Maiden diary on difficult issue of "abortion care"

I want to thank everyone involved in the Dkos endeavor straight away.  This is my first time coming to a blog, much less participating.  I think Dkos is a wonderful community, rich and robust so thank you for this lovely and informative public space.  I have read some beautiful diaries here and I have just scratched the surface.

I have been pondering how to use blogging to enhance my reason for being here...which is public discourse on how to improve quality abortion care for all.  So I am single issue for the moment as there is a crises occurring and women are dying in the USA because of pregnancies they cannot terminate.

State abortion restrictions have gone INSANE and our policy makers do not speak.  Women and their families are being devastated because there is no access to abortion care unless you have means.  This is happening now.  So criminalization or overturning Roe has become moot.  To fully understand the extent of the problem go to www.pbs.org and watch the Frontline piece The Last Abortion Clinic.  It is available free via video streaming.

The medical capability (and this does not mean availability) to terminate an early pregnancy has gotten better and better because of technological advancement.  We can terminate a pregnancy as a soon as a woman knows she is pregnant.  That would be three weeks pregnant.  So imagine this if you will.  A very very small "potential life" (it smaller than a pencil eraser if you can even see it) that obviously is not sentient but has UNTOLD potential (or not) if continued.  Of course at this early stage there is no guarantee that the pregnancy will continue to full term because God regularly causes/does abortions.  Hence miscarriages. So we have this "potential life" to weigh against the life of this woman or girl who is standing there pregnant. Plus the "post born" children this woman/girl already has.  And the future "pre and post born" children these women/girls will have.

Forget for a moment contraception.  Forget for a moment education.  GO WAY DOWN STREAM.  You will find trapped pregnant women.  They are desperate.  They are scared.  They have no resources.  They don't want to be pregnant and IT MAY EVEN THREATEN THEIR HEALTH but it doesn't matter.  If they have transportation they can get excellent pre-natal care at the local teaching hospital.  And crises pregnancy centers will start them out with diapers and a stroller, which as we know is all one needs to provide for healthy and successful children these days.  They will receive EXCELLENT prenatal care as this is how we train our wonderful neonatal doctors at our medical schools.  These high risk pregnancies are wonderful "teaching tools" and all effort is made to save the PREGNANCY.

There was a women from Alexandria, Louisiana in a nursing facility.  Her nurse was getting ready to discharge her and was slightly frantic to find help for her.  "Etta" was 36 and had had a stroke.  She could not walk, could speak with difficulty and was learning to swallow again.  And then they found that she was six weeks pregnant.  It happened just before the stroke.  She had had a job but was now being transferred to Medicare because of disability.  Etta and her husband had six children.  I remember the youngest child had MS and was very dependent on Etta for care. This six week pregnancy would compromise her recovery from her stroke and was life/health threatening for her.  Her pregnancy needed to be terminated.  No one would provide abortion care in central Louisiana.  They still won't.  They would let this woman die rather then provide abortion care.  They were very clear that the continuation of the pregnancy might kill this woman and consequently leave her "post born" children motherless, including the little one with MS who was so dependent on his mother.  But hey, no resources are available for abortion care...and abortion is taking a human life and clearly IMMORAL besides, so let this woman die or have her health destroyed.  Let these children be motherless.  This is the moral course for Louisiana and its policy makers to follow.  And ironies abound as the "life saving" abortion procedure this woman needs takes less than five minutes and can be done in any doctors office, if it were not illegal in a doctors offices at this point in time in Louisiana.

So we have over ninety percent or of all abortion care occurring in the first three months and most of these before seven weeks.  Imagine what would happen if we really made early abortion care available to poor women. Imagine a world where there was true reproductive justice and women could be provided quality abortion care regardless of income very early in the pregnancy.

For all the talk about abortion (and I understand why people are sick of it as there is so much TALK about abortion) there is little discussion on the PROVISION OF ABORTION CARE.  So there is the amazing disconnect.  Politically we are supposed to talk about making abortion rare. But in reality what we are talking about is making "abortion care" rare which is a very bad thing for women and their families.  

And women are dying.  Children are being made motherless.  And no one cares.  No one will speak to improving and increasing access to quality abortion care.  The resources to provide abortion care have to come from somewhere.  Training for the provision of care has to be taught someplace. It is as though we are supposed to create quality abortion care out of thin air while everyone talks like all of this is some kind of "abstract" moral debate or a strategy on winning an election.  What a total disconnect while women and their families suffer.

Until we realize our societal responsibility to provide quality abortion care to poor women in the United States little will change and women will continue to die and and families will suffer. Through public discourse we must influence our policy makers to assure comprehensive health care which includes access to quality abortion care for all.  Because, in truth, it takes a village to provide quality abortion care.  Do we have the moral fortitude required?

•  Please post a tip jar comment so that we can

  recommend you?

  You are right.  The right to have an abortion is moot if there are no providers available, or no funds available.

