In 1973, Abortion became legal in the United States. Generations of women have grown into their reproductive lives since that time. These women have come to regard access to abortion services as the norm. They've never worried that an unintended pregnancy would mean no option to choose what path their life would take. This has been the gift of Roe v Wade.
When Candace De Puy and I wrote our book, The Healing Choice, we interviewed hundreds of women, many of whom found themselves pregnant before abortion was legal. For them, an unwanted pregnancy was a full-on crisis. How would they secure a safe abortion? Who would they turn to? Would they leave their state or the country? Would it be a back alley abortion? Would it be a coat hanger abortion on the kitchen table? Would they even survive it?
Now, once again, we are facing a wake-up-call. Once again, our government, run largely by men, is interfering with our reproductive lives by attempting to withhold, control and dictate how women will take charge of their bodies. By turning the clock back on both our birth control options and our right to obtain safe and legal abortions, politicians are inserting themselves into the private lives of women . . . and of men as well. For every pregnant woman, there is a man, perhaps a very good man, whose life will be changed depending upon whether birth control or access to safe abortion services are available.
If you are not alarmed, you should be. Just the notion that this conversation is happening, must get your attention. This discussion is not about rich women versus poor women. This is about all women. Your body has, once again, become the possession of men in power.
