This Week In: Abortion

Posted on May 10, 2012 by E.G. Hanna

“The Republican-led Arizona legislature has now taken measures to cut off Planned Parenthood’s access to taxpayer money funneled through the state for non-abortion services.” Use of taxpayer money for abortion was already illegal, but apparently that wasn’t good enough – now Planned Parenthood will receive no funding. It is unclear at this time exactly how this will affect its services, but it is certain that this inhibits its ability to provide health care services at a reasonable cost. For people – especially women – in Arizona without health insurance, this is a direct hit to their ability to receive lifesaving cancer screenings, STD prevention and treatment, and affordable birth control.

Utah now requires a 72 hour waiting period before an abortion. Previously, there was a 24-hour waiting period but, as of Tuesday, it has expanded to three full days. I’ll be honest: waiting period laws make me angrier than any other abortion law. There’s no pretense of protecting fetuses here; it’s all about “protecting” fragile women from their emotionally burdened lady brains. As if women need the government to remind them to think about their decision, to take it seriously! It’s insulting. The real kicker here is that there’s no loophole for non-viable fetuses, so women are forced to carry a pregnancy that could not and will not result in a live birth for three extra days which, frankly, is just plain cruel.

Wisconsin’s Planned Parenthood suspends non-surgical abortions. There is a new law in effect that “requires women visit a doctor at least three times before having a drug-induced abortion, forces physicians to determine whether a woman is being coerced into having an abortion, and prohibits women and doctors from using web cams during the procedure.” Three times? How unnecessary. In case you’re wondering about the web cam thing, they are referring to the possibility of a doctor counseling the woman about her medication via webcam – a good option when there is are a limited number of abortion providers in your state. Aside from the obvious problems here, like interfering with the relationship between the patient and her doctor and limiting a woman’s access to abortion, this poses an issue for women unique to this law – insisting that women have a surgical rather than a medical abortion. There are pros and cons to both methods (look for an upcoming post about abortion options!), but some women prefer the medical because it is more private and less physically invasive. Losing this option may make their abortion experience even more difficult for Wisconsin women.

If you live in Arizona, Utah or Wisconsin, consider contacting your representatives to let them know you’re unhappy with their shenanigans. If you want to do something about anti-choice activities in your area, contact your local representatives or sign up at Planned Parenthood Action Network to keep up to date. (Please note that our “action” site is provided by our C4, or political advocacy, arm.)

Birth Rate Among American Teens Lowest Since 1946

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Mary

In case you haven’t heard, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report last week concluding that the birth rate among American teens has reached a low not seen since 1946. Even more encouraging is the news that the birth rate has dropped among all ethnic groups, although disparities remain. Why the continued decline, you wonder?

We can attribute the decline in the teen birth rate to better access to and better use of contraceptive methods along with comprehensive sex education. Remember a few years back when President Obama cut funding to ineffective abstinence-only programs and instead funded comprehensive sex education programs? Well, now a few years later you can see that the proof is in the pudding. Comprehensive sex education programs work and the decline in the teen birth rate is proof. Once the health care bill starts making contraception even more affordable, you can bet that the teen birth rate and teen pregnancy rate will continue to decline.

Let’s get something straight, the teen birth rate ≠ the teen pregnancy rate. The pregnancy rate is always higher than the birth rate due to miscarriages and abortions. Abortions are much less common among teens than among women aged 20’s-40’s and overall, 10-15% of all confirmed pregnancies end in miscarriage (more if you count the miscarriages that occurred before the woman knew she was pregnant.)

News like this makes this sex educator very proud. I am proud to be a part of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading and most trusted provider of reproductive health care and sex education. I am proud of our well-designed and well-delivered prevention programs. I am proud of the young people that are open to being educated, who are willing to take back the power by preventing pregnancies and controlling their lives.

Feronians, where does your state rank?

We’ve Kept Abortion Legal So Far. But What About Accessible?

