Journalism and Britney Spears’ ‘Agonizing’ Abortion

Some news outlets included her description of her abortion, others omitted it.

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Singer Britney Spears walks the red carpet at the 2017 Pre-GRAMMY Gala. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)

“One of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.” 

With defeats on ballot measures in six states last year, the pro-life movement has been on a political losing streak ever since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in June 2022. Meanwhile, the cultural battle continues, and a crucial aspect of it concerns how we refer to abortion: Is it a simple “termination,” or a wrenching and wretched event? A memoir published on Tuesday offers truth about abortion from a surprising source. 

Last week, People magazine touted an “exclusive” headline: “Britney Spears Reveals She Had an Abortion Because Justin Timberlake ‘Didn’t Want to Be a Father.’” In making the claim, People quoted an admission in Spears’ forthcoming memoir, The Woman in Me, that the abortion was “agonizing.” But then it also ran an article about other “celebrities who have shared their abortion stories … to help erase any stigma around it.”

Although “agonizing” is these days a politically incorrect adjective concerning abortion, some journalists did draw attention to it. CNN, Fox News, Vanity Fair, the Los Angeles Times, ABC’s Good Morning America, and NBC’s Today all quoted Spears saying the abortion was “agonizing.” Forbes made the sentence about agonizing its “crucial quote.” British outlets, including The Independent, the Daily Mail, and Sky News, also reported the agony of abortion, an important reality that women and men alike need to understand.

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  1. Kbirkett

    I was very interested to see an article, and now there are many, reporting that Spears fans, after the book came out with its abortion revelation, had been revisiting some of her songs and videos and finding in them references to the abortion. "Everytime" and its video, at least. While much of the media might profess that abortion is a no-emotion solution, fans seemed pretty ready to find in a gory and sad part of the video, a reference to an abortion she described as agonizing. Their interest in her as an individual got them past the media framing.

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    Seth B

    Stop the press! Breaking news! Now I'M here in the comments section to add MY commentary on the author's commentary about certain news outlets' commentary about a pop singer's commentary on her own abortion! So...

    Oh never mind.

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  3. Avatar photo
    DougAz

    An Act

    To enforce the constitutional right of New Citizens, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States to provide injunctive relief against the Vessel to protect NewCitizen inside the Vessel, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits to protect NewCitizen constitutional rights, to establish the Commission on NewCitizen Civil Rights, to ensure by Custodial title the State as Custodion over NewCitizen.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "NewCitizen Civil Rights Act of 2023".

    TITLE I--NewCitizen

    A NewCitizen is established at the moment of conception defined as the successful fertilization of a female egg by any male sperm.

    Section I. The State is immediately assigned absolute custodialship of NewCitizen.

    Section II. The Vessel holding or encapsulating a NewCitizen shall comply with all orders by the State's appointed Custodian.

    Section III. Term. The State's Custodial authority is absolute from Fertilization until NewCitizen is completely displaced from Vessel and breathes with its own lungs.

    Section IV. Rights
    IVa. NewCitizen has all Rights at law and equity. New Citizen's Rights will always have superceding higher standing and priority over Vessel, as the potential for NewCitizen to contribute to the General Welfare is significantly greater than Vessel.

    IVb. The Vessel shall retain full and all Rights under law, except where NewCitizen's safety and security are at any risk.The State appointed Custodian of NewCitizen is the final authority on all decisions regarding NewCitizen.

    V. Transfer of Custodial Title
    A. Upon displacement of NewCitizen from Vessel, the State transfers Custodial title to Vessel.

    VI. Termination of the Governments responsibility for NewCitizen.
    A. Without exception, the Government is fully absolved and released from all duties and responsibilities for NewCitizen.

    This how so called Pro-Lifers want to federalize contol of women and their bodies. A fascist Theocracy.

    Go ahead Cons. You are losing this big time. But keep keep legislating man's control of women and see where it will end up.

    Personally I favor mandatory male reversible vasectomy at birth or before age 10. Reversible only upon
    A. A bond stating 80% of all assets, and all earnings until said male dies, to the woman selected as partner
    B. Said woman signing said contract.
    C. If no contract before sex, said male is remanded to 5 years in prison. And forefeits all assets and earnings per A.

    Cmon pro-life men. This is your dream solution!

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    1. Carole St Laurent-Groves

      As a woman and mother, I find this offensive!! Why would you not note that women also need to provide 80% of assets to the father that the woman selected as a partner. I am capable of making rational choices and capable of taking on the responsibilities inherent in bearing a child. I also was capable of paying maintainence to the father of my children. Why see women as incompetent victims of impregnation? Most women are smart, competent, capable and responsible.

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  4. Pohl

    Interesting little article on how conventions change. In our day, a more insidious abuse of language than the erasure of regret the author discusses here is the fondness one side of the debate has for euphemisms, which are almost sad necessities in attempts to justify abortion. The first step, though, in evaluating human action is determining the so-called matter of the act. In this case, it’s killing the unborn, a phrase some never utter because their habitual language inures themselves and is meant to inure others to the difficult truth, the conveyance of which is the real purpose of language.

