Episode 10: Abortion as Ordinary Healthcare: Changing the Culture

In this episode of Choice Chat’s Culture & Abortion mini-series, host AJ Ware speaks with Dr. Shannon Stettner about the silence, stigma, and cultural expectations that continue to shape how abortion is spoken about in Canada.

Dr. Stettner challenges the idea that abortion must be treated as exceptional, hidden, tragic, or morally simple. Instead, she invites listeners to understand abortion as ordinary healthcare and to make room for the complexity of real experiences — relief, grief, certainty, conflict, or many feelings at once. This conversation asks what it would take to build a healthier abortion culture: one where people are not required to justify their choices, perform their pain, or stay silent to make others comfortable.