Abortion Gang

New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie likes to gloat about how Democrat lawmakers have forced the state to such an insolvent position that its bond rating was slashed from AA to AA-. He claims that when he tried to warn lawmakers in the past about the implications of New Jersey’s generous state employee pension and benefit plans, he was called “Chicken Little.” As he crows that the “sky is falling,” following the bond rating downgrade, which means New Jersey will have to pay higher interest rates on future bond issues, he leaves out his own decision to not make the annual pension fund contribution of $3.1 billion last year.

He also leaves out his decision to veto a bill just days ago that was passed by the state legislature, which would have required New Jersey to allocate $1.1 million to family planning for low income women in order to receive $15.1 million in federal Medicare and Medicaid funding.

None of that funding would have been used for abortions. Instead, it would have provided for women to receive necessary healthcare like Pap smears, cervical exams, birth control and other family planning. Planned Parenthood of New Jersey is one provider of these crucial women’s health services. Studies have shown that every $1 spent on birth control means a savings of 3.74 Medicare and Medicaid dollars.

(more…)

Living in New Jersey, it is only recently that I began to worry about the status of abortion care in my state. However, the recent “expose” of Planned Parenthood in Perth Amboy, N.J. has underscored the fact that abortion, currently available to women without parental notification, invasive ultrasounds, or other nonsense that is required in nearby Pennsylvania and other states, is under attack here in New Jersey. Having never been to that Planned Parenthood, it is impossible for me to say whether or not the worker in question acted illegally, or even irresponsibly.

But, for argument’s sake, let’s say that she did.

Let’s say that one worker at one abortion clinic behaved in a manner that we all can agree is inappropriate.

Should that somehow be extrapolated to mean that all abortion clinic workers are amoral? Should abortion be outlawed on the basis that anyone who works in a clinic will also be a sex trafficker?

Of course not.

When Mary Kay Letorneau made the news years ago for having an affair with her student – an action that we all agree was wrong – no one thought we should mandate homeschooling to protect children from predatory teachers.

When the Enron scandal erupted nearly ten years ago, no one tried to eliminate accountants. In fact, as a direct result of the Enron scandal the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed, which created jobs for thousands, if not millions, of accountants.

(more…)

In the state of Texas, if you want to have an abortion you have to do so much more than just locate a clinic and scrounge up a few hundred dollars to pay for the procedure. Here are some of the hoops you have to jump through:

• Listen to lecture on “fetal pain” (although it has been scientifically proven that fetuses cannot feel pain until 23 weeks).
• 24 hour waiting period … so get ready to take not one, but two days off from work, ladies!
• Despite the National Cancer Institute concluding that there is no link between abortion and breast cancer, get ready for a stimulating lecture on the topic.
• Every woman feels different emotions after an abortion – some even feel relief to no longer be pregnant! – but in Texas and five other states, you will be told that you will feel depressed, and may even be suicidal post abortion.

Louisiana leaves out the psycho-babble and breast cancer fiction, but adds in a required ultrasound. Alaska likes to spin a good yarn, and tells women seeking abortions in Sarah Palin’s homeland that they will get breast cancer … right after they cause the fetus (no matter how small) pain while murdering it.

Texas Governor Rick Perry wants to up the ante for women seeking an abortion by requiring them to undergo a sonogram at least 24 hours prior to accessing a legal abortion. He wants it so badly, in fact, that he has made his bill, Senate 16, into “emergency legislation” that the state legislators must decide on within 30 days.

Is there a reason for any of these steps? No. Getting an abortion is not a scavenger hunt, nor is it an application to college or for a summer job.

(more…)

It is scary to admit this, but the anti-choice gains in the states and Congress do put women’s rights to their own bodies at risk now, and in the future. In the past year alone so many bills have come before state legislatures that would all but eliminate abortion in those states. While I live in New Jersey, a state so small that were abortion to be outlawed I could go to any one of three or four nearby states within an hour or two to have an abortion, many states are so physically large that if abortion is not available to a woman in that state, then it will not be available to her at all.

Meanwhile, as I write this there is a war being fought on the floor of Congress over the “Obamacare” health care act passed last year. Rep. Boehner, the House’s Republican Speaker gave a press conference, with the express goal to “make clear that taxpayer funding of elective abortion will not be the policy of this government.” Rep. Smith, from New Jersey (no, not my district), gave a speech filled with anti-choice dialect and vitriol, saying, that their bill, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” will mean that taxpayers “no longer are coerced into using taxpayer money to subsidize the killing of an unborn child.”

