EDITOR'S NOTE: Trust Women Week overlaps with the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and reasserts our firm commitment to reclaiming the future of reproductive decision-making in 2012. Throughout the week, Amplify will be honoring women's experiences and voices by featuring a different story from The 1 in 3 Campaign January 21-27.

As we close out our week of storytelling, Harriett talks about abortion access before Roe v. Wade and the terrible impact of income inequality on women's ability to access safe abortion care. In October, Harriet was featured in The San Francisco Chronicle sharing her own abortion story and her hope that more women who have had abortions will come forward. She is also the founder of California Republicans for Choice.

1in3Campaign.org: Harriett - Part 2 of 2 from Advocates for Youth on Vimeo.

HARRIETT: Before abortion was legal here in California – and we were one of the first states – we wealthy women would go to a pro-choice doctor, a pro-choice obstetrician and explain the problem, why she couldn’t have the child.

Then he’d say, “Well, can you afford to go to Japan, fly to Japan?”

And she said, “Yes, we could swing that.”

And he said say, Then you call Japan Airlines and you ask for Miss Suzuki. You don’t have to use the ‘A Word’ you just say Miss Suzuki. All she handles are the abortion package deals, and that involves air and ground transportation, meals, lodging, and surgery. And thousands of women are doing this.”

And yet a young woman, or an older woman without money, they would have to go – if they really wanted one – they’d have to try to find somebody in the Bay Area who could do it…Go to Mexico…It’s very chancy and terribly unfair.

The biggest difference I see is that it’s even for everybody, because in California low-income women can get abortions. We got Pete Wilson to change his stand on that. That’s when I was running California Republicans for Choice and we had…Low-income women can get abortions.

And there’s some thing else that…You know, we who have money, we don’t understand really what it’s like to live when you’re really poor. And so many people just can’t understand that, and I think that’s a terrible thing. They’re pushing something…

All of them who are making these laws have plenty of money to get their wives, sisters, children to where they can have a safe abortion if they wanted. But they’re not going to suffer. Low-income women are going to suffer. And that’s just terribly, terribly unfair.

This blog was originally posted for ACRJ.

“I want you to cuddle me while I fall asleep. That’s what mommies and daddies are for.”

I kept my daughter, Maddie, home from preschool yesterday to see if we could kick her persistent cold. All morning I had juggled streaming Netflix with phone meetings. Now I was trying to convince her to take a nap while I began drafting a blog piece on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, writing in my head until I could get her settled and return to my computer.

I was distractedly making coaxing sounds and bargains with her—yes, you can nap in the living room….no, you can’t drink milk on the couch--but I wasn’t really paying attention. I was mostly thinking about what I wanted to say about Roe, abortion, and reproductive justice when she cut through my mental chatter with, “cuddling—that’s what mommies and daddies are for.”

I have had two abortions—one when I was 21 and another when I was 30. Each was both clear and complex in its own way, and each brought its own complicated feelings and waves of relief.

More...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Trust Women Week overlaps with the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and reasserts our firm commitment to reclaiming the future of reproductive decision-making in 2012. Throughout the week, Amplify will be honoring women's experiences and voices by featuring a different story from The 1 in 3 Campaign January 21-27.

1in3Campaign.org: Alex from Advocates for Youth on Vimeo.

ALEX: I had my daughter and then nine months went past and I got pregnant again. And that was a big shock. And I wasn’t contemplating keeping the baby but this would have been my first abortion and I was very scared. And me and my daughter’s father didn’t have any money. Abortions cost money. A lot of money. $350 is not cheap when you’re 19 with no job and a new baby and the baby’s father is halfway trying to support us.

I ended up calling a friend of my mom’s who had gone through… Who was an older woman, but she related to young people and she knew, you know, certain people who knew certain people who knew certain people who could help me with terminating the pregnancy. So she referred us to a clinic.

And before that, we had to go borrow money from two different family members to get the abortion done. We didn’t even have any money… We didn’t even have any money to get the abortion done, and that’s just… Like, how could we not have any money to do that, but we would have money to raise another one? You know what I mean? Like there woulda just been no way. So that day, we rushed around, we got our money, and we went to the clinic.

