Em-URGE-ing Voices

Posts Tagged: abortion

President Obama Just Took a Big Step for Sex Education

Bless you, Barack Obama. This week, President Obama sent the U.S. Senate his proposed budget for fiscal year 2017, and he made a huge step for reproductive justice. Obama’s proposed budget cuts funding for abstinence-only sex education programs. Currently, this education is being funded by a $10 million grant from the Department of Health and Human Services. It is safe to say this grant has been a complete waste of time and has set sex education back decades. Up to this point, abstinence-only sex education has been encouraged and utilized in schools because of the funding it was receiving; this is obviously problematic. Students have been missing out on sex education that is actually informative because school districts want more money. This means young people have been inadequately informed about… 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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

Anti-Choice Propaganda Hurts Texas

Monday, October 19th 2015, Texas decided to eliminate funding to Planned Parenthood. This is why I’m pissed off. Texas largely based this decision off of the highly-edited and misconstrued videos created by an anti-choice group. Seriously. The Texas government made a decision (that affects thousands of people) off of propaganda internet videos. In the statement issued by Governor Greg Abbott’s office, it mentions this in the very first line. Following the release of gruesome videos filmed at Planned Parenthood facilities, including Gulf Coast in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott announced his LIFE Initiative to provide greater protections for children in the womb and prevent the sale of baby body parts. Unfortunately, this isn’t an episode of The Twilight Zone; this is Texas politicizing women’s healthcare. (Planned Parenthood doesn’t solely focus on… Read more »

“Grandma” is Great, But Not Without its Flaws

After watching Grandma, I left the theatre feeling like if the culmination of all past feminist victories were really just leading up to the creation of Lily Tomlin’s near perfect, badass role, I’d be happy. But, socially conscious feminist comedies about abortion can have that effect on me. Like similar films that have taken on the taboo of portraying abortion as a medical decision which women and girls are perfectly capable of making on their own terms, Grandma did an admirable job. Rather than agonize over the decision to have an abortion, the story begins with a young teenager, Sage, who’s made up her mind and needs the financial support of her grandmother Elle, played by Lily Tomlin, in order to go through with the procedure. As Sage and her… Read more »