1 in 3 women will have an abortion before she is 45 … and every last one of those women is a taxpayer as well. But that logic eludes these anti choice men, whose numbers have swelled to the point where they may be able to pass their laws. They may be able to coerce women into having unwanted pregnancies because they cannot afford to have an abortion. Smith had the gall to intimate that taking away federal funding for abortion would mean reducing the need for abortion, arguing that abortion rates drop without federal subsidies.

Yes, the number of women who are able to access legal, safe, abortions goes down when more women cannot afford them. Of course, that does not mean that just as many women do not need abortion access. Only that they are being forced to underground abortion providers, like Gosnell, that they are carrying a pregnancy to term that they do not want and cannot afford. Because if a woman cannot afford an abortion, then what makes Boehner, Smith, or any other anti choice proponent think she can afford to take care of herself and have a healthy pregnancy? Afford expensive hospital bills when she gives birth?

And even if they are to patronize women with the offer of a free hospital stay to give birth, who are they to belittle women – who are taxpayers just like they are – into being no more than cows giving birth to veal in a pen? It is scary that a country that was founded on principles of liberty and justice for all has leaders at every level of government who have thoughtlessly thrown away my rights to my own body.

Every New Year’s, we think about how to improve ourselves, for personal reasons, for professional reasons, and to make the world a better place. This year, in addition to making our own personal New Year’s resolutions, the Abortion Gang has compiled a list of resolutions that we would like ourselves and others to undertake:

For the mainstream pro-choice organizations to embrace reproductive justice in theory and in practice.

For the Abortion Gang to push the confines of reproductive justice even further than in their first year.

For anti-choice proponents to admit when they’ve used false/biased/centuries-old data to try and prove their point.

For mainstream media to refer to those against abortion as “anti-choice” instead of “pro-life.”

For abortion to be seen by the world as a human rights issue, not a relegated to a “women’s” issue.

For state and federal governments to spend their time and resources on improving the lives of their citizens, instead of on deciding whether the contents of a woman’s uterus is “alive.”

For Congress to remove bills that force women to pay for abortion services out of pocket, instead of being covered as a standard medical procedure.

For more television networks to show abortion in a positive, realistic light.

For all pharmacies to be able to dispense the morning after pill to any one who needs it, regardless of age.

What would you like to see happen in 2011?

I have a confession to make.

When life gets hectic, and I need a quick mental break, I like to read romance novels… and not any quasi-literary historical romances either. I’m talking about the type published by Harlequin each month, about unrealistically good looking, wealthy and unmistakeably masculine men, women attractive in their own right (wealth optional), yet, strangely, lovelorn, some witty banter and even more over the top descriptions of sex, and, of course, happy endings.

Romance novels typically employ one of a few standard plot devices to keep the hero and heroine in each other’s space – being forced together due to a weather disaster, or to care for a sick relative (often a baby), pretending they are in a relatioship for some business or family related reason, or (increasingly often) an accidental pregnancy. While some romance novels’ heroines are women confident in their sexuality, there are many romance novels that like to portray the heroine as a virgin, unaware of her own sex appeal. This was the case in the most recent Harlequin romance that I read, hoping to relax after a stressful week.

Not only was the book’s heroine a virgin, but she became pregnant when she had sex for the first time, when neither her nor the hero thought to use birth control. The heroine, too naive to realize that her flu is actually morning sickness, is told to take a pregnancy test by the hero – who, upon seeing the positive result, then informs her, that, of course, they will be married posthaste. Her protest that they do not have to be married to have a child – and that there, in fact, does not have to be a child at all, are quelled with the hero’s firm refusal.

(more…)

Whenever women begin talking about abortion in a normal, speaking voice, instead of a hushed whisper, when we start tweeting “#IHadAnAbortion” or wear t-shirts proclaiming our support of those who have, we are accused of “trivializing” abortion.

Well, maybe it’s about time abortion was trivialized.

Should a medical procedure, had by a third of women, really garner all of this attention?  Is it right to distill a woman’s life down to a decision to terminate a pregnancy so that she can move on with and live her life?  Should the decision to have an abortion define a woman’s life, or merely a footnote – no more interesting than the decision to have any other outpatient medical procedure?

I find it hard to believe that the decision to have an abortion could possibly be the single most important event in a woman’s life.  Sure, there are some women who claim that it is, fixating on it in anti-choice websites – but if abortion were less important, then perhaps they would take a step back to focus on the rest of their lives.  Abortion is the decision to not carry a pregnancy to term – it is an action that is the very definition of inaction, which should implicitly make it less important than the decision to go to college, or who to marry.  Less important than which career path to pursue, or whether to move cross country to take an amazing job.

