Mermaid Musings

It’s been 37 years since the Supreme Court ruled that a woman had a constitutional right to obtain an abortion, and not a day has gone by that someone, somewhere attempted to whittle away women’s access to that right. While the legality of abortion seems safe enough for the moment, the reality of accessing abortion is not promising. In 1973, the promise of Roe v. Wade was it would give women freedom to decide for themselves when and whether to bear children. That promise has not been realized for many women.

In 1977, came the Hyde Amendment, a grossly unjust piece of legislation that prohibits the use of federal funds in paying for abortion services. This tells low-income women, women in the military, women who work for the federal government, that they only have the right to obtain an abortion if they can pay for it themselves.

Today, 24 states require a woman to wait, usually 24 hours, between receiving counseling and obtaining an abortion; 17 states require women to receive mandated counseling before obtaining an abortion (this counseling often includes inaccurate information about links between abortion and breast cancer, the long-term psychological impact of abortion or includes information about fetal pain and the availability of ultrasounds); 34 states require some form of parental involvement in a minor’s decision to have an abortion (either through obtaining consent or notifying one or more parent). All of these provisions are intended to limit women’s access to abortion services.

The new health care reform, despite assurances that it would not become a battleground for women’s reproductive health, threatens to limit even more women’s access to abortion by placing further restrictions on who can and cannot obtain abortions and how they will be paid for.

Today, 87% of counties have no abortion provider, 25% of women have to travel more than 50 miles to obtain an abortion. The number of abortion providers around the country is declining, in part because fewer medical schools teach the procedure, and partly because being an abortion provider can be a very risky business. By a somewhat ironic twist of fate, the 37th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision also marks the start of the trial of the murderer of Dr. George Tiller. Crueler yet, it looks as though the defense is going to be allowed to argue that Scott Roeder believed that he was acting out of deeply held belief that by killing George Tiller he was preventing a greater injustice. A great man was assassinated in front of his friends and family, because he believed that women have the right to decide the course of their lives, because he believed -and acted on that belief- that abortion access is fundamental to a woman’s right to self-determination. Dr. Tiller was a man of extraordinary courage who worked every day to ensure women had access to these rights. And the man who killed him is going to argue that what he did was justice.

Roe may be safe, but women’s access to abortion is not. While it is far, far preferable to keep abortion legal, we have to also recognize that Roe was meant to be the foundation of creating reproductive justice. Legal abortion is the minimum of what we need for women to fully realize their rights and potential as human beings. Roe was not ever meant to be the pinnacle of achievement for women’ rights and women’s health. So, let’s celebrate this anniversary for what it is: a call to action to realize reproductive justice for all women.

Repeal Hyde.

Create Health Reform that meets all women’s reproductive health needs.

Stop treating abortion as a taboo. It is a safe medical procedure that saves women’s lives.

Today is officially a day of action: to get women out from under the health care bus and get them driving it.

So, women, let’s get out from under the bus.

Health care reform has proven to be the single greatest threat to a woman’s human rights in over 30 years. Who would’ve thought that improving US Americans’ access to health care would come at the expense of women’s reproductive freedom, human rights and their very lives. Of course, there is plenty to complain about in the so-called reform of the US health care system, but the disregard for women is deplorable. And offensive.

As several others have pointed out (here and here), when you start from a position of compromise, there’s no where to go but into a worse position. Obama’s apologetic attitude towards abortion (safe, legal and RARE), starts the debate in a place where anyone of the opinion that a woman has an absolute right to control her body and her reproduction is already on the defensive. I mean, can’t we all agree that abortion is wrong? No, I’m afraid we can’t. Because it is a personal decision that one third of the women of this country are eventually going to make, because it is not as simple as deciding that a fetus has an absolute right to be born. Because the world is not a black and white place of rigid morality. Because in order for a woman to have personal autonomy she has to have the right to decide what happens to her own body. Can you imagine any health care decision that a man would consent to let the government decide whether or not he had the right to make it?

We are on the cusp of losing the right to abortion in this country. It was a mistake for the reproductive rights movement to not fight tooth and nail to get rid of the Hyde Amendment. It is an unjust piece of legislation that allows the morality of a vocal minority to interfere with the personal health decisions of every low-income woman in this country. Every single day women sell their belongings and forgo paying bills in order to scrape together enough money to pay for a first trimester abortion. Women who are receiving food stamps, housing assistance, medicaid assistance are forced to come up with $300-400 for a medical procedure that would be covered if the federal government hadn’t decided to foist the morality of a few people onto the general population. We impose hardship on our most vulnerable citizens for a questionable moral stance that has no place in government policy.

Now, Congress is poised to impose this morality on even more women by taking away private insurance coverage for abortion or requiring women to pay higher premiums if they want abortion to be covered in their PUBLIC health plan.