Posted on April 11, 2012 by E.G. Hanna

Mississippi ladies, you still aren’t safe. Even though the personhood amendment didn’t pass, the Mississippi government hasn’t given up. There is one abortion clinic in the entire state, and it may be about to close. House Bill 1390, already passed and awaiting the governor’s approval, will require that each doctor that works in the clinic have admitting privileges in a local hospital. Two major problems with this: One, many hospitals will not grant admitting privileges to out-of-state doctors, and a few of the clinic’s doctors live out of state to avoid harassment. Two, the nearby hospitals are religiously affiliated and have the right to deny any doctor admitting privileges; therefore, the doctors are unlikely to be able to comply. Governor Bryant argues that the bill is designed to “stop back-room abortions” by making sure that the doctors providing abortion services are certified OB-GYNS who may admit patients to a local hospital, if necessary. Clearly, the way to stop back alley abortions is to close your state’s only abortion clinic. For the record, the doctors at the clinic are board-certified OB-GYNs already, and lack of admitting privileges does not prevent the health center’s patients from being able to receive care, if necessary.

This bill has a good chance of becoming law soon, and what will this mean for Mississippi women? Traveling out of state is not easy for women who lack the funds, childcare, or ability to take time off work. A return to back-alley abortions is exactly what Gov. Bryant is proposing.

It’s important to remember what it was like before abortion was legal, especially for us younger women who didn’t live through that time. You can read the story of a 19-year-old’s illegal abortion in 1962 here at Alternet. As you read about her helplessness, the lack of support she had available to her, the financial strain, the travel to a foreign country, realize she was one of the lucky ones. She was able to come up with the money. She didn’t get an infection. Her uterus wasn’t perforated. She didn’t get sexually assaulted by the doctor who knew she wouldn’t be able to report it without getting in trouble herself. We can never, ever go back to this.

Let’s get real: Gov. Bryant’s statements about protecting women’s health are a lie, just like anti-choice advocates protestations about saving fetus’s lives are a lie. Law’s restricting abortion access are about restricting and punishing women’s sexuality, full stop. If this law goes through, Mississippi women are in trouble. It’s already an unhappy place for sexual health; it was found to have the highest teen birth rate in the nation a couple years ago, and schools weren’t even required to teach sex ed until last year. If this bill is signed, women in this state are going to need our help. Activists, keep watch and get ready.

Pro-Voice: Speaking Out About Abortion

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Guest Post

Today is a guest post from one of the other members of our affiliate who also works with a gender studies department at a local college.

A few weeks ago, when Rush Limbaugh attacked Sandra Fluke for talking about birth control, he reminded me of many things – first and foremost of which is that I really dislike Rush Limbaugh. After I got past the incoherent rage though, it made me think a lot about the fact that we don’t hear from many Sandra Flukes when we’re talking about reproductive health. And we hardly ever hear people’s personal stories about abortion unless it’s a pretty intimate conversation.

Politically, we talk about abortion a lot as a society. Whether a candidate supports choice is one of the main campaign issues that comes up in elections, and access to abortion services is a perennial topic in DC and in state capitals across the country. But it’s still rare to hear personal perspectives on abortion – last year, when Rep. Jackie Speier spoke about her abortion as she fought to stop the Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, her remarks were a watershed moment. No other female politician had ever spoken about her abortion so publicly.

Since 1 in 3 women in the US will have an abortion by the time we’re 45, there are a lot of stories out there that aren’t getting told. Rep. Speier isn’t the only female politician who’s had an abortion, but she remains the only one who’s talked about it so openly. Part of this is because not everyone wants to talk – deciding to end a pregnancy is a very personal decision, and even if there were no debate around abortion, some people would choose to only discuss it with a small circle of friends.

But there are some people who want to talk about their experiences, and this volatile political environment makes it much, much harder to find a place to discuss it.

In the past few years, a lot of different projects have emerged that address this – some are focused on creating a platform for women to share their stories in an apolitical space (Exhale, Backline, The 1 in 3 Campaign, The Abortion Conversation), while others create a connection between personal stories and political support for choice. (I’mNotSorry.net, the #Ihadanabortion hashtag on Twitter). But all of them highlight the multitude of stories that come from women who have had abortions.

This overall movement is often called pro-voice – all of these projects exist to create a place where people can speak about their experiences. Their reasons for speaking out vary widely and everyone’s story is unique. This variety isn’t well-suited to the often narrow structures of political debate, but reality is complex – pretending otherwise doesn’t help any of us. However, making sure that we’re listening to each other and creating ways for people to talk about their experiences openly will help us all.

