One more year of Choice
Thirty years ago today the Supreme Court of the United States acknowledged that prohibitions on a woman's right to choose to have a medical abortion violated her right to privacy. Today we live in a time when that decision could well be overturned and is being extremely limited in many states around the country. With the federal government under the tight control of the Bush White House and Carl Rove serving as the supreme chancellor of domestic policy, we can only begin to imagine what is in store at the national level.
For many activists who fought for Roe, todays reality seems dangerously similiar to that facing women thirty-one years ago. Abortion policy in this country is a patchwork of state regulations and restrictions; women are left to fend for themselves or be lucky enough to know of an organzation that will help them in their choice. This morning, NPR played a commentary by a women whose point was that the new generation of women are opposed to abortion because it is "violent" and do not see it as a medical choice. The commentator was a born again former feminist who hadn't received the support she expected after she had her abortion procedure. I am sympathetic to that situation and that is why I work with Planned Parenthood to help increase the options open to women and to make all children wanted children.
The biggest problem with her argument was the point that because abortion is available all children are wanted because they could freely be aborted. Anyone who has worked with family planning agencies know that this is not the reality. It may be that many middle class women feel that birth control falls from the sky and is available to everyone but that is not the reality of many women in this country. Family planning is not universally accepted in our society and many many children are not wanted. I don't really feel like engaging her strange correlation between abortion and child abuse so instead I will give you BuzzFlash's interview with NOW President Kim Gandy. Enjoy and may this year be another year of choice!
Who is this guy?
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