I think that women should definitely share these stories - especially if they’re older women and they’ve been through this before. I think knowledge is power. And if no one talks about it, then how are we supposed to know what to do or what to expect?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Trust Women Week overlaps with the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and reasserts our firm commitment to reclaiming the future of reproductive decision-making in 2012. Throughout the week, Amplify will be honoring women's experiences and voices by featuring a different story from The 1 in 3 Campaign January 21-27.

1in3Campaign - Bianca from biancalaureano on Vimeo.

by Bianca Laureano

This week marks a fantastic anniversary as I’m entering the 100th post for the Media Justice column. I plan to do a few series highlighting some of my favorite pieces, ones that I’m most proud of, that still invoke something magnificent and specific for me, and that I just really dig. I’d like to start with a mash-up of posts that I’ve written that centers and discusses abortion. As this is the 39th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Trust Women Week,  and a week where we will be featuring testimonios from people about their experiences with abortion for the 1 in 3 Campaign, I think this mash-up fits well.

What Did The Doula Do?
The first time I shared my experiences being an abortion doula was in the article What Did The Doula Do?  I was inspired by the conversation that actor Taye Diggs had on the Jimmy Kimmel show where he discussed the birth of his most recent child and how he and his wife worked with a doula. Unfortunately, the video of their interview is no longer available online, but their conversation started a public discussion about doulas and the type of work we do. Many folks only know doulas to work with people who are pregnant and carrying a pregnancy to term. What I and many other abortion doulas do is be present for the person who is terminating their pregnancy. We offer support, pain management, comfort, and compassion to people who are making a very difficult decision. There are some folks who think this type of care is not care, and they are entitled to their opinions and I hope that if they ever find themselves feeling isolated, judged, shamed, that they too have someone who can be compassionate, kind, a witness and sit with them as they heal.

La Femme Fetal
One of the first columns I wrote about abortion and how it intersected with media justice was called La Femme Fetal. It was almost 2 years ago today that this column was published and it discussed one of the only songs in the Hip-Hop genre that discussed abortion from a pro-choice lens. The song “La Femme Fetal” by Digable Planets is one of the only songs, still today, that speaks to the compassion people making one of the hardest decisions in their life need. In this post I reflected on my contribution to the question “what does choice mean to me,” and my activism within the field of reproductive justice and the legacy of Rosie Jimenez. The song “La Femme Fetal” is now 19 years old and we still remain without a similar contribution to this genre. Do you know of others that exist today? If so, please share them!

Reflecting on No Easy Decision
When MTV (finally) did a show (not series) on young women who had abortions they called the show “No Easy Decision.” This show was the first of its kind on the network and gave a different perspective to their hit shows 16 and Pregnant, Teen Mom, and Teen Mom 2. There was a lot of talk about the series, many efforts to support the testimonios of those young people who shared their experiences. I also had some doubts about the show as Dr. Drew was going to be the facilitator. I shared those concerns in this post where I reflected on the show.  I had to admit that I was impressed with the show, the quality and lack of judgmental rhetoric and language that was present as the young people spoke. It’s a show that I’d like to see become a series where the voices of other youth can be shared and we may begin to have a better understanding of the complexity that comes with being a young person, reproductive health, access to quality care, and access to services.

Abortion and the Sons of Anarchy
If you have not seen the Sons of Anarchy I still don’t know what to tell you about yourself. In this post I discuss one of my favorite television shows Sons of Anarchy, what stereotypes I had about the show prior to watching and why I’m now in support of the series. This show is really part of a ground-breaking series where multiple perspectives we often rarely hear are shared. One of the first (and only?) times a character chooses to terminate a pregnancy, seeks support, receives support, and follows through with the procedure occurred during the third season of Sons of Anarchy. This post discusses that representation and how it was created on screen to be extremely effective and realistic. I can’t recall another television show that has had a similar storyline. Often the character changes their mind, or miscarries, or something happens where the termination does not occur. This was not the case for this episode and I am very grateful for this narrative being shared.

