Posts Categorized: Abortion
#StopTheBans: Ohio Edition
If I ask you to name which states have the worst anti-abortion laws in the country, which ones would you name? Texas? Alabama? Oklahoma? You wouldn’t be wrong, but you’d be forgetting one of the biggest offenders: Ohio. Since taking office in 2011, Governor John Kasich has signed nearly every anti-abortion measure to come across his desk – from bills to restrict access to those targeting providers. The results? The number of abortion clinics in Ohio dropped by half, leaving the majority of counties without a provider. And Ohio now has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country – unconstitutionally blocking abortion at just 20 weeks. But they won’t stop there. In this session, the Ohio Legislature continues its obsession with controlling each and every body with… Read more »
TEXAS LAWMAKERS CARE MORE ABOUT CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERS THAN THEY DO ABOUT YOU
Crisis Pregnancy Centers are essentially fake clinics. These non-medical facilities exist solely to push anti-abortion propaganda onto people seeking abortions. In the United States, there are over 4,000 Crisis Pregnancy Centers. In Texas, CPCs receive millions of dollars in funding. Through state programs like Alternatives to Abortion and the Texas Pregnancy Care Network, Texas is able to funnel state money into Crisis Pregnancy Centers. During the 2018-19 state budget debate, the Texas House approved 20 million per two-year budget cycle for the Alternatives to Abortion program. The state of Texas funnels the money through the Texas Pregnancy Care Network, making it impossible to know how much taxpayer money is going to an individual CPC or CPCs as a whole. However, we do know that over 23.5 million dollars of taxpayers’… Read more »
Restricting Abortion Access Is Not About Saving Children
Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed a bill (H.R. 36) that, if approved by the Senate and the president, would outlaw abortions after 20 weeks For many, this seems like a good thing; if you restrict how many abortions can be performed, then less people will have abortions. This is wrong. According to Planned Parenthood, about 99 percent of abortions occur before the 21 week mark, and most abortions performed at 21 weeks or after are requested because of severe health concerns to the fetus or the pregnant person. The bill as it stands now, does make exceptions for abortions after 20 weeks if an abortion “is necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman, or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.” In the… Read more »
Texas Doesn’t Care About Low Income Women’s Reproductive Health
When I think about my beloved home state, I think of many things: breakfast tacos, Selena, longhorns, wide open spaces, and crippling abortion restrictions. Seeing as I am newly minted Midwesterner for college, I have been catching up on Texas news this week to feel close to home. This week, a nonprofit government watchdog, The Campaign for Accountability, went to the District Attorney of Travis County (the county that Austin is in) with complaints against the anti-choice organization, the Heidi Group. Their filed complaint alleges that the group is guilty of theft by taking state funds for services that were never provided. After the state removed Planned Parenthood from its women’s health program in 2011, Texas saw a significant spike in births among low-income women, many of whom lost access… Read more »
Abortion is Not Just a Women’s Issue: Inclusive Reproductive Justice Signs
Unsurprisingly, a majority of the catchy slogans adopted by the reproductive justice movement are cis woman-centric. It is easy to chant about ‘a woman’s right to choose,’ just because it has become an easy shorthand. What we fail to see in doing this is that we are neglecting to acknowledge that not everybody who seeks reproductive care identifies as a woman. I am guilty of it too: I attended the Women’s March in Austin this January and chanted along with the rest of the angry mobs, “Not the church! Not the State! Women must control their fate!” Of course, I agree with the sentiment of a woman’s self-determination. However, I also want to be a better advocate for trans and nonbinary folks, particularly those who need reproductive care. In retrospect,… Read more »
How Ohio’s Government is Funneling Money into Fake Clinics
On July 1 the state of Ohio’s fiscal year 2018 budget took effect, providing $1,000,000 in funding to crisis pregnancy centers. Crisis pregnancy centers, or CPCs, are notorious for counselling people against choosing abortion, despite the fact that it is a safe method of healthcare. By contrast, Ohio only contributes money to clinics and organizations that provide abortions in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. In all other cases, these clinics and the patients that seek their services are on their own. Most CPCs are run by Christian churches or organizations with the sole goal of steering people away from abortions. They are well known for distributing distorted or completely false information about a number of reproductive health issues, from abortion to condoms to… Read more »
How President Trump’s Expansion of the Global Gag Rule Will Wreak Havoc on Communities
Another day, another shitty reproductive health policy introduced by the Trump administration that will have untold effects on millions of people around the world. Earlier this week, as the country launched its annual recognition of global health needs during National Women’s Health Week, the President announced an expanded version of the Global Gag Rule he reauthorized soon after his inauguration. The original gag bars any funding from an international health organization that promotes abortion as a medical option for ending a pregnancy, which affects the $600 million budgeted for family planning. Already harsh and dangerous, the rule has been revamped to suit the archaic and asinine appetites of anti-abortion extremists. Now, the law threatens millions of lives with the potential to inadvertently spread disease and global illness. This newest policy… Read more »
Activists! Immediate action needed to #BeBoldEndHyde
On Saturday my grandmother, my mother, my sister, my brother and I marched with more than 1 million people around the world. This, the largest feminist mobilization in decades, took place on all 7 continents. Our message was clear: the feminist future is now, and we’re here to fuck shit up. The next day, I celebrated the 44th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case with fellow marchers. We fortified our determination to protect this constitutional guarantee of bodily autonomy for all. Today, feminists are united in stopping this week’s first anti-feminist, anti-choice push by the Trump administration: making the Hyde Amendment codified law. This amendment was first instituted in 1976 and banned the use of federal funds for abortion except in cases where the life of the pregnant person was in… Read more »
The Message Trump’s America Sends to People of Color
Since Trump’s election, racial tensions have increased and there has been a rise of suicides in marginalized communities who fear the social and economic policies that Trump promised throughout his campaign. Even though Trump claimed to be representative of all people, he has proved time and time again that he has no experience conversing with people of different backgrounds, specifically through his impersonal rhetoric that devalues the humanity of anyone who isn’t like himself. It seems like Trump has taken his own example and elected people to his cabinet who hold similar, narrow-minded and harmful values. His choices for his cabinet are chilling and alarming– feelings that many people of color recognize all too well. One controversial candidate for a position on Trump’s cabinet is Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama. Alabamians, such as… Read more »
Mr. President, Say Hello to Abortion Lovers
In 8 days, the United States of America will call Donald Trump its president. With this monumental new transfer of power comes, for many people, lots of grief, anxiety, and perhaps even excitement. However, for those who have dedicated themselves to fighting for reproductive justice and freedom, the Trump administration brings with it possible feelings of defeat. President-elect Donald Trump has proven through his own words and action that, under his administration, abortion access and abortion providers will be under constant attack. And, while some may have argued that the soon-to-be president lacks the tact to accomplish a full-on attack of reproductive rights, Vice President Mike Pence’s track record proves that reproductive justice organizers have reasons to be afraid. Just months after the election, the Senate voted to repeal the… Read more »
