Abortion Tweeter Sets Sparks Flying Across Internet

(March 12) -- Some say Angie Jackson took Twitter a tweet too far. When the 27-year-old live-tweeted her RU-486-induced abortion last month, she spared no details.

"Okay, the pain starting to get distracting," she wrote. "Definitely bleeding now."

In a country that's bitterly divided over abortion, the storm of controversy Jackson generated, even among abortion-rights supporters, was unsurprising. "At its worst, it is self-serving, exhibitionist and selfish," Mary Ann Sorrentino, the former director for Planned Parenthood in Rhode Island, wrote Tuesday on Salon.com. "At best, it has 'bad judgment' written all over it."

On Twitter, the reaction could be particularly vicious. "B---- deserves the same fate as George Tiller," one tweeter wrote, referring to the doctor who performed late-term abortions and was killed last year by an anti-abortion activist. She has also reported receiving death threats. In one of her many YouTube videos last week, Jackson claimed she was in contact with the FBI about the threats. "I am in steady contact with the FBI," she said. "I'm taking this seriously. I have police patrolling my house at least once an hour now."

In a phone interview this morning with AOL News, Jackson said she didn't believe herself to be in imminent danger, but had asked the Hillsborough County, Fla., Sheriff's Department to do extra patrols of her neighborhood.

"I have taken the necessary steps," she said.

"I don't want to overexaggerate," Jackson said. "Many of the comments were made by people who I don't fear any direct action from. But as it gets bigger and bigger it could become a Scott Roeder. People talked about killing George Tiller for years before Scott Roeder actually did it. I want to nip it in the bud."

The Hillsborough sheriff's office said today it has never heard from anyone by the name of Angie Jackson. But Jackson insists she has asked for the patrols under the name of her boyfriend, who's name she refuses to release. "You've seen the comments. I'm not out there making things up," she said. "These are publicly submitted comments that I am reacting to."

Despite the steady stream of media attention and growing online audience she has attracted, Jackson insists her decision to broadcast her abortion is not a "stunt." Still, some questions remain.

Is Jackson simply embellishing her experience to make for a more dramatic tale? There's some evidence that she may have a motive to do so. On CNN Tuesday, Jackson promoted a book she'd written about her experience growing up in a cult. "I'm a blogger, and I'm actually writing a book, 'Birth and Death, Life of a Newborn Cult, " she said. On her Twitter feed, Jackson and her supporters have been pushing a petition to get the book published as well.

But Jackson said that while she "has appreciated some of the increased attention," her decision to tweet her abortion was "not some capitalist scheme" meant to drum up publicity for her book.

"I've been asked if I'm like 'Octomom' or 'Balloon Boy,' " she said, referring to two cases of ordinary people who've become somewhat famous -- or infamous -- for what some considered attention-getting antics. Jackson says this does not describe her intentions.

"People have asked me if I'm going to do a reality show. No. None of this was designed," she said. "I'm just somebody who tells my story."

Jackson also denies that she's a part of any kind of "astroturfing" campaign by a reproductive rights group. "This is just me sharing my views and everybody else paying a lot of attention," she said.

And indeed, people have been paying attention. The reaction Jackson's tweets have provoked has been, at times, visceral.

In one of her YouTube videos, Jackson said she was shocked at the anger her tweets had elicited. "I had one of the most common medical procedures in the United States, which is legal. And I did it in an incredibly common way, and I used social media, which is incredibly common," she said. "Apparently the combination of the two made the Internet go crazy. I personally still think this is kind of weird."

Many young people were similarly taken aback. They seemed to be surprised by the intensity of the backlash rather than the tweeting that started it. For the so-called millennial generation of 20-somethings, Jackson's decision to broadcast her abortion was not all that shocking. Instead, it was simply the latest sign that young people live their lives in public, and feel comfortable doing so.

One Houston News blogger explained the phenomenon. "We're inspired by Angie. Why didn't we think of this first?" Fayza Elmostehi wrote. "No, not the abortion thing, you right-wing zealot maggots. Live-tweeting stuff you never thought you'd ever see on Twitter, silly."

For a generation constantly connected through social networking, day-to-day life is chronicled via Facebook status updates and 140-character bursts on Twitter. For this generation, there may be no such thing as too much information.

Jackson says she and her friends talk about extremely personal subjects online all the time. "A friend of mine went through his divorce on Twitter over the last several months," she said. "Another friend has talked about her trouble conceiving on Twitter. In pregnancy forums women are talking about mucus plugs. So it's funny to be told I'm so graphic in my tweets."

Still, Jackson acknowledged that she is "on the far end of that public Internet persona sphere."

And across the blogosphere, it seems that Jackson's decision to take tweeting to the edge has encouraged young people, especially women, to share their experiences as well.

One anonymous abortion-rights blogger was inspired to write about her own abortion. "Next Thursday" praised Jackson as courageous. "Thank goodness Angie has taken a huge step to demystifying the process," she wrote. "There's no reason for women to hide in the shadows and whisper abortion like it's a freaking scarlet letter of shame."

"You're brave and amazing, and you're inspiring women everywhere to stand up for themselves and their choices," another woman tweeted. "Thank you."

There's now a Facebook page, Defenders of Angie Jackson, and some young women said they found Jackson's Twitter feed liberating.

Tracy Clark-Flory of Salon said "Jackson is doing women a real favor. ... This isn't another case of overshare-itis, it's an example of how amid all the frivolous cacophony of Facebook, Twitter and the like, some folks are, like, actually doing good. Oh, Internet, you enigma you."

On Jackson's Twitter feed, women thanked her for sharing. "Well done you!" one wrote. "The world needs more brave and honest women."

As for Jackson, she said she was trying to help "demystify abortion" while just being herself.

"I'm an autobiographical blogger," she told AOL News. "I talk about uncomfortable or quiet subjects quite a bit. I announced that I was pregnant on Twitter. I told my friends who responded that I was going to be having an abortion on Twitter. I think that silence is unhealthy."

So it was natural, then, that Jackson posted a video on YouTube announcing her abortion and her plans to tweet it. "I am having an abortion right now," she declared. "I'm live-tweeting my abortion on twitter," she continued, "not for some publicity stunt or for attention," but "so that other women know it's not nearly as terrifying" as they think it is.