Posts Categorized: Abortion
Ring the Anti-choice Alarm: The 2017 Texas Legislative Preview
Texas lawmakers have proposed a slew of anti-choice, anti-queer, anti-reproductive justice legislation for the 2017 Texas session, which will begin in January. Three laws in particular caught my eye when I reviewed the pre-filed legislation; the first would outlaw existing and future anti-discrimination ordinances, the second would mandate the burial or cremation of pregnancy-related biological tissue criminalize abortions post 20 weeks in cases of severe fetal abnormalities, and the third would criminalize abortions post 20 weeks in cases of severe fetal abnormalities. These proposed bills pose real and tangible threats to the wellbeing of Texans and our future and demand our attention and opposition. Bogus Bill #1: Senate Bill 92 overturning and preventing local anti-discrimination ordinances State Senator Bob Hall (R- Englewood) authored and filed senate bill 92, which will… Read more »
Fetal tissue burial: whatever happened with the proposed Texas rules?
Texas abortion rights activists had much to celebrate this year –namely the U.S. Supreme Court’s HB2 decision. But that joy was diminished when Texas Governor Greg Abbot suggested new fetal tissue burial codes would be enforced by the Texas Department of Health and Human Services on July 1, 2016 in the Texas Register. These proposed codes are not “laws” per se, but rather would make up the administrative guidelines issued by the Texas Department of Health Services –guidelines that medical facilities and practitioners would be forced to abide. The newly proposed codes specifically target abortion providers (the overwhelmed but powerful handful that remain) and require that fetal tissue, whether miscarried or aborted, regardless of gestational age, be interred or cremated. During a particularly painful period, I passed a thick, clotty glob of… Read more »
The Anti-Choice Movement’s Harmful Rhetoric
Facts and propaganda are not synonymous with each other. I have felt the need to say that for quite some time given the constant anti-choice rhetoric that neglects to recognize the variety of abortion experiences. The pro-life stance is a position deeply rooted in religion, which highlights life rather than quality of life. Unlike the pro-choice stance which acknowledges a woman’s autonomy, the pro-life uses partial elements of religion and propaganda to erase the experiences that women who consider abortion take, with some of them being taken to drastic levels such as the picture below. Most of the rhetoric that the pro-life movement employs is used to punish women. This concept explores fetal rights vs. the pregnant person’s rights, which is two sets of rights that are granted to one body. An… Read more »
Abortion Doulas Provide Much-needed Support
Abortion doulas! What are they, why do I love them, and where can you find one? To understand the role of an abortion doula, we should start with what a doula is generally. According to ATX Doulas, a doula service based in Austin Texas, a doula “is someone who provides continuous emotional and physical support … before, during, and after birth.” Doulas can be trained in relaxation techniques, prenatal activities to ease birth, initial breastfeeding, and can act as an advocate for their client at their birth location (be it home, hospital, or birth center). There are several organizations that offer doula training and certification, such as DONA International and Ancient Song Doula Services. While birth doulas may be the most popular type of doula (as evidenced by google search),… Read more »
The Zika Virus, Disabilities, and Pro-Choice Activism
Earlier this month, a poll taken by Harvard officials indicated a slight shift in favor of abortions in response to the Zika virus. An estimated 59% of Americans favor abortion after 24 weeks if medical records indicate that the unborn fetus has the Zika virus and has a risk of developing major birth defects. As many medical professionals try to find a cure for the Zika virus, abortion politics and the prospect of disabilities from the virus are becoming interwoven. The fear that unborn fetuses will contract the Zika virus has produced a fear of abnormalities plaguing the human race. Disabilities usually causes a shift in public opinion since it questions the morality of what makes a person and whether people with disabilities are viable. While pro-choice people might want to… Read more »
WTF Texas?! Anti-choice group tasked with providing healthcare
At the beginning of August, I was alarmed to read that the State of Texas had awarded a little over $1.6 million to an anti-choice extremist group (surprise!). Anti-choice proponent, Carol Everett, heads the Heidi Group, a group that does not provide healthcare services, but does support anti-choice clinics and agendas. This award came from a large pool of money that the state has allocated to fund the Healthy Texas Women Program, Texas’ version of Medicaid. The program is intended to provide Texans aged 15-44 with comprehensive whole health check-ups, contraceptives, and diabetes and cholesterol treatment and monitoring. Cool beans, got it, everything makes some type of sense now; Texas is working with healthcare providers across the state to ensure Texans have quality health care. Great! …Except for the small… Read more »
Writing Abortion 20 Feet High
This article originally appeared on the blog at Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes. Growing up in a small Kansas town meant a few things for me. I would forever be haunted by Wizard of Oz jokes whenever I told someone I’m from Kansas, going to Sonic with friends would be an early teen right of passage, and any road trip I took with my parents would mean driving past multiple anti-abortion billboards. These billboards varied in language, size, and quality but they all had the same message: Abortion is bad. As most people know, Kansas is notorious for its negative outlook on abortion. Although much of our state legislature is rabidly anti-choice, the majority of fellow Kansans I know are okay with abortion. One of the reasons I believe Kansas still… Read more »
Out on the Steps: Lessons Learned While #WaitingForLyle
The Supreme Court has always been my favorite branch of government. They get to wear cool robes. They’re all really smart. Their work has always seemed quasi-secretive yet life-changingly important. When I was told that part of my URGE intern duties would include waiting for the Whole Women’s Health decision on the steps of SCOTUS, I was thrilled. I was less thrilled when I spent two days on the steps #waitingforlyle in typical Washington, DC summer weather. There were more people there than I’d thought there would be, the majority of whom were anti-choice protestors, and the part of me that hates confrontation demanded to know why I had placed myself in this situation. I stood for a few hours, feeling less anxious as the crowd grew larger. I don’t… Read more »
My journey as a Catholic Reproductive Justice activist
I’m what you would call a cradle Catholic. I was baptized as a baby and I have been Catholic since. I go to Mass, read my Bible and say the rosary. I went to Catholic school from the time I was three years old until I was 14. I am also a reproductive justice activist. It is no secret the Catholic Church has always been very openly against abortion and, in a lot of cases, contraception. I don’t really know if there was ever a time where I decided and openly said that was incorrect and I was going to go against the teachings of the Church, I think it has always been a part of me. Deep down, I always knew it was wrong to deny abortion and birth… Read more »
Alabama Debates Anti-Choice Amendment
While most of Alabama has spent the past few weeks following the sexual misconduct scandal surrounding Governor Bentley, the Alabama House of Representatives quietly began debating a resolution that would add an amendment to the state constitution claiming that life begins at conception. The bill was sponsored by Decatur representative, Ed Henry, with five speakers acting on his behalf during the March 23 meeting of the Health Committee, who took no vote on the subject. According to the ACLU, such an amendment could spell the end for all abortion clinics and medications in the state, as well as removing existing exceptions to abortion laws based on rape or incest. Perhaps the biggest thing working against the law is that many forms of contraception, including birth control products like Plan B,… Read more »
