Posts Categorized: Abortion
My Premature Birth and Pro-Choice Activism Are Not at Odds
In my final semester of college, I had to make a film. With my degree in sight and 16 years of academic struggle and achievement behind me, I decided to make it about the people who made it all possible: my parents. I told the story of my parents’ decade-long struggle to have a child to the heads of the television and film department at my school, won a grant, and was on a flight home to surprise my parents in no time, camera in hand. After a few weeks’ work, I had this: I posted my little film online frequently, wanting my parents’ story to be seen, wanting to honor them, wanting to thank them. I imagine that pausing my usual stream of statuses and links about reproductive justice… 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 »
My Personal is Political (But Not Too Personal)
I’m a very private person. Like, exceedingly private. People describe me as reserved, even if I’m feeling really social. If I took one of those online personality quizzes, I’d get the “silent but judging you” result, but you’d never know because I’d never share it on Facebook. Being a proud introvert can make being a woman who writes about reproductive justice difficult. Because if you take a look around the vast world of feminist blogging, you’ll notice that sharing intimate details of our daily lives is assumed to be a prerequisite to getting exposure. This approach rests on the faulty logic that to convince someone that being a woman in society can be difficult, uncomfortable, and demoralizing we have to expose personal experiences. Being a feminist blogger shouldn’t require that… 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 »
Reverse Abortions are Pseudoscience
According to most studies, very few people regret having an abortion. This, however, does not stop unlicensed “crisis pregnancy centers,” staffed by activists (many of whom have no medical training), from proselytizing to people who want to make the decision to have an abortion in a safe environment. Said pregnancy centers often give people false information about abortions, including any of these things published by hopeafterabortion.com. Their lies include: abortions make women “155 percent” more likely to have suicidal behavior and “138 percent” more likely to have mental health problems than “women who have given birth.” Now, one anti-choice physician is claiming that people can reverse the effects of an abortion, without a shred of medical evidence to back it up. According to advocates of “reverse abortion,” all it takes to… Read more »
Abortion Speakout harkens Back to Pro-choice Activism’s Roots
On January 19th, over 100 people shared their abortion stories during a six hour live-streamed Abortion Speakout hosted by the 1 in 3 Campaign, a grassroots organization dedicated to ending the shame people are made to feel about their abortion . Dubbed the “people’s brief” to the Supreme Court, the speakout provided a platform for people from around the country to share their experiences and respond to the Supreme Court’s decision to review one of the most important abortion cases in two decades. The virtual Speakout brought a decidedly vintage political strategy into the 21st century. Providing a platform for people who have had an abortion to tell their beautifully complex stories free of shame is an unflinchingly radical practice which predates the “right to privacy” celebrated in Roe v. Wade in 1973. Before Roe,… Read more »
My Experience Calling Crisis Pregnancy Hotlines
Have you ever gone on a road trip that involved northern Florida and southern Georgia? If you haven’t, don’t worry—you’re not missing much. The only interesting thing to look at is the abundance of billboards. They either advertise massage parlors catering to truckers, Jesus and when he’s coming back, or phone numbers to call if you’re pregnant and scared and considering that dreaded word: abortion. Even if you haven’t been on this particular (excruciatingly long) stretch of road, I’m sure you’ve seen similar signs, whether just posted alongside the road or on full-size billboards. The message is usually the same: Pregnant? Scared? Call this number! Sometimes the image depicts somebody with their head in their hands. Sometimes it’s an infant. I decided to give a few ‘pregnancy crisis hotline’ numbers… 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 »
We Said We Would Never Go Back
We said we would never go back to coat hangers. It’s 2015 and reproductive health care and the right to a safe abortion are consistently in question. As a result, another woman has attempted an abortion on her own using a metal coat hanger. As if that’s not bad enough, the woman was arrested and charged with attempted murder. It’s past time that we realize that restricting access to safe medical treatments has dangerous consequences, and that people who try to end pregnancies without the help of a medical professional shouldn’t be punished or criminalized for their actions. The most recent case of a woman self-inducing comes from Tennessee. Tennessee maintains strict restrictions on abortion including a ban on all procedures past twelve weeks pregnant, and a requirement that women… Read more »
