Actress Martha Plimpton, best known for her role in the 1985 cult classic "The Goonies", sparked controversy on Twitter after bragging she had her "best" abortion in Seattle.
Fox News reports that in a video shot in June, the actress was being interviewed by controversial author Dr. Willie Parker at a #ShoutYourAbortion event in Seattle, when she recounted her first abortion at age 19.
"Seattle has some particular significance for me for lots of reasons," the 46-year-old actress said. "I've got a lot of family here, some of whom are here in the audience tonight. I also had my first abortion here at the Seattle Planned Parenthood!"
"Notice I said 'first'...and I don't want Seattle - I don't want you guys to feel insecure, it was my best one," she continued as the audience laughed.
"Heads and tails above the rest," she said. "If I could Yelp review it, I totally would. And if that doctor's here tonight, I don't remember you at all, I was 19. I was 19, but I thank you nonetheless."
While Plimpton - whose Twitter handle says "Pro-choice/repro justice and proud of it" - was applauded by the audience, not everyone was thrilled with her lighthearted attitude toward abortion.
"'Goonies' star brags about her abortions. What a disgusting human being," tweeted conservative writer Mark Romano.
"That's disgusting and disturbing not just b/c of her attitude but the crowd actually applauding this mess! Downfall of society!" tweeted another.
"Abortion is the killing of a human. Using the term "pro choice" doesnt [sic] change that. Does the baby get a choice? Abortion is wrong," tweeted Frank Wolf.
Chris Baxter simply quoted Luke 17:2: "Whoa to him that harms little ones - better that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
According to the New York Times, the controversial #ShoutYourAbortion campaign was started by Amelia Bonow, 30, who posted on Facebook on Sept. 19 that she had had an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Seattle last year. She said she wanted to "encourage women who had kept their abortions secret to speak up - in an effort to reframe the debate on the subject."
"A shout is not a celebration or a value judgment; it's the opposite of a whisper, of silence," she said in an interview. "Even women who support abortion rights have been silent, and told they were supposed to feel bad about having an abortion."
While the hashtag was applauded by pro-abortion advocates, it was criticized by those who viewed it as "celebrating murder."
Michele Bachmann, the former Republican member of the House of Representatives, who briefly ran for president, said on Twitter, "#ShoutYourAbortion gives a new meaning to macabre."
Another hashtag, #ShoutYourAdoption, was created in response to the #ShoutYourAbortion campaign, for those who had chosen adoption over abortion, drawing more than 8,000 responses.
"When you're faced an unwanted pregnancy, you can choose the heartbreak of placing a baby for adoption, or you can end the baby's life," said Liberty Pike of Portland, Ore., who works for Oregon Right to Life. "I think the right to life should always trump the right to live as you choose."