FYI: I’ve worked with Exhale for a number of years as a freelancer and volunteer.

Abortion: New Language for a New Generation

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Eleanor

I was lucky enough to spend time a few weeks ago talking about the language we use as a society to describe abortion. (Not everyone’s chosen way to spend a Saturday, but you can see why I enjoy my work at Planned Parenthood now, right?)

Continuing legal access to abortion has been one of the most important – and bitterly divisive – fights of the last 39 years. And yet we’re still using the same language to talk about abortion as we were 39 years ago – choice, privacy, rights – as society has changed all around us.

It’s time for some new words.

Let me make this very clear: no one wants to make the decision to have an abortion. But that’s what we are entitled to do – make a decision, not a choice. It’s not a choice of breaking the law anymore or disappearing from your hometown in shame. It is a decision that you are legally allowed to make and no one, especially the government, should be able to take that away from you. Women are not like livestock, much to the bewilderment of a Georgia State Representative; we are empowered individuals who can decide what is best for us. No bureaucrat should be involved in important life decisions better left to a woman, her family, her doctor, and her faith.

If we have to ask permission to make a decision that we are legally entitled to make? If there are restrictions put in place to hinder us from making this decision, from 24-hour waiting periods to forced transvaginal ultrasounds to being forced to carry a stillborn fetus to term?

Then, in a very real sense, the power to make a decision on abortion has been taken away from us and we are seeking reproductive justice. It’s justice for being wronged, justice that we deserve, justice for all to make a decision on whether or not to have an abortion. It’s a difficult decision, but it’s ours to make.

I don’t know about you, but the words “choice,” “rights,” and particularly “privacy” don’t mean anything to me, a woman born post-Roe and who grew up in the Facebook era, where your life is very public. Whether or not to have an abortion is a decision that I have been able to make my entire life – and maybe you have, too.

So, what words do you think we should use when it comes to talking about abortion and reproductive health? What words resonate with you?

This Week In: Your Government, the Good, the Bad, and the Huh?

Posted on January 31, 2012 by E.G. Hanna

Obama has denied requests from religious organizations hoping to withhold insurance coverage of contraception to their employees. Under the Affordable Health Care Act, birth control will be covered as preventive care (finally!), and some religiously-affiliated businesses argued that this violated their conscience. After Obama’s decision, although churches will be exempt from providing this coverage, employees of religious universities and hospitals will soon be able to get their birth control covered regardless of their employer’s beliefs. (Psst, church employees, Planned Parenthood still has affordable birth control if you need it!)

The Republican party had their debate in Florida Thursday night. You know, I tend to get a little lazy about following primaries because I often already have firm opinions about who I’m voting for, but I do think it’s important to know what the candidates are out there saying. When candidates speak, I try to remember that they aren’t necessarily saying what they believe, but what their advisors think voters want to hear, and that allows us a glimpse at the public’s fears and desires. This debate had the super-rich Romney and Gingrich defending their controversial financial investments while also asserting that being rich just means that you work hard, and arguments over health-care reform where the focus of an attack on Romney’s Massachessets’ health care plan was that it too closely resembled Obama’s. There is a lot to unpack there, but I think my favorite part was Gingrich and Romney arguing over who is the most pro-immigrant; I was surprised to find that being too harsh on immigration was supposed to be a bad thing in the Republican party, although the old chestnut about immigrants stealing our jobs was trotted out, as usual. Did any of you watch the primary, and what did you think?

And, in your What-On-Earth news of the day, a Senator in Oklahoma has proposed a bill to ban the use of aborted human fetuses in products or food. Some questions immediately come to mind, such as: What? Why? Isn’t that…already illegal because of state infection control and biological material disposal regulations? (Yes, by the way). But it’s real. According to Senator Shortey who proposed the bill, its aim is actually to prevent use of stem cells in food products, which he states some companies have used to produce certain flavors. However, the actual language of the law states “no person or entity shall manufacture or knowingly sell food or any other product intended for human consumption which contains aborted human fetuses in the ingredients or which used aborted human fetuses in the research or development in any of the ingredients.” I’m not sure Senator Shortey is too clear on the concept of stem cell research and how it works, but I’m interested to see how the rest of the Oklahoma government responds to his proposal.

