Category Archives: Reproductive Rights

An Open Letter to Congress

Posted in Health, Politics, Reproductive Rights by

Dear Congress-people responsible for the ridiculously-named  Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act:

Have you heard about the 2006 study* on pre-term births that revealed racism as a very real risk-factor in early labor?

African-American women at every socioeconomic level have higher rates of preterm birth and infant mortality. Incredibly, these rates exceed those of white women who have not even finished high school and those of black women who emigrated to the U.S. from other countries. For example, infant mortality in white women with a college degree or higher is 4 per 1000, while for similarly educated African-American women, the rate is 12 per 1000 births. [Source]

If that is not compelling enough check out the transcript for Unnatural Causes: When the Bough Breaks, one part of an (awesome) documentary series about health disparity in America (that I was lucky enough to be introduced to at a recent YWCA Cultural Competency training!)

I agree – racism is a serious issue – but how about we deal with the racism faced by fully-gestated people first? There are a plethora of reasons why you should care about the racism that fully-gestated people face every day (basic human decency and a sense of justice, for starters) but if none of those reasons compel you, then do so for the fetuses that you care so very much about. Fetuses who are being born pre-term because their mothers bodies are so worn down by the constant stress of racism that they cannot carry their baby to full-term, despite making every effort to do so.

Or, you know, you can keep writing bills that exploit the very real problem of racism in an attempt to screw over women of color even more. Your choice.

- A concerned voter.

*Institute of Medicine Committee on Understanding Premature Birth and Assuring Healthy Outcomes, Board on Health Sciences Policy, Behrman, R.E., and Butler, A.S. (eds.). (2006). Preterm Birth: Causes, Consequences, and Prevention. Washington, DC, The National Academies Press.

Dear Planned Parenthood,

Posted in Reproductive Rights, Take Action! by

Crossposted at Persephone!

So  you probably already heard that late Friday afternoon, the House of Representatives voted to cut all funding from Planned Parenthood. On a practical level, this isn’t so very terrifying because we can feel relatively safe in the fact the Senate will most likely shoot this bill down and, even if they don’t, Obama will most likely veto it before damage can really be done.

Still, it is times like these that drive home how crucial it is that we speak up for Reproductive Justice.

Reproductive health access and rights in the United States are far from perfect, but we’re doing much better right now than ever before. Abortion is legal (for now) and most states have at least one provider, if not more.

Even though the Hyde Amendment ensures that no federal funding can go to abortion (which also means that many insurance providers won’t cover it and many lower-income women cannot afford to pay for an abortion or the travel costs when there is only one clinic in their state), we have it much better than women who lived before Roe v. Wade. Because of this, it can be pretty easy to get complacent.

If we stop using our voices to fight for more funding for reproductive health-care (including abortions), if we stop reminding people of the awesome services that Planned Parenthood offers (HIV and other STI testing, gynecological exams, education programs, options counseling, birth control, abortion, cancer screening … the list goes on and on), if we stop pushing for more funding and more freedom and more acceptance … then, we’re in trouble because when we stop fighting, we start to lose ground.

Planned Parenthood is probably safe, for now, but if we don’t cry out as loud as we can this time, then the next time they come after our reproductive rights (and they will), the ground that we stand on will be just a little bit shakier … keep that up long enough and we could end up losing a lot of the hard-fought battles that currently rest behind us.

So take a few minutes and throw your voice in to help protect Planned Parenthood and reproductive rights in general for you and for the generations of women yet to come.

  • Officially stand with Planned Parenthood by signing the petition.
  • Post to Dear Planned Parenthood, the tumblr that my awesome friend Zaneta and I started for people to share their stories (anonymously or not) about Planned Parenthood to help paint a real, holistic picture of all the good that this wonderful organization does.
  • Blog or Tweet about Reproductive Justice, Planned Parenthood, etc.
  • Attend a Rally for Planned Parenthood (or organize one if there isn’t one near you!)
  • Donate to Planned Parenthood if you have any cash to spare!
  • Organize a Planned Parenthood Fundraiser in your community! (We’re in the midst of planning one at Ramapo – once we’ve made more progress I can share some ideas here!)

Have any more ideas? What have you done? Share your projects in the comments!

SAY NO to the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act”

Posted in Reproductive Rights, Take Action! by

I haven’t written about this yet because I am just so f*cking angry that I see red every time I try to even think, let alone write or speak, about the GOP’s attempt to redefine rape.

I am speaking of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. A bill that, “seeks to revamp the current allowances for victims of rape or incest to use government funds to pay for abortions. Instead, the bill aims to limit the rape exemption to cases of “forcible rape.” Also, the bill would make it so that federal funds would only cover abortions in cases of incest if the woman is younger than 18-years-old.”

This act is terrifying because it leaves out women who are coerced into drinking too much and losing control, or blackmailed into having sex, or tricked, or are just too paralyzed by fear to even speak let alone put up a fight… but it is also terrifying because many times even rape achieved through plain old brute force does not qualify as forcible rape in our legal system. Sometimes, even if a woman says no and the rapist acknowledges on the stand that he heard her say no… well, that’s still not rape because she didn’t fight back hard enough (maybe because she was afraid of being beaten on top of being raped, or because she is paralyzed by fear? Just sayin.) The Republican party would have us believe that this woman hadn’t been raped, even though she was forced to have sex that she didn’t want to have and had to go through the same emotional responses and struggle that any other rape survivor has to deal with… how is this okay? Its not. It wasn’t when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court levied this decision in 1994, and its no more okay today in 2011.

There’s only one thing to say: we can’t let them do this.

When I think about this bill I don’t think about it in the abstract. When I think about this bill I think about the multitudes of wonderful, strong women who I have connected with through the Rape Crisis Center, both on the phone and in person. Women who have been violated by people with no respect for them, their independence, or their autonomy. When I think about this bill I see a reflection of that same disrespect that rapists have for their targets,  because it is a bill that seeks to take bodily autonomy away from the women who need it the most.

When I speak to someone who has been sexually assaulted in any way my main goal is simply facilitating them in taking back control over their lives. Part of that control for a rape survivor could very easily mean aborting a fetus that was produced as a result of their assault. To pass legislation that would make it even harder for a rape victim to regain that control, when she is already struggling with so much uncertainty and pain inside of herself, is absolutely reprehensible.

Please, please join me in writing and calling your representative to beg them not to do this. Say what’s in your heart but please, do what you can to make it personal because if we can just get them to understand that these are lives that they are dealing with, lives of people who deserve a break not to be broken down even further… if they realize these are lives that they are playing with, there is no way this bill can pass.

Some information to help us all fight back…

Democratic Representatives Who Support the Bill:

Dan Boren [D-OK2]
Jerry Costello [D-IL12]
Mark Critz [D-PA12]
Joe Donnelly [D-IN2]
Daniel Lipinski [D-IL3]
Collin Peterson [D-MN7]
Nick Rahall [D-WV3]
Mike Ross [D-AR4]
Heath Shuler [D-NC11]

A sample letter written by a blogger, use it to help you write one of your own! If you live in a district represented by one of the Senators listed above, or if you are represented by a  Republican (who is most likely supporting this bill out of party loyalty, if not personal investment) then please, please take the time to call or e-mail them to share your story and let them know that your support for them is riding on them voting against this terrible bill.

Sign the petition!

Join in the #DearJohn twitter campaign directed at Speaker Bahner.

Make your voice heard however you can because we cannot let injustice like this pass.