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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.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPTThe 1 in 3 Campaign is a grassroots movement to start a new conversation about abortion — telling our stories, on our own terms. Together, we can end the stigma women face each and every day and assure access to basic health care. As we tell our stories and support our family and friends as they come forward with theirs, we begin build a culture of compassion, empathy, and support. No one should be made to feel ashamed or alone. It's time for us to come out in support of each other and in support of access to legal and safe abortion care in our communities.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.
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