The anti-abortion lobby is demonstrating its disdain for certain lives. Protesting is one way to show disapproval of a woman’s right to choose. But during this pandemic, it becomes life-threatening. Clinic escort volunteers heeded the public health guidelines and stopped providing services during the pandemic in the interest of safety for all involved. Anti-abortion protesters, on the other hand, have continued to protest in spite of public health directives. Put simply, the protesters present a health hazard to patients, clinic staff, and one another. When the clinic staff calls the police to report protesters who are not following public health guidelines, the police are then exposed to germs as well. Whether or not it is legal for the protesters to be there,
Anna, thanks again for the program recommendation. There are several things on my mind that I would like to share. The first: are you familiar with the “Turn Away Study?” It is a years long study of thousands of women who had or were prevented from having an abortion. I did not know of the project until I heard a recent interview with the author of the book by that title, Diane Greene Foster, on Fresh Air (Teri Gross, NPR). The results are fascinating and offer clear empirical, rigorous evidence that abortions - for the vast majority of women - have no ill effects over their lives. There is much more, including issues of maternal bonding, who seeks abortions, and economic impacts. Second: I recently read a compelling article in the NYT (June 17), “There are Many Man-Made Objects: The Rape Kit Isn’t One of Them” (Also - Rape Kit’s Secret History). It is about the creation of the rape kit by Marty Goddard. This compelling article is written by Pagan Kennedy and it details the erasure of the story of Goddard’s creation and fight for a device that would prove to be a primary driver in revolutionary change towards our ideas of women’s sexual agency and victimization. And it was resisted by and ultimately taken over by a man named Vitullo who claimed the invention of the kit. Finally, I recently heard another call-in radio program where the caller expressed that pregnancy was far safer than abortion and unfortunately the host of the program did not correct him. In the past in certain lectures of mine, I would bring up the fact that prior to the mid-1920s, childbirth was the highest cause of mortality for women under the age of 40 in the US. It frustrates me and saddens me that people still have such a great misperception about the dangers of childbirth, women’s health and the safety of abortion.
Excellent article as was your May 6th. There is a insightful documentary on this topic that might interest other readers: PBS Frontline: The Abortion Divide which aired April 23, 2019.
Anna, thanks again for the program recommendation. There are several things on my mind that I would like to share. The first: are you familiar with the “Turn Away Study?” It is a years long study of thousands of women who had or were prevented from having an abortion. I did not know of the project until I heard a recent interview with the author of the book by that title, Diane Greene Foster, on Fresh Air (Teri Gross, NPR). The results are fascinating and offer clear empirical, rigorous evidence that abortions - for the vast majority of women - have no ill effects over their lives. There is much more, including issues of maternal bonding, who seeks abortions, and economic impacts. Second: I recently read a compelling article in the NYT (June 17), “There are Many Man-Made Objects: The Rape Kit Isn’t One of Them” (Also - Rape Kit’s Secret History). It is about the creation of the rape kit by Marty Goddard. This compelling article is written by Pagan Kennedy and it details the erasure of the story of Goddard’s creation and fight for a device that would prove to be a primary driver in revolutionary change towards our ideas of women’s sexual agency and victimization. And it was resisted by and ultimately taken over by a man named Vitullo who claimed the invention of the kit. Finally, I recently heard another call-in radio program where the caller expressed that pregnancy was far safer than abortion and unfortunately the host of the program did not correct him. In the past in certain lectures of mine, I would bring up the fact that prior to the mid-1920s, childbirth was the highest cause of mortality for women under the age of 40 in the US. It frustrates me and saddens me that people still have such a great misperception about the dangers of childbirth, women’s health and the safety of abortion.
Excellent article as was your May 6th. There is a insightful documentary on this topic that might interest other readers: PBS Frontline: The Abortion Divide which aired April 23, 2019.