Blaming Robin Williams’ Depression On Past Abortion Is Disrespectful And None Of Your Business
It has been a few days, and I am still saddened by Robin Williams’ passing. At a personal level, his suicide hit home for me because I also grew up with a father who I believe struggled with mental illness. In the aftermath in the news and on social media, I feel like I have learned a lot about depression through his passing””from the heartfelt insight of others who have been close to suicide themselves. But I would never dare speculate about the details of Robin’s death or his personal reasons for doing so. It is not my place, and it is disrespectful to his wonderful memory.
Sadly, not every media source, website, or Twitter user feels the same way. There have been plenty of trolls disrespecting Robin’s name, as well as a ridiculous pro-life site that has the audacity to imply that an abortion in the actor’s past contributed to his depression.
Life News ran a story titled ”Robin Williams: Abortion of His Unborn Child May Have Added to Struggle With Depression.” The story hypothesizes that the abortion Robin Williams and his girlfriend had in the 70s contributed to his mental state. According to Williams’ biography, the actor and his girlfriend chose abortion because they were too young and the time was not right.
Some of the most upsetting excerpts from this post were covered by Talking Points Memo:
“Many are aware that Williams struggled for years with serious addiction issues. However a lesser known fact is that one of those demons was an abortion that took place in the 1970’s,” Life News’ Kevin Burke wrote.
“Is there a relationship between Robin William’s descent into drug addiction and depression that began in the 1970’s and his past abortion?” he wrote.
The writer analyzed Williams’ battle with addiction and discussion of depression, looking for signs that it was in some way linked to the abortion.
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME. This is not okay, at all. I’m sure Robin’s family and friends would agree that the man’s memory should be preserved and ultimately left alone. Media reports providing the gruesome details of his last moments have already crossed the line. To take a nugget of information like this and use it to promote an agenda is just sick.
Why not take it a step further? Pardon my ridiculous examples, but why not claim that Robin’s depression was related to the fact that he ate processed foods? Or was or wasn’t vaccinated? Or was or wasn’t circumcised? Life News has officially taken it too far. Leave Robin Williams’ beloved legacy alone.
(Image: DFree/Shutterstock)
