think she would have really been severely criticized,” said Brenda Boudreau, English professor at McKendree University and editor of Abortion in Popular Culture: A Call to Action.

Hearing abortion stories are important

The media has made a more active effort to include abortion narratives, with 60 abortion-focused plotlines on TV last year. Grey’s Anatomy included a post-Roe storyline, which included travel for abortion care and the impact doctors face. Research suggests that how abortion is depicted on TV can either add to or break down stigma.

“They’re really humanizing the stories, making it seem like this is a woman’s choice and she should have a right to make it, which I don’t think you’ve got the same sort of support for that sort of narrative, [in the past] certainly not in the late 90′s and early 2000′s,” said Boudreau.

Leaders in the pro-choice movement, like Shout Your Abortion, say that sharing abortion experiences helps normalize the conversation and remove the stigma many develop from cultural or religious influences.

“It’s really, really important that we hear a variety of stories. There’s a danger in a single story,” said Bracey Sherman, who believes that the pro-choice movement has elevated stories that portray abortion in a more positive light to protect against the stigma. “But then that becomes to the detriment of people who do have complicated abortion stories. My belief is that we should just let abortion stories exist as they are.”

Spears sharing her abortion story brings a very common experience to life. It recognizes the “that could never be me” thought process in order to showcase that choices may change when placed in a real-life scenario. Her story illustrates that reproductive rights go beyond political framework because there is no perfect abortion story.