Online Course: Sociology of Human Sexuality Part 3
You may have read along when I was posting on the course I was teaching last summer (a total of 5 parts). This section was the discussion on pregnancy options and abortion.  We had a birth and postpartum doula join us in class to discuss what type of work they do with pregnant people. We then had a section on abortion where the history of how abortion became legal in the US was provided, along with an understanding of the laws in the US that may be state specific, and a discussion of what research has shown about the health and well-being of people who terminate a pregnancy. I remember this class and this summer very fondly. The students are amazing intellecutals and just brilliant people overall. I was very humbled and honored that students self-selected to share with the group their own personal experiences of pregnancy, childbirth, and abortion. It is times like this when I’m so thankful and happy to be a part of a community of people who find comfort in the class and learning space we create together.

I’m also extremely honored and thankful for remaining with you over these past years and interacting with readers at Amplify. It’s been more than I could have imagined and so enjoyable! Thank you all for reading, tweeting, sharing, and leaving comments. Thank you for seeing me.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Trust Women Week overlaps with the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and reasserts our firm commitment to reclaiming the future of reproductive decision-making in 2012. Throughout the week, Amplify will be honoring women's experiences and voices by featuring a different story from The 1 in 3 Campaign January 21-27.

1in3Campaign.org: Joy from Advocates for Youth on Vimeo.

JOY: Let’s see… I was 23 and I had just finished undergrad and I moved to San Diego on my way… I was going to be teaching English in Korea, so I was there working for the summer. I was in a relationship, taking birth control pills – Not consistently or correctly. I didn’t have a lot of education on how I was supposed to be taking them… – and I was in a sexual relationship. And I ended up getting pregnant.

For me, it was never really a question of what my decision was going to be. I just needed, you know, the resources to be able to do that. I found out relatively quickly that I was pregnant and decided to get an abortion. I was in the state of California and there were really no restrictions. I was 23, also, at the time. The only thing that was a little bit prohibitive was the cost, but that just really wasn’t an issue cause I was… Like I said, I had a partner who was able to support that and I also had a job as well.

I think the interesting thing about me having an abortion is that you kind of keep that under wraps, and I did that for a long time. But, the more I talked to people about it the more I found out there were so many people that I knew who had had abortions. It was a decision that I had to make and I was so grateful that I was able to have that decision. And I think that, you know, we all make mistakes and there’s, you know, some folks who very much think that “You make a mistake. You pay for it. That’s sort of the way that it is.” And I would just argue that having the ability to, like, make a mistake or to not do something the way that, you know, you had planned on doing – and then being able to turn that around is very liberating and has tremendous impact on my life.

I mean, I would not be here if at the age of 23 I did not have the option to have an abortion. I would be a completely different person. And you know, my sister was a teen mom. She had five children before she was the age of 22 and her life is so different than mine.

It’s just… I just couldn’t imagine being in a situation where I wasn’t able to choose how I wanted to plan out my life.

A study has come out this week that contradicts one of the anti-abortion movement's attempts to mislead the public:  the common claim that abortion is bad for a woman's health.

Not so, says a study out this week in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology. 

From Reuters:

Researchers [in the United States] found that women were about 14 times more likely to die during or after giving birth to a live baby than to die from complications of an abortion.

Kendall said mental health problems seemed to be linked specifically to unwanted pregnancies rather than abortion.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Trust Women Week overlaps with the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and reasserts our firm commitment to reclaiming the future of reproductive decision-making in 2012. Throughout the week, Amplify will be honoring women's experiences and voices by featuring a different story from The 1 in 3 Campaign January 21-27.

1in3Campaign.org: Angela - Part 1 of 2 from Advocates for Youth on Vimeo.

ANGELA: My junior year of college was probably, um… In the ‘90s. I was in a relationship with someone that I met, and we’d been dating for about a month. Really great guy. We were having lots… It felt like we were soul-mates, had a lot in common. And after a month of dating, like I said, there was a point where I started feeling really sick. Just didn’t feel good, couldn’t eat the same things. Certain smells made me really sick. And I didn’t know what was wrong with me.