Pregnant by Choice

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Mary

Three years ago, I stood on the corner of a busy intersection, 7 months pregnant, proudly holding a sign that boasted, “Pregnant by Choice.” It was the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade and I wanted to remind people that choice means more than abortion. My mother’s pregnancy with me was unplanned, but not unwanted. It was 1979 and she had the choice to abort, but didn’t. Her boyfriend at the time wanted her to terminate the pregnancy, but she didn’t and left him instead. Take THAT for choice!

Two years ago, I stood on the same corner holding my 10-month-old in one arm and a sign in the other: “Pro-Privacy, Pro-Family, Pro-Choice.” Some young man walked past, pointed to my baby and said, “Wouldn’t she be dead?” He missed the point completely. Having a choice doesn’t mean having an abortion. Having a choice means that a woman has the right to decide what happens: parenting, adoption, abortion. Having a choice means that a woman has access to medical care, birth control, and community resources. It’s not a choice when a woman has to choose between paying for birth control and paying for her rent. Birth control should be free to all men and women who want to use it. Greater access to birth control, education, and medical care means fewer unplanned pregnancies and fewer abortions – it’s pretty simple.

This year, I again stood on that corner, reproductive justice sign in one hand, 13-week-old fetus in my uterus. I was standing next to an older feminist who actually knew what it was like to live in a time when abortion wasn’t legal and we were commenting to one another how there were so many more honks of support than in years past. I believe that the attempts to outlaw abortion (personhood, TRAP laws, etc) are helping people form their opinions about abortion AND helping them find their voice to speak up in support of the Roe vs. Wade decision. Most Americans are in support of the Supreme Court decision; many of them are just too afraid to speak up.

Before I drove down to the corner to rally, I dropped off some HIV tests at the Health Center. It just happened to be the day many abortion patients were scheduled. As I stood there on the corner looking at the few thumbs down/negative comments coming from the cars, I couldn’t help but think that these people looked just like the ones sitting in the waiting room. I know plenty of people who have had abortions, real women with jobs, families, degrees, and not one of them carries shame around with them. And you know some too – you just might not know it. After all, 1 in 3 women will have an abortion by the time they reach 45.

Happy Roe v. Wade Day!

Posted on January 24, 2012 by E.G. Hanna

As you may know, January 22nd was the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that upheld women’s right to have an abortion based on her right to privacy in her medical decisions. This decision legalized abortion in the United States, saving many women’s lives and granting them freedom over their reproductive choices.

An unmarried pregnant woman who sought abortion, a doctor who was at the time being prosecuted for performing abortions, and a married couple concerned about their future of pregnancy and contraception brought forth the class action suit in 1973. Though it was determined that only the woman (Roe) and the doctor (Hallford) had standing to sue, after a month of debate it was decided that women could not be prohibited from having an abortion in her first trimester based on the right to privacy given by the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

Thanks to this decision, most of us have grown up living in a country where abortion is legal. Most of us have never had to consider having an illegal abortion, or worry about a loved one getting sick or dying from an unsafe procedure.

It may seem, especially to younger people who have grown up with the right to have an abortion if they choose, that Roe v. Wade is a solid institution, safe and here to stay. But please, don’t take your medical privacy for granted. Enemies of reproductive rights are working hard to chip away at them, proposing laws that allow the government to intervene between you and your doctors medical decisions.

Already in Florida we have a law mandating that women view and hear a description of their ultrasound before a pregnancy, a move meant to shame and intimidate a woman seeking a termination. Personhood laws, which would outright ban abortion in the state in which they pass, are being proposed nationwide. Again in Florida, Representative Charles Van Zant is introducing for the 3rd time his Florida for Life Act that would ban abortion except if the mother’s life is at risk, a devastating move for women and an outright challenge to Roe v Wade.

Get involved in the fight, stay aware of what your politicians are working on, and don’t assume that your ability to obtain an abortion (or even birth control!) will be around forever without help. For up to date information about what’s going on in your state and how to take action, please consider signing up at the Planned Parenthood Action Center, or look at other ways to get involved at Planned Parenthood.

