We have two excellent Democratic candidates running to be president of the United States. Neither has yet to address the global issues America has when it come to the provision of professional abortion care. We can all agree that Americans deserve professional abortion care can't we? We all want our family members to receive good abortion care when they need it and in truth we just never know when they might need it. Women have unintended pregnancies every single day in America and the problem has grown worse as the far right has demanded "abstinence only" education and fought contraception every step of the way. More women with unintended pregnancies are becoming mothers...and exactly why is up for grabs.
Last month, in honor of the 35th anniversary of Roe v Wade the
Guttmacher Institute released a studyFacts About Induced Abortion in the United States stating that the abortion rate had dropped in America for the first time in DECADES and many on both sides of the fence celebrated this statistics. The Guttmacher study simply counted the number of abortions without giving statistical information on why this drop occurred though it does report the closing of countless "abortion clinics" throughout the nation.
If this drop occurred because we are doing things right (better education and access to contraception) then great. But if this drop occurred because professional abortion care is becoming increasingly unavailable because of state regulation then I have a problem with this. It should be noted that with the drop in abortions in the US this same period has brought an increase in maternal and infant morbidity and mortality again, for the first time in decades.
Is "abortion" becoming "rare" because it is not needed or is it becoming "rare" because it is unavailable? Well, one example is what is happening in Mississippi and yes Mississippi is not representative of America but last I checked Mississippi women were still Americans. There is only ONE REMAINING ABORTION CLINIC in Mississippi. There is only one place to receive "professional abortion care" and it is in Jackson. This state has been very hostile to "abortion provision" and has made it almost impossible to provide. This is not good for poor women and their families but no one seems to care. Go to The Last Abortion Clinic from PBS Frontline to view this sixty minute documentary on line for free. Speed through the lawyer and "talking heads" parts and LOOK AT THE WOMEN WHO ARE BEING DENIED CARE. They are generally voiceless and faceless and have not appeared any where in this presidential campaign, which is too bad.
It doesn't take much to discuss the fact that "everyone deserves professional abortion care" and this would seem an easy phrase for our democratic presidential contenders to begin to use. Besides it would be a wonderful contrast to the two wackos who could care less about women who are pregnant and don't want to be.
Discussing the crisis that abortion care is experiencing in America at this point in time will help everyone, even our candidates. It will raise the issue, rally the young bloods and invigorate the women and men who recall the "bad old days" before Roe.
And it is the morally right thing to do because many of the women who are suffering are voiceless and faceless as they have no lobby in Congress. If our candidates don't speak for them, who will? And if not now, when?