Tuesday, January 22, 2013

No More Wire Hangers

The 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade is upon us. Thankfully, abortion is still legal here in the U.S., despite all the trans-vaginal nonsense that went on this year.  By the way, there is a repeal of the mandatory ultrasound law in Virginia.
Roe v Wade was only  legal for 2 years when I accompanied my 16 year old friend to a clinic, she was alone and scared. Her boyfriend had dumped her after she had told him she was pregnant. Her parents were devout Roman Catholics.
 She got a safe, legal, abortion, and went on to have a family and a career, she may never have had. She could have died, trying to find her way out of a bad situation, in a back alley. 
A lot of conservative and religious people think, that they can judge someone who is in a very precarious situation. It is ironic to me that there should be judgement from people, who are not God, and aren't fit to be anyone's judge. 
Abortion  is hard to talk or write about. It is never something a woman chooses  in a way that is lighthearted or flippant. It is not an easy decision. It certainly wasn't for my friend back in 1976. 
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that each year nearly 42 million women faced with unintended pregnancies have abortions, of which 20 million are unsafe, mostly in countries where abortion is illegal.*
20 million.
Let's be real clear here. Abortion is always available for the wealthy. That is never an issue. It is the working poor, that have no access to healthcare, they are the women who need access to birth control so that abortion isn't an issue. It is an issue of class and control, it is an issue of reproductive rights. I can't help but think how many lives have been saved, thanks to Roe v Wade. Like my amazing friend Diane, who is a pediatric nurse and has saved many lives.
*Unsafe abortion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




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