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      Ms. SSM

      Did she regret it? I don’t want to read the biography but it’s not clear to me she regrets her choice. Others will have to read and report back. Abortions like most medical procedures are mildly uncomfortable at best and quite painful at worse. So I really want to read the specifics of what she said before I form an opinion.

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      1. Pohl

        It’s irrelevant to my point why or how much she regretted it. I do wish the author had included a decent quote of what she said if he’s going to revolve an article around it. And abortions are much more than painful to one person involved, of course, and are only euphemistically “medical procedures,” which proves my point.

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          Ms. SSM

          Yes a decent quote would have been much better. I can’t say the author is right or wrong because the quotes provided don’t tell me enough.

          What you’re saying btw applies perhaps in your mind to elective abortions but the non elective are very much medical procedures. That’s not a euphemism.

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          1. Pohl

            Thanks for civil reply as we both know roughly where each stands here. I reject the moral liceity of any abortions, however, so I reject the idea of “medical” ones. I will only stipulate that abortions obviously occur that people use medical reasons to excuse.

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    Rajeev

    It is pathetic to parse every word from every article to see if an exact word was included in the text of an article. Authors like this don't want to admit that for every person that describes an abortion as agonizing, there are many women if you ask about it they will describe it completely the opposite. There is no consensus about the feelings of an act. Not every young woman feels regret about her decision.

    I could make the observation that the author mentioned nothing about Britney Spears being forced to wear an IUD & take medications by her conservators. The #FreeBritney movement was initiated by her fans. Only once it was fully mainstream did so-called pro-life groups express an interest in her well being.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

      I suspect the vast majority of people did not know of what her conservators required of her, and that may account for their not protesting it. I had no clue she even had a conservatorship until she sued to end it.

      I also suspect that many so-called pro-choice groups did not know she was under a conservatorship. But, if it advances the narrative in your bubble, go for it!

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      DougAz

      The author thinks women are property of men. So there ya go. A "Vessel"

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      1. Christopher Lake

        I've been reading Marvin Olaskey's work for many years, Doug. You are wrong about him. That is a terrible smear of his character, and not at all representative of him, as a human being. It's also not a smear that is justified, in any way, by this article from him.

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        DougCLE

        And you got that idea from...?

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  6. Goatprairie

    Didn't read the article. Because it's pointless on a website like this. Who cares?

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  7. Deleted Comment

    This comment has been deleted

  8. AJLiberty

    In fairness, it seems relevant to get more of the context and more of whether she in fact resolved her agony. I understand the point is less about Spears and more about the media's selective reaction, but the media's reaction can also be impacted by...as Paul Harvey would say...the rest of the story. Knowing more of the story would let us the reader make that assessment better.

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    1. Mbhowe1

      She clearly has a number of serious mental health issues. Terminating - i.e., killing - her child almost surely is a factor in that.

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        Ms. SSM

        I see no evidence of that at all. She’s had mental health issues all her life. It’s quite the leap to say it’s because of abortion or that that’s common even if it were true in her case.

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        1. Mbhowe1

          Not sure you’re qualified to make that statement, esp. since it goes against Ms. Spears own statement that she has suffered from that decision.

          What is known is that countless women come to deeply regret killing their child and suffer severe mental anguish as a result; again, as Ms. Spears has said herself.

          There is no getting around the fact that abortion is an aggressive, intentional taking of human life with instruments designed to maim and kill. Ultimately, one cannot prove or disprove a divine Creator, but if He exists, my guess is He’s not a fan of such a bloody business.

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            Ms. SSM

            Btw while some woman certainly do regret their decision - some do not.

            But regardless that fact is not an argument for abortion one way or another. There are always people who regret decisions in their life. It’s kind of built into the human condition. The answer to regret is not to remove the option. It’s to encourage people to think carefully about their choices.

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            Ms. SSM

            When I said I see no evidence of that I meant did she in fact say she regrets her abortion? That she suffers from it to this day? The quotes provided are not all that clear. People are reading into them quite a bit. She could have meant all that you say. But we can really only speculate. So I think until we read the full context of her thoughts instead of snippets none of us are qualified to speak on what she has said definitely.

            If there is some other interview where she clarified her thoughts I am not familiar with it and am happy to be corrected. All I know is what this article stated.

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        DougAz

        There was no "killing". That's disgusting.

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        1. Ricks

          Yes there was a killing. To kill: cause the death of (a person, animal, or other living thing). It is a biological, scientific fact that a baby in the womb is a living human being. The baby is a human because it has human DNA. The baby is alive because there is cellular division and other processes of life occurring. Since abortion causes the death of a living being, it is a killing. Supporters of abortion like to propagate the the myth that only one body, the mother’s, is involved. But there are two bodies, two living beings involved, and thus it is entirely justified for society to have a say in whether or not one of those lives is terminated.

