Posts Tagged: roe
Sending Love to our Abortion Providers
This week we commemorate the ruling of Roe v. Wade that made abortion legal in our country. In doing so, the doctors who provide abortion services need to be appreciated for their tremendously important work to keep equal healthcare rights alive in the United States. Since Roe was enacted, there have been many attempts to undermine accessibility to abortion and overturn the ruling to keep it legal. Over the past forty-two years, there have been many federal attacks to dismantle equal rights for women. From the Hyde Amendment to Planned Parenthood v. Casey to the rise of state restrictions on reproductive health providers, the doctors who choose to continue to provide abortion services are extremely valuable to anyone who supports equal rights. With all of this documented federal pushback it… Read more »
Make Roe Real: A World Without Roe
Thank you to the world of Roe. It’s been 41 years since the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision, making abortions legal in the United States. When talking about Roe, it’s important to remember we are all making efforts to not only make Roe real, but keep Roe a reality. A way to do that is to reflect on what society would look like in a world without the important SCOTUS decision. Lawmakers and legislators around the country are slowly bringing down the pillars to safe and legal abortions. Though it’s legal, anti-choice groups are doing everything they can to restrict access and to put up as many barriers as possible to it. If they continue winning these legislative victories, the court decision might be stripped of all its power… Read more »
Make Roe Real: The Story of Gerri Santoro and Others
In 1964, an image of a young woman named Geraldine Santoro made history. Gerri, as she liked to be called, lived in Connecticut with her two children, recently separated from an abusive husband. After her separation she’d met a man named Clyde Dixon and began their extramarital affair in secret and eventually became pregnant by him. Gerri’s husband, Sam, had plans of visiting their daughters, and fearing for her life Gerri made a decision to terminate the pregnancy by any means possible. On June 8th in 1964, Gerri and Clyde checked into a hotel in Connecticut with the intention of doing the procedure themselves. When Clyde realized that Gerri was beginning to hemorrhage he fled, leaving Gerri to die alone, bloody, and in agony. Gerri’s body was found the next… Read more »
Make Roe Real: Buffer Zones, and Drawing the Line Between Freedom of Speech and Violence
In the summer of 2012, I attended the Youth Organizing Policy Institute (YOPI) hosted by Planned Parenthood. It was the first reproductive policy conference (or hell, first conference of ANY kind) I’d ever attended. I was excited and energized to get started on meeting other young people passionate about the same issues I was. The conference itself was being held in Denver, inside the facilities of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains—a Planned Parenthood clinic that’s known for the anti-choice protesters that hang around outside it. The hotel where most conference goers stayed was right across the street from the clinic, so we were informed of how easy it’d be to walk to over to the conference. We were also warned about the anti-choice protesters we might encounter outside the… Read more »
Make Roe Real: How I Make My Personal Life Political
This week marks the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the famous Supreme Court Case that “guaranteed” the right to abortion to American women. But as we discussed just last month, subsequent court cases like Planned Parenthood v Casey seriously compromised the Roe promise, especially for young people. Limited funding and restrictive laws like parental notification requirements make it hard for young and low-income people to get the abortion care that they may need. There are many ways to help make the promise of Roe real for everyone. As a young, generally broke, over-committed college student I sometimes worry that I don’t have the monetary or social capital to really make a difference. But then I remember that the personal is political and by sweating the small stuff, fighting the… Read more »
Let’s Pledge to Make Roe Real
Written by Andrew Jenkins, URGE Field Associate In a few short days we’ll be celebrating a historic moment in the reproductive health and rights movement: the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade. As a young person, it can be hard to see what it is we’re actually celebrating though. Despite the misguided and pervasive notion that young people don’t get it, we’re facing some of the most strenuous, insurmountable obstacles to reproductive freedom this country has ever seen. For many young people today, Roe has very little meaning beyond its symbolic gesture. So how do we mark the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, when, in 2013, access to safe and affordable abortion is not a reality for so many people in… Read more »
Roe v. Wade, Young People and the Supreme Court
ThinkProgress recently published a fantastic yet depressing report on the Supreme Court’s gradual and subtle weakening of Roe v. Wade which has effectively nullified the right to an abortion in the United States. For many young people, reports like these may be one of the first instances where court cases that occurred after Roe v. Wade become visible. Planned Parenthood v. Casey has serious implications for young people in the United States, specifically legal minors and those who may need financial assistance. In Casey, the Supreme Court ruled that a state could impose 24-hour waiting periods and parental consent requirements without violating Roe v. Wade’s abortion guarantee. But for many young people, requirements like these effectively violate their right to the entire offering of reproductive choices.
The Yellow Brick Road to Freedom
To me writing about Roe v. Wade in 2013 is really just a practice in futility. On the 40th anniversary of this watershed moment in the history of civil liberties in America, it is spent celebrating the victories of our elders, while others march in mourning. For the past week the thought that’s been running through my head is – so what? As a woman of child bearing age, what is Roe really doing for me these days? I know this seems harsh and you may think I should be sitting here telling you all the great things Roe has provided for me and millions of other women. I don’t mean it to take away the historical significance – I agree it was huge. Key word: was. 40 years after… Read more »
Roe v. Wade: to 40 years, Infinity, and Beyond!
Next Week is the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion inUnited States Over the past 40 years we have seen opponents make numerous attempts to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision and to outlaw public funding for abortion care entirely, but recently, these efforts have become way too extreme. Government funding for abortions has been illegal since the Hyde Amendment passed in 1976, but it’s so much more than that. If public funding was outlawed, no woman could use her private insurance to cover an abortion. In a society with the internet and technology more present and user friendly– and therefore influential–than ever before, we’ve seen more and more women and girls taking matters into their own hands; risking their lives because they… Read more »
In Honor of the 39th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade: Doubling Down on Our Investment in Young People
As we commemorate the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and honor the legacy of the reproductive rights advocates that came before us, we must remain vigilant in our struggle for social justice. While Roe v. Wade played an important role in shaping reproductive health and rights in this country, the battle is far from over. Young people know this very well. We understand that in order for us to truly win reproductive justice for all, we have to look at the entire picture. The legal right to an abortion loses its value when state and local barriers prevent young people, communities of color, LGBT people, and low-income families from accessing basic health care services. Age-restrictions on emergency contraception. Parental notification and consent laws. Mandatory waiting periods. Personhood initiatives.