  The woman with the stroke--did anyone manage to take up a collection so that she could get the abortion, since the state would not provide it?

  by LIsoundview on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:06:32 AM PDT

  •  she did receive abortion care

    She was driven to a clinic 250 miles away.  She was in a wheel chair and still really struggling in her recovery.  She was the exception to be sure.  These are the "voiceless and faceless" women we never hear about that fall beneath our awareness radar.

    The problem is not just the state's lack of provision.  It is also that the state is making abortion care IMPOSSIBLE FOR ANYONE TO PROVIDE even in the private sector.

    I am sorry I don't know how to post a tip jar but hopefully can figure it out quickly. And thanks for your support!

    by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:12:35 AM PDT

    •  Great diary, Readrock

      A tip jar is just your first comment that people can recommend, so as to give you "mojo". You can label it as a tip jar in the subject line if you like.

      by bumblebums on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:15:35 AM PDT

      •  Oh thank you on the tip jar info

        I was looking for an actual tip jar icon.  Shows you what we neophites know!

        by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:17:45 AM PDT

        •  You may

          click on my username at the bottom of this comment, and go into my most recent diary, and see how I make my tip jars.

          I just put Tip Jar! as my subject line, and then I try to write a clever comment in the comment section, that connects tips with the topic of my diary.

          The clever comment idea seldom works well, so I am not saying you should do it.

          You will learn, as you read many diaries over the coming months, how the really good writers put up a tip jar.

          by bigjacbigjacbigjac on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 02:49:18 PM PDT

    •  Really good dairy - please continue to post

      we need an antidote to the "safe and rare" crowd.

      by tiponeill on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:27:37 AM PDT

    •  Only days after Texas retricted care in 2004

      I received a call from a 28 year-old mother of two children who had lupus. The steroid medication she needed to take for her illness had masked any symptoms of her pregnancy until the second trimester, at which time she lost her ability to walk. A sudden and severe exacerbation of her illness put her in a wheelchair.

      That is when her doctors realized she was 18 weeks pregnant -- and determined that continuing the pregnancy would probably kill her. With her life at stake, Texas Medicaid even agreed to pay for the procedure.

      But because of the "reasonable restriction" on abortion that required any procedure over 17 weeks to be performed in a hospital (in a state where no hospital would admit a woman for an abortion) or in an ambulatory surgical center (in a state where, at that time, no ASC existed that would admit a woman for an abortion) there was nothing we could do.

      As I was explaining the requirements of the new law, she began sobbing and asked, "What am I supposed to do then? Am I supposed to die because they changed the law?" Before I could offer to help her find help elsewhere, she broke the connection.

      I have no idea what happened to her.

      by moiv on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:49:34 AM PDT

      •  Texas

        18 counties that have abortion care.

        Out of a total of 254 counties.  

        65 abortion care providers for the state.  

        And in every phone book, ads for fake providers.  

        by rocketito on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:57:04 AM PDT

        •  Ads for fake providers

          tht sre subsidized with our tax dollars, to the tune of $2.5 million per year. And that's state funding alone, without taking into account the staggering amount in federal funding for crisis pregnancy centers nationwide.

          In Dallas alone, there are listings for six providers of abortion care, and for 22 CPCs.

          by moiv on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:12:25 AM PDT

        •  Typical deceptive advertising

          from a CPC website:

          We invite you to visit us at the White Rose Women’s Center!  No appointment is necessary to meet with our compassionate counselors and receive a free pregnancy test.  This is a truly positive experience for anyone making choices with an unplanned pregnancy.   All visits are confidential!  We respect your privacy!  We provide you with the latest information on all procedures, options and referrals for financial assistance.  You may qualify for a free or low-cost ultrasound, which is available on-site.

          Facing an unplanned pregnancy alone can seem daunting.  Our experienced staff at the White Rose Women’s Center will help you sort through all available options. Any decision in an unplanned pregnancy has long-term consequences.  Be Empowered!  Make the right decision based on accurate and factual information presented in a calm and non-judgmental setting.

          Let us answer your questions and provide you with informed options ...

          Women trust places like this one to live up to their promises. Instead, they get scare-tactic propaganda about abortion and breast cancer, lies about abortion causing loss of fertlity and the information that birth control pills "will kill your baby and you'll never even know it."

          by moiv on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:27:35 AM PDT

•  A little different than the thrust of your diary,

  but I completely lost respect for the whole anti-choice religious/right wing 12 years ago.  At that time, we were covered under employee insurance by a Catholic hospital system's HMO.  I had just given birth to our 7th child.  A planned pregnancy that we welcomed.  However, after her birth I became very ill with a serious medical condition.  I was told to never, ever become pregnant again as carrying another pregnancy would certainly endanger my health and most likely cause risk to my life.  

  At this point, we had already decided our family was complete and my husband made an appointment for a vasectomy.  Our insurance would not cover it as sterilization was against this Catholic health care system's beliefs.  They did, however, offer to pay for an abortion should I become pregnant and it could be proven to be life endangering.

  by tjb22 on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:07:35 AM PDT

  •  Scary very scary so little value place on a human

    life and so much value placed on sperm.

    by ghengismom on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 11:19:17 AM PDT

  •  Read my diary

    on Al Gore's movie, from almost a year ago.