Abortion: Around the World, 16 Women Die Every Day

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Fosgood

One of the many things I’ve learned during my years at Planned Parenthood is that I take my job with me wherever I go. It’s not a punch-out-at-5:00 job, but one that defines me and has helped create me to be the woman I am.

A perfect example of this appeared several years ago when I was traveling to a bird research center deep in the Amazon basin. I met our guide for the week in a small port where my 3-day journey by motorized canoe began. She was twenty-one years old, born in the jungle and grew up learning about healing from her grandmother, the local midwife and healer. Spanish was her second language, German was her third and English was her fourth. Although she was not fluent in English and my Spanish is basic, we set out learning about each other’s lives with great gusto. Her dream in life was to be an OB/GYN. Since there was no opportunity for scholarships or loan programs in Peru at the time, this was a dream at best. I tried my best to explain my job as outreach educator.

At breakfast during the second day of our time together, I found her talking with great emotion with another guide. She was clearly very distressed, yet had to lead us on a hike through the jungle to a bird viewing tower. She asked if she could talk alone to me and proceeded to tell me that her dear friend had died the day before from an illegal abortion. She had advised her not to take a chance, but carry the pregnancy to term. She was shocked and amazed when I told her abortion was safe and legal in the US. Although legally Peru allows abortions in very restricted circumstances, in reality a safe, legal abortion is rarely done since they are not allowed to be performed in hospitals.

We went on to spend a fascinating week together, viewing hundreds of macaws, and hiking through the pristine rain forest where I learned about local plants that were the only medicine available to her during her childhood. And all throughout, once again, I was so very thankful to be born a woman in the United States.

When I see how cavalier some people are in the US concerning the rights to a safe legal abortion, I wish they could have been there to witness the story I heard or to speak with the volunteer I met. I wish they could have been there when I first started working for Planned Parenthood who had been an ER nurse when abortion was illegal, whospoke of the room where they placed women every weekend to die from infections or botched abortions. I wish they could have been there to meet the volunteer who was so impassioned to work with us because she was left sterile by an abortion she had as a teen when no safe option was available.

Want to learn more about abortions around the world? Click here.

Blogging for Choice: What Roe v. Wade Means to Me

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Eleanor

Today is the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark court case that made abortion legal in the United States. It’s a day to mark and celebrate our current reproductive freedom. It’s a day to think about the thousands upon thousands of women who died in back-alleys because they weren’t yet ready to have children. It’s a day to think about what Roe means to you.

Having been born more than a decade after Roe, it never meant much to me other than in the abstract – women in the United States, including me, could take control of their reproductive lives and I was happy for it. That’s how many women of my generation feel. But Roe suddenly took on much more meaning for me on an ordinary day at a nondescript Mexican restaurant when my mother told me she had gotten an abortion.

My white, middle-class, middle-of-the-road mother had an abortion? I was shocked. When she told me the details – that a few years after she and my father had their very-much-wanted children, she had accidentally gotten pregnant while on a prescription medication that caused harm to a fetus and the fetus wouldn’t have been able to live outside the womb – all of the sudden, keeping abortion legal became very personal and very real.

I wish more mothers would tell their daughters or their sisters or even the men in their lives about their experiences with abortion – it makes us, all of us, realize just how important legal abortion is. For me, in the short term, it’s made my mom and me closer; I know that if I was ever in a similar situation, she would be a source of support for me, important information for any daughter to know. In the long-term, it’s solidified my already strong support of Roe v. Wade and made me want to fight for and keep reproductive rights in this country so that women can make the choice that’s right for them.

In a world where more than half of abortions are unsafe and women are still dying every day in those back-alleys, give a little thought to what you can do to fight for Roe v. Wade. Sign up for Planned Parenthood’s action alerts; donate a few dollars to Planned Parenthood, NARAL, or Emily’s List; support a friend in her time of need.

Abortion is a safe, outpatient, and legal procedure in the United States – and it needs to stay that way.

(Today’s blog is a part of NARAL’s Blog for Choice Day. FYI: Tomorrow’s post will be talking about one of those women in one of those back-alleys around the world.)

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