(more…)

Most of the women who find themselves debating whether to carry a pregnancy to term are not on the front lines of the war on women’s rights to their bodies – which means that when they open up their phone book or start typing into Google, they may not know that there is a difference between Planned Parenthood and a “Crisis Pregnancy Center” (CPC).  CPCs often come adorned with church affiliations, and even Christian sounding names.  When life takes scary dips and turns, many of us turn to religion – and women often pick a CPC over another clinic because of that association.

When you call a Crisis Pregnancy Center, the receptionist will tell you that you can come in to talk about the “options” they can offer you – what she won’t tell you is that abortion is not one of them – even though they advertise heavily in phone books and online under “abortion” and “family planning”.  At the CPC, you will be given an unnecessary ultrasound, but you won’t be told that the woman wielding the wand is a volunteer, not a trained medical professional.  The information that follows is purported to be “educational” but instead is a mix of outright lies about a non-existent abortion-cancer connection, a made-up post-abortion mental health disorder, and even the threat of inevitable infertility due to birth control pills.

These anti-choice outposts are not rare – In fact, according to the Feminist Majority Foundation there are more than 3,500 CPCs in America – outnumbering comprehensive women’s health clinics.  Most of them exist as the result of your federal tax dollars through Bush era abstinence education grants – and because they are 501(c)(3) tax exempt organizations.
(more…)

Unplanned pregnancy scares me – which is why for me, morning after emergency contraception ranks right up there with penicillin for most-amazing-scientific-discovery.  Why?  Because it prevents pregnancy.  It’s not an abortion, because pregnancy doesn’t even occur.  It’s peace of mind, and best of all, it’s available Over The Counter.  Of course, OTC should mean that you can walk into your local CVS and pick it up off the shelf.  It should mean that any woman who needs it should be able to get it well within the five day period after unprotected sex, when it is effective.  Of course, the sooner you take it, the better, so ideally (and legally) you should realize that you may be at risk for an unwanted pregnancy, make a quick stop at the pharmacy, pop a pill, and get on with the rest of your life.  It really shouldn’t be any bigger a deal than taking an aspirin – and there are no medical reasons for it to be restricted based on age.

In so many ways, it seems like I should be the poster child for the anti-choice proponents.  I’m living, breathing, normal productive contributing member of society proof that yes, you can graduate from high school without having sex first. I’ve never been pregnant, never decided to have sex without protection. For me, for my life, it really has been that simple.  Sure, when I was in high school I was petrified that I would find myself pregnant – which would have been a failure in my own eyes – at which time I would have had an abortion.  I circumvented that risk by not having sex.  Problem solved.  Frankly, it wasn’t that big of a deal for me.

It would be so easy now, as an adult, to sniff derisively at those who say that it isn’t realistic for teenagers to simply not have sex – after all if I did it, so can they, right?  And yes, part of me does think that.  But the rest of me knows that what worked for me, may not work for someone else.  The rest of me sees the absurdity in holding up my own experience as a reason to condemn someone who does make a mistake, who acts foolishly.  I don’t understand how someone could be sixteen or seventeen, or older, and not know about condoms, about the birth control pills or Plan B – but I do understand that those people are out there.  Those who don’t know that two condoms are not, in fact, better than one.  Those who won’t look at expiration dates or any of the millions of reasons why unplanned pregnancies occur.  Hopefully sex education in schools will advance to the point that no one gets pregnant because she doesn’t know that it can happen the first time, but the margin for error for an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy will always exist.  It exists every time a man and a woman have sex.

Still, as an adult, able to support myself comfortably, and even a child if I were to become pregnant unexpectedly, many people ask why I am so adamantly, vehemently, pro-choice.  Why waste my time, energy, and money fighting for something that I will never need?  The truth is, I don’t know – nor does anyone else – whether I will have an abortion in my lifetime.  What if I were to have an ectopic pregnancy?  Or through genetic testing learn that the fetus had irreparable damage?  Tay-Sachs perhaps, wherein the child dies before age three after a total mental degeneration, or another degenerative disease that offers little or no quality of life?  What if I’m in my forties and already have children that are half-grown?  What if my body simply can’t handle another pregnancy?  The possible reasons to have an abortion don’t decrease as we get older, they only multiply.

Many of us will never need to have abortions – but we all need to have the choice.