Articles of Faith II

So I've progressed a great deal with Articles of Faith, A Frontline History on the Abortion Wars. Author Cynthia Gorney has a journalism background and her reporting reads like a novel at times. The term fair and balanced has nothing on Gorney- I am continually amazed at her ability to present the information without tilting her hand in either direction. She allows you to get inside of the heads of people who have very valid, honest and genuine feelings about abortion without passing judgement or coming to any conclusions of what the reader should be feeling.

Women were putting themselves into horrific situations to terminate an unwanted pregnancies. While nothing about that fact was new it was becoming clearer and clearer in the mid 1960's, early 1970's that the archaic laws making abortion a felony needed to be changed. The exception was that an abortion could be performed on a women only if her life depended on it. There were those physicians and "others" who would perform an abortion in other circumstances and those illegal abortions were considered felonies. The law did not only apply to those who performed the actual procedure but also to anyone involved in referring a women to someone who could provide the service. Doctors were not allowed to perform an abortion or direct women to anyone who would perform one.

Women were left with no where safe to go and as a result the risks of infection, hysterectomies and even death could not stop them from aborting. Self administered methods or unqualified unhygienic procedures led women to end up in emergency rooms where physicians and nurses saw the botched abortions that came about as a result of criminalizing abortion. Networks did exist in some circumstances to shuttle women along through physicians, volunteers and ministers that took it upon themselves to provide women with the safest possible abortions. Often this consisted of individuals coming together over the devastating reality of women being maimed and killed because they wanted to end their pregnancies. It is these same individuals that lead the charge in the push to go through the state and eventually the National government to get the laws criminalizing abortion changed.

Articles of Faith

Last week I posted the audio reel featured on NPR's shades of gray. Originally released by PRI in 2003, Jonathan Mitchell produces a truly balanced portrayal of Abortion in America.

It was from this program that I heard about the book Articles of Faith A Frontline History of the Abortion Wars by Cynthia Gorney.

I started reading the book this weekend and am finding it hard to put down. Part of what drew me to it was the reviews which all indicated that this is the most balanced and unbiased look at the two sides of the abortion wars.

The first chapter is largely geared towards illegal or "back alley" abortions. The criminalization of abortion did little to deter women from seeking them. Women with resources could find safe abortions in some cases but women without money had no choice but to attempt their own or seek out dangerous alternatives. Many women paid for those decisions with their lives. Chapter one describes the network of doctors, ministers and other volunteers who took the risks involved in providing women with options for a safe abortion. These individuals operate outside the law with the sole intent of preventing women from subjecting themselves to unsafe abortions.

More on this book as I progress though it.

Equal Pay and More Outrage

Today is Equal Pay Day. Hooray! and Boo that we still have to talk about something like people getting paid equally for doing the same thing. On the ongoing battle front I will share with you the following: Naral Pro-Choice has a yearly report card grading each state on their reproductive rights and it's very interesting/frigthening. Mild surprises to me? Massachusetts gets a B- (only a B-?), Idaho is the only state to lack a single Pro-Choice law (not even one?) and 20 states have unconstitutional and unenforceable bans that could outlaw abortion as early as the 12th week of pregnancy, with no exception to protect a woman’s health: AL, AK, FL,ID, IL, IN, IA, KY, MI, MS, NE, NJ, ND, OK, RI, SC, SD, TN, WV, WI. The top 3 states? California, Washington and Connecticut. The bottom 3? Louisiana, North Dakota and Mississippi. The scariest part of the whole report is that our national grade is a inexcusable D. Overall, 21 states receive F's. For the full report check this out.

Brilliant Audio Reel- Jonathan Mitchell

PRX Shades of Gray Pro-choice. Pro-life. Most people have already chosen sides in the ongoing debate, so why revisit the issue? Shades of Gray shares a range of stories told by people young and old who have been directly affected by abortion, instead of the polemics of irreconcilable extremes. It's a carefully crafted audio mosaic and a stark portrayal of the intensely personal nature of our relationship with abortion. Originally distributed nationally by PRI in January, 2003 Winner of the 2004 Golden Reel for National Documentary

A day in the life

It's been a little while since my last update. I was spending a lot of energy applying for a job that didn't pan out and my family was in town for the Easter holiday. Now I'm bed ridden with a frustrating cold/flu/sickness which is not so much getting better as getting different. So while I have a few moments before playoff hockey officially begins, I thought I would note a few things going on in the life of a feminist. I'm participating in a bowling fundraiser this Sunday for The Western Mass Abortion Fund. Signed my name to a letter telling one women's heart breaking story about the negative effects of Nebraska's 20-week abortion ban, read and sign here. Stumbled upon Anita Sarkeesian's fabulous website about feminism and pop culture Bookmark this site people. That's all my feverish self has in me right now-