So I went to the doctor. I was in college, like I sad, at the time. Didn’t say anything to my parents, but I was on their health insurance so I had access to go to the doctor when I needed to. I made an appointment and the doctor told me I probably had acid reflux or something and gave me a prescription for something. I got the prescription and took it for about a week or so and nothing changed. In fact, it got worse. So I went to another doctor. And this doctor actually gave me a stronger prescription for my acid reflux. And after taking that second prescription that was given to me by the doctor, I really thought about it. I said “Heeeeey, Angie, it seems like it’s been about three or four weeks and your period should be here. And it hasn’t come. So maybe this could be a pregnancy.”

And I was terrified at that point. I decided to let my partner know that I could possibly be pregnant – maybe it’s not acid reflux, but maybe there’s something else going on – and decided to take a pregnancy test.

I remember going to the drugstore and getting the test and going back home. I was visiting for the summer with my parents, so I went in the downstairs bathroom and locked the door so my nosy sisters didn’t come in. And I sat there before I took the test, and I was so scared. Just terrified. What would I do? I’m in college, I’m a junior, I still have a ways to go. I don’t have a job. I come home and live with my parents when I’m not on campus – and I don’t think on campus is a good place to raise a baby. I was struggling as it was to make sure I was going to school. My parents were scraping every little thing that they could get to make sure that I went to school. So, I knew that it just wasn’t the time for me to be a parent. I was in a relationship with someone that was wonderful… However, it was a month. I sat there and really thought about taking this test. And I decided let me just go ahead and find out and get it over with.

I followed the instructions to the T and it came out positive. And I said, “Well okay I did something wrong. Clearly this isn’t true.” So I took another one and another one – I took three tests – and they all said I was positive. I remember just kind of cowering down on the bathroom floor and feeling so lonely at that point in time. I was afraid. I felt like being a young women – like I said, a junior in college – this is not what I ever planned. It really didn’t take long for me to decide that the only thing I could possibly do was to terminate the pregnancy, to have an abortion.

So I had an abortion.

Once I found out I was pregnant, I talked to my partner at the time and he was very supportive. He said whatever way I decided he would be very supportive - and he agreed with me once I decided to have this abortion that, you know, we were young. And we weren’t ready. And so it was simple, very simple. All I had to do was call to find a clinic because I’d never done this before. So, find a clinic that I could go to and figure out what the process is, how much does it cost… That’s another thing being a college student, you just don’t have money in your pocket all the time so that was terrifying. But he was very supportive. So we made an appointment.

We went in on a Saturday. It was nestled in a suburb that was not too far from where I lived, like the town over. And I went to the clinic that morning, very early morning, and I remember it being a beautiful sunny day. And nothing outside, no protesters, nothing like that. It just was like going to a doctor. So I went in… A very gracious, very nice staff that made me feel… because I was terrified. And not so much terrified about the decision I made, but just thinking all along that my parents would be so disappointed that I’d even gotten pregnant in the first place.

I remember going in. They were really nice. I went through the whole process. They took me in and did kind of a mini physical, made sure everything was okay, talked to me about what I was doing, and asked me if I had any questions. Explained everything. I went through the procedure and woke up. I remember waking up in the recovery room, being a little bit groggy but feeling fine. I was basically left, after that day I probably stayed home the next from work, but I felt fine.

And I finally… I still was really upset. And my upset, again, wasn’t about my decision – it was about just really caring so much about what my parents thought of me, and I thought it was really important for me to have a conversation with my mom. So I actually talked to her about the decision I had made, and my mother was absolutely supportive. But the one thing that she did say that stuck with me – and it’s the reason why I don’t tell my story often – was “That’s fine. You made the right choice for yourself, but this isn’t something you talk about.”

She made it very clear that this is something kind of hush-hush that people do, and it’s okay if you do it, but you dare not speak a word of it. So, I went about my life just really not talking about it or thinking too much about it.

Now, I’m a mother with two beautiful children. And I’m thinking more about it – especially doing the work that I do talking to college students and young adults about sexuality and that kind of thing. This comes up a lot. With the questions I often get, I often wonder why we don’t talk more about this. It’s so important to share our stories. So important. Because I think of those moments when I was crouched down on my bathroom floor terrified, feeling so alone like no one else in the world was facing this.

