Em-URGE-ing Voices

Posts Tagged: abortion access

Alabama’s SB 205: a New Spin on TRAP Laws?

As of 2014, Alabama has five abortion clinics.  Today, the House Health Committee is having a public hearing on Senate Bill 205, which could force clinics to relocate or ultimately shut down, further decreasing our already limited access to abortion providers. SB 205 would prohibit the renewal of licenses for abortion clinics within 2,000 feet of a school—the same distance required of sex offenders. Not only does this distance and the association with sex crimes make obtaining an abortion seem like an illicit act—Senator Paul Sanford, who proposed the bill, even stated that if they can limit a pedophile’s proximity to a school, they should be able to do the same with the clinics—but it also comes across like yet another law imposed in the hopes of shutting down clinics… Read more »

States are Continually Attacking Abortion Access

Since Texas’s anti-abortion bill, HB2 made it to the Supreme Court, many other states have followed suit with similar anti-choice legislation. Louisiana has recently tried enforcing legislation from a 2014 clinic regulation law that would close all but 1 of the abortion-providing clinics in the state. However, the Supreme Court blocked the law until the courts reach a decision about HB2. Although some clinics have already had to cease operation due to this law. On March 2nd, Oklahoma joined in on the frenzy and passed a bill that would require anti-abortion curriculum to be taught at all of the state’s public high schools. This goes beyond abstinence-only education, and goes as far as asserting the “evils” of abortion. It’s important to note that Oklahoma doesn’t have any sort of required… Read more »

Three Takeaways from the Biggest Abortion Case of Our Generation

This week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments about the Texas HB2 case, Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt. HB2 is a bill in the Texas  legislature that would further restrict abortion access in the state. If put into full effect, this bill will close down all but ten clinics. Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt can change the way abortion cases and reproductive justice is handled state by state from here on out. This precedent could revolutionize reproductive justice and the law. Here are three takeaways from the case thus far. Three Women Occupying Seats on the Supreme Court is Revolutionary                                                      This is the first time the… Read more »

Planned Parenthood Research Shows Our Worst Fears Coming True

Recently, two Texas researchers co-authored a study that said exactly what we already know — as Planned Parenthood centers crumble, so does access to healthcare. The study shows an increase in low-income women having children because they lack access to affordable healthcare. These findings could mean rises in unintended pregnancies that are carried to full term among low-income families in other states that defund Planned Parenthood. It also means people who are using birth control for medical reasons, such as to curb extremely painful periods, will not have  access to contraceptives anymore. It means people will not have access to affordable cancer screenings. It means our ability to make decisions with our bodies is, like we predicted, being taken away. Of course, as a result of this study, these researchers are dealing… Read more »

Shattering the Stigma: What #AbortionPositive Means to Us

It’s been 43 years since Roe v. Wade legalized abortions nationwide. It’s been 43 years of anti-choice propaganda attacking people for their right to an abortion. It’s been 43 years of abortion activists shifting to a more “moderate” rhetoric and using terms such as “women’s health” in an effort to try to gain more supporters. It’s been 43 years of people being shamed for their abortions. Today, with the launch of the #AbortionPositive campaign, we are taking steps to changing that negative narrative. We are taking the word “abortion” back. We are wiping the stigma away by proudly using the word “abortion.” Trust me, there will be plenty of naysayers trying to stop us from being abortion positive, like those who passed 318 laws to restrict abortion access since 2010…. Read more »

#DearDebbie, We’re Right Here

#DearDebbie, I must inform you that you have recently committed one of the deadliest sins against millennials by calling us complacent. To us, “complacent” is a synonym for “lazy,” “entitled,” and “apathetic.” None of which are true descriptions of our generation, but are all a part of the “millennials-don’t-do-shit” dialogue that is often used to silence and discourage young adults. This myth of the “complacent youth” is one that we hear time and time again. We’re used to hearing it from our opposition, so pardon us, when we get aggressive hearing it from someone who is supposed to be right on board with fighting the good fight with us. This rhetoric is harmful. When used by our opposition, it is a manipulative tactic used to discredit us and take away… Read more »

They Can’t Hyde It From Us

Today marks the anniversary of a dark day in America’s history. On September 30th, 1976, the Hyde Amendment was passed. If you’re friends on social media with anybody with the slightest interest in reproductive justice, I’m sure you’ll hear about this today, and maybe you already know what it is, but if you’re curious, I’ll answer your questions now. Let’s start with the basics. What is the Hyde Amendment? The Hyde Amendment bans federal funding of abortions, with Medicaid being the primary target. Exceptions are made for rape, incest, and danger to the mother’s life. Well that doesn’t seem so bad. Maybe it’s a budget thing. Hasn’t Medicaid funding been banned for other conditions? Actually, no. Abortion is the “only procedure that has ever been banned from Medicaid.” Can’t people find… Read more »

Telemedicine Bans Hurt Rural People

Last year, I found a woman bleeding through her dress at a gas station 20 minutes from where I live. She asked me for a ride to Winn-Dixie, where she proceeded to tell me about all the terrible things her family had done to her and how it had left her with STIs she couldn’t cure because she can’t afford to get anywhere in town, let alone pay for repeated visits to a doctor. And that’s not to mention the children her marital rape left her with — children she could neither afford to care for, and whom she deliberately punished for being the result of her husband’s abusive attitude (note that this is not the norm). She lamented the fact that she could not get an abortion, but did… Read more »

Everything is Bigger in Texas, Except for Abortion Access

In 2013, Texans, yet again, had to endure other people making decisions about our bodies for us. When I say for us, I don’t mean to benefit us, I mean taking the decision out of our hands and the right to our bodies away. Wendy Davis fought for Texans in her pink tennis shoes and famous filibuster, unfortunately, HB2 was still passed in Texas. All clinics were required to meet ambulatory surgical center standards and abortion doctors were required to have local hospital-admitting privileges. The local requirement means a hospital within 30 miles and Texas is huge. There are rural areas all over this state. In 2012 there were 41 clinics open, if HB2 becomes fully implemented, only ten clinics will remain. Ten. Let that sink in. Everything is supposed… Read more »