Em-URGE-ing Voices

Posts Categorized: Abortion

What I Learned Escorting at an Abortion Clinic

When a friend of mine told me she went “escorting” on weekends I wrongly assumed she meant either she was joking or working nights to pay for college. What she actually meant, I learned, was that she helps escort people into an abortion clinic in town. On Saturday mornings, she will stand in front of a local abortion clinic with a bright orange vest and an umbrella, offering to walk into the clinic with patients. Her job involved calmly talking to the patients, offering to help them into the clinic, asking them about their day, and other things of that nature. This may not seem necessary to some readers, except these patients have to, on a weekly basis, deal with overt and cruel harassment from a crowd of people standing… 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 »

Pregnancy and Incarceration: Intersectional Justice

Reproductive justice within prison communities does not get discussed nearly enough. People who are pregnant and incarcerated are subject to many injustices. These injustices are particularly felt by low income communities and people of color. This week there was a workshop held at my school to talk about these issues hosted by Students United for Reproductive Freedom (SURF), our URGE branch. They write, “The mainstream pro-choice movement focuses on protecting the right to choose abortion, but the right to carry your pregnancy to term safely and with full agency is often overlooked. However, in the United States today, the personhood of pregnant people is systemically under attack. Fetal personhood legislation, the “War on Drugs,” and the medical industrial complex all chip away at the humanity of pregnant persons, and these… Read more »

Call It Anti-Choice, Not Pro-Life

I’ve never understood why “pro-choice” and “pro-life” are considered to be opposites. More specifically, I’ve never understood why people are called pro-life when they would be more accurately referred to as anti-abortion or anti-choice. Why? Because a lot of “pro-life” people aren’t even what I’d consider to be pro-life. Breaking the label down, pro-life means that you’re in support of, well, life, just as pro-choice means you’re in support of the right to choose. Making “pro-life” the antithetical adjective to “pro-choice” makes it seem like the two are opposite. But I consider myself to be very much pro-choice and also very much in support of life. By that, I mean that I support the right to live how you should choose to live. The right to a good life. The right… Read more »

Purvi Patel’s Imprisonment and the Implications of Anti-Choice Laws

Yesterday, thirty-three year old Purvi Patel of Indiana was sentenced to twenty years of imprisonment on the charges of feticide and neglect. Patel was sentenced with thirty years of jail time on charges of neglect, six years for infanticide (to be served at the same time as the neglect charges), and is likely to spend five years time on probation post-prison. RH Reality Check coverage of the news described Patel as an Indian American who, “lived in a conservative Hindu household in which it was expected that she would not engage in premarital sex, and wanted to keep the pregnancy a secret from her parents.” Purvi Patel sought medical care at St. Joseph Hospital, a Catholic organization, after she was experiencing bleeding. According to the Vatican’s Catechism 2270, the Catholic Church… Read more »

7 Documentaries About Abortion You Can Watch Right Now

View image | gettyimages.com Because Women’s Herstory Month is coming to a close and because I am an URGE Student Journalist, I decided to create a list of documentaries about abortion. Some of these films are available on Netflix while the other films can be found on external sites. I for one, believe in the power of films to change perceptions, create new perspectives, and start dialogues. Here they are: 1. After Tiller (Available on iTunes)  Directors: Martha Shane and Lana Wilson This film discusses the life and legacy of Dr. Georgia Tiller.  Before his assassination in 2009 in Wichita, Kansas, he was one of five people in the United States still performing third-trimester abortions. Furthermore, the documentary examines the lives of women who seek third-term abortions. It also focuses on the… Read more »

Florida Bill Further Restricts Abortion Access

A lot of crazy stuff comes out of Florida. We even have a Twitter called “Florida Man” for all those ridiculous headlines (“Florida Man Seen Riding Around Town With Iguanas Duct-Taped to Bicycle;” “Florida Man Steals $85,000 Worth of Pizza Cheese”). But in the past few weeks, the crazy stuff that’s been happening is more sigh-inducing than laugh-worthy. Florida has banned using the terms “climate change” and “global warming” by state employees. A discriminatory transgender “bathroom bill” has passed a second House committee. And passed by the House in the last week: a bill that would require a waiting period before having an abortion. According to the Florida House of Representatives, HB633 “revises conditions for voluntary and informed consent to termination of pregnancy.” The bill was approved by the House… Read more »

Your Pro-Choice Cheat Sheet: How to Respond to Anti-Abortion Arguments

Last week, my school was “lucky” enough to play host to an anti-abortion group called Creating Equal. The group stopped by for two days as part of their annual “justice ride,” in order to spread propaganda and put down the pro-choice movement. Their argument was based on the fact that abortion is “ageism” and the group showed pictures of “abortions,” as well as a video of what an abortion looks like (on a large screen in the middle of campus, no less). When students realized what was happening, they formed a counter-protest, complete with safe spaces to help those who were triggered by the images. Arguments over ethics and the pro-choice movement littered Facebook and one counter-protest participant admitted that an anti-abortionist had her talking in circles. I get it…. Read more »

My Pro-Choice Is About More Than Abortion

Last Friday, I stumbled upon an article originally published by “VICE UK.” The headline, “Being Pro-Choice Isn’t Just About Abortion,” is what drew me in. The article asserts that the pro-choice movement needs to focus on the rights of pregnant and birthing individuals, as well as reproductive rights in general. Author Rebecca Schiller says that, “When we move beyond talking about the choice not to be pregnant (valid and important) to a choice within pregnancy (as valid, as important) the message that women should be guardians of what goes on in their uteruses seems to get lost.” At its root definition, though, the term “pro-choice” means what Rebecca Schiller advocates for. By being pro-choice, you believe in the right for a person to make a decision on their own—whether that… Read more »