It’s so important that we tell our stories. And this is why I decided to say that I had an abortion - and be there and be a source for someone else who may need to talk to someone.

If everyone were to share their story, the stigma would be lifted. There would be no reason to be ashamed because you would see how many people have made this decision, made this choice.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Trust Women Week overlaps with the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and reasserts our firm commitment to reclaiming the future of reproductive decision-making in 2012. Throughout the week, Amplify will be honoring women's experiences and voices by featuring a different story from The 1 in 3 Campaign January 21-27.

1in3Campaign.org: Deb from Advocates for Youth on Vimeo.

DEB: So my story is probably pretty similar to many other women’s stories. I was 35 years old. The year was 1995. I had been married for two and a half years and I had a six month old.

I was the primary bread-winner in our family. I had a good job and had been working. I had taken some maternity leave and was back at work. My husband had a new job. He was a financial planner and had just started. There were some problems in our marriage, when I looked back. But when it really came to be an issue was one day in August of ’95, my husband went to work and he never came home. And the days passed and he didn’t come back. And I called around and I couldn’t find him. The weeks passed, and every day I went to work and every day I came home and took care of my six month old infant.

Eventually, I got a phone call form a friend who said that they had heard from someone else that my husband was in Atlantic City and he had borrowed someone’s car and had pretty much totaled it. And they suggested that I go to the bank and check my bank account, which I proceeded to do, and realized that my husband had basically wiped us out.

It was about three days later that I realized I was pregnant.

I just knew that there was no way that I could have a second child and continue to work and support my son. I didn’t know what was going to happen with my marriage and I didn’t have any money left. So I found a clinic in my area – it was very good and well-reputable – and I decided that it was the best thing for me to do for my son and I… Was to have the abortion and terminate the pregnancy and really be there to focus on raising my son and figuring out what to do in my marriage. I really believe to this day that it was the most responsible action that I could take – and I was forever grateful that there was a clinic that was safe and affordable and that abortion was legal and that I could access it at the time.

There is such a stigma to abortion and to being able to talk about our experiences. I think people – women in particular – have been shamed about those choices. And yet so many of us have those experiences. It’s really important – and I should say really freeing – to finally talk about our experiences. Having shared this story now a couple of times, I feel relief about letting other people know what happened to me, and I’ve heard other people tell me that it’s happened to them. And we need to talk about it. We need to have a conversation about abortion that’s personal. One in three of us have had abortions, according to the statistics, and we really do need to talk about that.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Trust Women Week overlaps with the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and reasserts our firm commitment to reclaiming the future of reproductive decision-making in 2012. Throughout the week, Amplify will be honoring women's experiences and voices by featuring a different story from The 1 in 3 Campaign January 21-27.

Roe v. Wade was decided 39 years ago today. In honor of that decision, we are highlighting Judy's story of the dangers of illegal abortion. During the 1960's, Judy helped run a referral service so that women could find doctors who would provide medically safe (though still illegal) abortion care. Unfortunately, Judy's college roommate - like so many other women - was unable to find a safe, compassionate medical care.

1in3Campaign.org: Judy - Part 1 of 4 from Advocates for Youth on Vimeo.

JUDY: One of the worst stories was actually one that I knew very well because it was my college roommate, who was in law school in Washington. This would have been the mid-60’s and she was lucky enough to find – I guess lucky is a questionable word here… She got the name of an illegal abortionist and it was the best she thought she could find. She had to meet them on a street corner in downtown DC. As soon as the car pulled up she was blindfolded, forced into the backseat, driven somewhere… She claims she was driven around in circles so she couldn’t try to remember the route and was disoriented, given no kind of anesthesia or painkiller or anything… Was quickly operated on and – still with a blindfold on! – was dumped on the street in Virginia. They didn’t even have the decency to take her back to the District.

So there she was bleeding on a street corner, didn’t know where she was, in pain… She had her abortion alright, but aside from the financial cost which I remember was $800 – which was quite a bit in the mid-60’s – she also paid a very high cost with her body and her emotions…

There were other stories like that, women who did what they could do themselves or went to butchers. We saw them sometimes after to be cleaned up, but what we were hoping to do of course was to see them before.