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          1. Derek L

            Do we have to protect cancer tumors by this definition? Obviously the end state for a fetus is a much more desirable thing but if we are only sticking to biology then why preference one parasitic growth of human DNA over another? Clearly we have to bring in something more than just the DNA and cessation of cell division if you want to assert abortion is wrong.

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            DougAz

            Well Ricks. DNA eh. You must be killing billions every day with cell metabolism, dander, hair falling out. Saliva. Digestion. Etc.

            And you'll really have a dilemma with CRISPR and mRna babies that women engineer on their own terms....without useless basement hogging, truck loving, video and AR-15 gaming boys.

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          3. Avatar photo
            DougAz

            An Act

            To enforce the constitutional right of New Citizens, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States to provide injunctive relief against the Vessel to protect NewCitizen inside the Vessel, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits to protect NewCitizen constitutional rights, to establish the Commission on NewCitizen Civil Rights, to ensure by Custodial title the State as Custodion over NewCitizen.

            Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "NewCitizen Civil Rights Act of 2023".

            TITLE I--NewCitizen

            A NewCitizen is established at the moment of conception defined as the successful fertilization of a female egg by any male sperm.

            Section I. The State is immediately assigned absolute custodialship of NewCitizen.

            Section II. The Vessel holding or encapsulating a NewCitizen shall comply with all orders by the State's appointed Custodian.

            Section III. Term. The State's Custodial authority is absolute from Fertilization until NewCitizen is completely displaced from Vessel and breathes with its own lungs.

            Section IV. Rights
            IVa. NewCitizen has all Rights at law and equity. New Citizen's Rights will always have superceding higher standing and priority over Vessel, as the potential for NewCitizen to contribute to the General Welfare is significantly greater than Vessel.

            IVb. The Vessel shall retain full and all Rights under law, except where NewCitizen's safety and security are at any risk.The State appointed Custodian of NewCitizen is the final authority on all decisions regarding NewCitizen.

            V. Transfer of Custodial Title
            A. Upon displacement of NewCitizen from Vessel, the State transfers Custodial title to Vessel.

            VI. Termination of the Governments responsibility for NewCitizen.
            A. Without exception, the Government is fully absolved and released from all duties and responsibilities for NewCitizen.

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    2. Avatar photo
      BrandonAlleman

      It's not clear if the media being ranked here were reviewing the memoir as a whole or like this article were only interested in it as much as it fed their narrative.

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    DougAz

    https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/united-states-of-abortion

    Sorry sir. I don't like or approve of your abortion theology.

    100% Pro choice. Woman's right. Men go home.

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      Charley Warns

      If it's 100% wrong to kill a child 1 hour after she left the womb, what % wrong would it be to kill her 2 hours before that.

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        Ms. SSM

        Zero.

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        DougAz

        That's a simple minded didactic used by weak Evangicals who try to argue and convince you about their own religious beliefs.

        Sorry. Smarter than Charley. Try harder

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    2. Jfan

      Half of the dead are female.

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        Kmregan7

        Well…yes and no. Since 90% or so of abortion take place well before there is anything remotely resembling a person exists, the sex of those zygotes and embryos haven’t been established. They may have XX, XY or even XXY chromosomes….but the sex organs in all look exactly the same until about nine weeks of pregnancy (or 11 weeks post implantation) and external genitals don’t look different until two to three weeks after that. And of course, there is the development of intersex - with no matching genitals and internal organs.
        But I’m aware it’s a common trope of those who are anti-abortion to pretend to be pro-female (they’re “murdering girls!”) while denying women moral agency and body autonomy.

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        1. Jfan

          I know 9th grade biology is hard, so here's a cheat sheet:

          XX = female
          XY = male

          I recognize everyone's moral agency. I view it as a sign of respect. When a killer is caught, I respect him or her enough to hold him or her accountable for his or her choices. Usually that means prison. What do killers usually get in your state?

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            Kmregan7

            I suppose you think biology beyond 9th grade is wrong then? One in 1000 births result in intersex babies. That is biology. Perhaps go beyond what you learned in HS - read people who are experts in this rather than your freshman biology textbook.

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        DougAz

        Nonsensical unless one is theological cultists. Oh!

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        1. Jfan

          Does that mean you think none of the dead are female?

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            DougAz

            More than half the dead in Gaza and Israel are female

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    3. Peajay66

      It appears in this case, it was his choice, not hers. The choices both parents make are important.

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        Ms. SSM

        Was she forced? I think it’s fair for a man to say to his partner “I don’t want this baby and want you to get an abortion.” Just like it’s fair for him to say “i don’t want you to have an abortion please have the child”. I think morally, absent abuse, a woman should seek the input of the potential father. It doesn’t require her to follow that input. The decision is ultimately hers.

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    Bill B

    Britney Spears??? Why?

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