It is way beyond time for women and people who believe in justice to stop pandering to these whiny fetus-worshippers and demand that it is our country too. It is our right to believe in the rights and dignity of women. It is our right, as women and as human beings, to have control over our bodies, to determine, when, whether, where and HOW to bear children.

If you believe abortion is wrong, don’t have one. It really is that simple.

Repeal the Hyde Amendment. Justice Demands It!

The Hyde Amendment, which restricts federal funding for abortions, is an indefensible obstruction to women’s reproductive freedom. All the debate on Stupack-Pitts and Nelson-Hatch has revealed the true purpose of Hyde: to prevent women from having abortions. No, that’s not even right, it is to force women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term. Preventing abortions actually entails preventing unwanted pregnancy. Restricting access to abortion just makes abortion dangerous for women, it doesn’t really prevent abortions from occurring.

I am hopeful that health care reform can proceed now without incorporating restrictions on abortion services, but the struggle for reproductive justice is far from over. Following the whole Stupack-Pitts debacle, I wrote to my congressman to demand to know what he was doing about this craziness (since I know he is supportive of abortion rights). His response, while confirming his commitment to comprehensive reproductive health care, contained this phrase:

There is a long-standing federal law which prohibits spending federal funds on abortion services, and this is not changed in the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Instead, the Stupak-Pitts amendment extends beyond the currently acceptable compromise in federal law.

Naturally, I took issue with this. And I share with you my response:

Thank you for your recent letter in response to my concerns about the Stupack-Pitts Amendment. I am grateful for your adamant opposition to this amendment. However, I have to take issue with your contention that the Hyde Amendment is an ‘acceptable compromise.’ The Hyde Amendment is what made Stupack-Pitts possible. The Hyde Amendment, restricting federal funds from women seeking abortions, is not a compromise - it is a tool used by those opposed to abortion to restrict access. It is one of the most unjust pieces of American law in existence. It says to poor women that they do not have the right to reproductive freedom because they cannot afford to pay for it.

I understand that it is not politically feasible to use health care reform to address this hideous injustice to our health care system. As Stupack-Pitts-Nelson-Hatch have demonstrated, there are greater forces willing to use health care reform to further their own anti-abortion agenda. However, I urge you to take leadership in opposing and repealing the Hyde Amendment. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that the issue of abortion was a private one to be settled by a woman and her medical care provider. The Hyde Amendment is an unjust obstruction to poor women’s access to their basic human rights.

With a nice return to sanity, the Nelson-Hatch amendment was tabled by the Senate late yesterday. Nelson-Hatch was the Senate version of Stupack, which will not allow women access to abortion services if it becomes part of the new health care reform. It is a minor victory, but heartening nonetheless.

I didn’t watch or listen to the actual Senate debate (such things are not good for my blood pressure), however some of the comments -as I understand it- were quite enlightening. One Senator went so far as to call Nelson-Hatch a ‘compromise’ since what he’s after is an all out ban on abortion. Senator Barabara Milkulski had the best suggestion I’ve heard yet in dealing with the abortion in health care: make men purchase ‘abortion riders’ in case they cause an unintended pregnancy. (see story at RH Reality Check)

Now what remains is to reconcile the House version with the Senate version, so keep that pressure on!

In an astounding act of misogyny, the US House of Representatives added the Stupack Amendment to HR 3200, passing the most sweeping health care reform bill while simultaneously stripping women of their human rights and dignity. Once again demonstrating our government’s willingness to play politics with women’s bodies and women’s lives.

I have to agree with Frances Kissling (which I don’t always do) in her call to repeal the Hyde Amendment once and for all. Afterall, these politicians are willing to sell out women, especially low-income women, anyway. It is high time that we demand justice once and for all. Now is not the time to go after what is ‘possible’ or politically expedient. The reproductive justice movement must stand together and demand the end of Hyde. It is the height of injustice to claim that women only deserve the rights they can pay for. I am sick to death of the arguments of the anti-abortion crowd. If any of them really cared about reducing abortions, they would work to ensure that all women had access to the reproductive health care they need. Period. Study after study has shown that restricting access to abortion does nothing -NOTHING- to reduce abortions. Providing women with contraception, sex education, and unfettered access has worked in numerous countries to reduce the need and therefore the numbers of abortions performed.

I am sick to death of all this feigned concern over fetal rights. If you care so much about the fetus, start by providing health care, unrestricted health care, to the women who might end up carrying those fetuses. Oh, but that’s right, once a woman starts ovulating, her potential babies are what is really important.

I can’t believe that every single keep-the-government-out-of-my-business-Republican voted for this ridiculous amendment. If that is not the biggest hypocrisy of this decade, I don’t know what is. We don’t want single-payer health care because we don’t want the government involved in our private lives. Unless you’re a woman who needs an abortion - then we’ll dictate what your private insurance can cover as well as restrict public money for your health care. Because it’s ok for the government to interfere in pregnant women’s lives. Just not wealthy white boys’.