roe day

Today is the 33rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Here's my Roe essay that ran on Common Dreams last year at this time, which was originally a post on this blog.

I can't imagine there are many of these anniversaries left. The reproductive rights community is fully prepared for a post-Roe country. That will surely be a dark day: a victory for religious interests over personal freedom, a mighty leap backwards for women's equality, a deepening of the overall backwards movement of the country.

But in a very real sense, it won't be a leap at all, but a continuation of a steady regression. Women with resources will be able to obtain abortions. Women without will find a way around it, or they won't. In other words, it will be just like it is right now, only more so.

My opponent on that annoying BBC interview dismissed my statement that reproductive freedom has been curtailed in the United States. He said he had lived in the US for five years, so he ought to know. I can only shake my head in sadness. Most Americans, who've never lived anywhere but the US, don't even know the extent to which reproductive freedom has been successfully attacked.

I say it all the time, but it's worth repeating: for millions of American women, Roe is already history.

From last year's post:
For more information, and how you can help:

To make a donation that is only used to help a low-income woman obtain an abortion, and to read about the financial obstacles, visit National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF).

To learn more about the political side of this issue, or to make a donation to help organizing efforts, try these excellent organizations:
NARAL Pro-Choice America
the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project
Planned Parenthood Federation of America

To learn more about reproductive rights, which includes access to sex education, family planning and contraception, you can't do better than the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

And to read about one grassroots effort to help women exercise their human, civil and legal right to control their bodies, check out these stories about the Haven Coalition of New York City (she says proudly):

"Shelter From The Storm", by Lynn Harris, from Salon (Salon.com free day pass needed)

"Emergency Landing", by Jennifer Block, from the Village Voice
"East Village Mameles Marching For Choice" by Marjorie Ingall, originally published in The Forward
Please note: this blog is not intended as a forum to discuss the morality of abortion. Please respect that.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

april 28: day of mourning for workers killed and injured on the job

Image
April 28 is the Day of Mourning for Workers Killed or Injured on the Job.  The canary is a potent symbol and a powerful reminder.  This tiny, fragile bird was the only thing that stood between miners and a suffocating death. The world over, workers are little more than canaries in their own workplaces. No worker should ever be killed or injured because of work, yet it happens on a regular basis. The pandemic has put the spotlight on the many dangers that workers face every day -- but it hasn't led to employers or governments bringing an end to dangerous practices. In Canada and the US, a huge percentage of workers don't even have access to paid sick leave. And the pandemic has only extended the long reach of precarious work. When workers do not have guaranteed work, or don't get enough hours, or earn too little to survive, they are much less likely to speak up about unsafe working conditions. Employers know this. In the precarious workplace, all too often there is scant att
Read more

welcome to toronto, where everything is 1½ hours away

This is my favourite time of year in the GTA. The August humidity has cleared, the air is light and breezy, the sun sparkles during the day and you need a light jacket at night. It brings me back to our first month in Canada. After a pressure-cooker of a summer, we spent our days unpacking and leisurely taking care of business, then sat in our first-ever backyard and enjoyed the peace, both outward and inner. Sheer bliss. Next week we're off to our first-ever Canadian cottage experience, which I anticipate being much like our old upstate New York cabin experiences, hence wonderful. Looking at the map, the Kawarthas have to be at least 3 hours from Mississauga. But predictably, the Lake Edge Cottages brochure and website say it's an hour and a half. Ask anyone how long it takes to get anywhere from Toronto, and that's what they'll tell you: an hour and a half. I don't know if this is peculiar to the Toronto area, or if it's generally Canadian, but why does ever
Read more

what i'm reading: the sword and the shield: the revolutionary lives of malcolm x and martin luther king jr.

Image
When I read a review of The Sword and The Shield: the Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. , I knew it was a book I'd been waiting for someone to write.  I despise the way Martin Luther King, Jr. has been sanitized and diluted for public consumption. The version of King that is widely celebrated is a pile of sentimental goo that the real King would not have recognized, let alone endorsed. King's radical legacy is reduced to a kind of bland "why can't we all just get along". His memory is used as a pacifier. King is officially lauded because of the fear of Black violence, and the ruling class' desire to promote docility among Blacks. So the public doesn't see King. Doesn't see the King who railed against the U.S. war in Southeast Asia, the King who marched with labour unions, the King who knew that without economic justice, desegregation was a hollow promise. The anti-capitalist King. The anti-imperialist King. The anti-war King
Read more