Lena Dunham Takes Full Responsibility For Mistranslation Of Abortion Joke

Lena Dunham has clarified that an objectionable comment she made about wishing she had had an abortion on her podcast was intended as a joke, and subsequently apologised for the insensitive manner in which it came across. She has donated to an abortion charity in her contrition.

The 'Girls' star, who has been a staunch pro-choice activist for many years, apologised yesterday (December 20th 2016) for comments made on her Women of the Hour podcast. On the episode, the 30-year-old actress spoke about the stigma behind pregnancy termination and how she was asked to share her abortion story at a Planned Parenthood event in Texas, but immediately informed the person asking that she she's never had an abortion.

'I wanted to make it really clear to her that as much as I was going out and fighting for other women's options, I myself had never had an abortion', she said. 'And I realized then that even I was carrying within myself stigma around this issue. Even I, the woman who cares as much as anybody about a woman's right to choose, felt it was important that people know I was unblemished in this department.'

She went on to say that 'it was a really important moment for me then to realize I had internalized some of what society was throwing at us'; an honest and fair enough observation you would've thought, but then the comedienne went a step further by concluding her thoughts with, 'Now I can say that I still haven't had an abortion, but I wish I had.'

Now Lena has taken to Instagram to express regret for her words. 'I truly hope a distasteful joke on my part won't diminish the amazing work of all the women who participated', she said. 'My words were spoken from a sort of 'delusional girl' persona I often inhabit, a girl who careens between wisdom and ignorance (that's what my TV show is too) and it didn't translate. That's my fault. I would never, ever intentionally trivialize the emotional and physical challenges of terminating a pregnancy.'

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She added that reproductive choice is something she takes very seriously and insisted that her life 'is and always will be devoted to reproductive justice and freedom'.

'You know how in some households you curse and have to put money in a jar? Well in mine, if you mess up your pro-choice messaging you have to give a sizable donation to abortion funds in New York, Texas and Ohio', she concluded.