    I promote vasectomies for all males, as soon as possible.

    That would not make humans extinct, because so many men would refuse, some vasectomies fail, and they can be reversed with 80% success.

    by bigjacbigjacbigjac on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 02:58:42 PM PDT

    •  do not go here, bigjac

      you've been good for a long time - but don't start down this road again

      by Pandoras Box on Wed Jun 13, 2007 at 12:55:37 PM PDT

  •  They offered to PAY?? I doubt it!

    Even if you had that in writing, I'm willing to bet the farm that if you ever needed that abortion care (and I hope you didn't) that a Catholic HMO would surely have retracted the offer and left you high, dry and pregnant.  Catholic policy clearly gives preference to the fetus over the woman. If they had already refused to pay for your husband's vasectomy, it's sure as hell on earth that they would NOT have paid for abortion care. In the great state of Nevada there are NO insurance companies that will cover abortion services. NONE. Federal Law REQUIRES Medicaid to pay for abortion care in cases of rape, incest and life-threatening illness.  The Great state of Nevada simply refuses to pay, and they know that it would cost doctors an patients more time and money to sue the state than they would ever collect.  "That's some catch that Catch 22."  So, I just do all rape & incest patients for free.  It's just easier.

    by SinCityGYN on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 04:58:11 PM PDT

•  This is well-said.

  Politically we are supposed to talk about making abortion rare. But in reality what we are talking about is making "abortion care" rare which is a very bad thing for women and their families.  

  I fear this is very true.

  by LithiumCola on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:09:29 AM PDT

  •  The way to make abortion rare...

    ...is to make birth control ubiquitous and free to any who ask for it on a totally confidential basis. We have this in California, it's called FamilyPACT.

    This is NO WAY to make abortion rare. The abortions will continue, but under unsafe and unsanitary conditions. WOMEN WILL DIE. Pure and simple.

    by Snakes on a White House on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:43:01 AM PDT

    •  Hi Snakes!

      Interesting name.  Is there a story behind it?

      Women are dying now and in a later diary I will provide the evidenced based data as I know it is there.

      And for the moment I asked that we go beyond prevention and education, meaning we are going way down stream. Someone has to help provide abortion care TODAY for women.  Our policy makers are making things WORSE and our leaders do not respond.

      We need the reinforcement Snakes. Things are incredibly dire.

      by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:52:58 AM PDT

      •  My name...

        First, do you remember a movie called "Snakes on a Plane?" Starring Samuel L. Jackson? It proved more successful as an Internet meme than a movie.

        Secondly, you've heard of no-account devious individuals referred to as "snakes," right? Who's in the White House? No-account devious individuals? Indeed.

        Snakes. On a White House. Get it?

        With regard to your point, this is not a zero-sum game. We can have prevention, education, AND abortion care. They all fit in together. Knock one of the legs out of this tripod, and everything falls over. American women need all three.

        by Snakes on a White House on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 12:34:20 PM PDT

        •  well of course we want ed and contraception

          but we must not side step the very real human problem at this point in time of lack of access to abortion care.  Policy makers are using sex ed and contraception to side step discussing the very difficult issue of providing abortion care.  It seems that there is the agreement that we can sidestep the divisive issue of abortion as long as we say contraception is the answer.  That is why I asked that we momentarily suspend discussion of contraception and education so that we might squarely look at the plight of WOMEN WHO ARE ALREADY PREGNANT and our current public policy.

          So of course, Snake, we want all three.  But we must stop hiding this difficult issue of access to quality abortion care for all behind contraception and education.  We must talk about where the resources are supposed to come from to provide quality care.  We cannot give our policy makers this convenient "out" so abortion care is swept under the rug.

          by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 01:14:41 PM PDT

          •  I see

            what you mean.

            It is so easy for lawmakers and the voters who elect them to say lets just do something upstream, and then fold our hands and turn off our brains, because everyone knows the upstream stuff fixes the downstream stuff.

            Except when it does not.

            When it does not, we need a very good safety net to catch people from falling all the way to the dirt.

            Sometimes I think we are using our training and resources backwards.

            We could send old hippies like me, and young hippies like you, (you talk like a young hippie), to places like Iraq.  We could talk peace and love to the Shiite and the Sunni.  We could watch the movie Ghandi together, every night, for a month.  Us and the warlords.

            Meanwhile, back in the USA, the military could be putting their vast budget and equipment into place all over the USA, providing fast, cheap, convenient abortion services with well trained Army and Navy doctors and nurses.

            The military, as I understand it, knows how to work very hard, and really make progress, at downstream battles.

            And, once they have enough people and infrastructure in place for the continuing downstream battle, they might be good at recruiting men for upstream strategy, such as vasectomies.

            They have been recruiting men for Iraq.

            A vasectomy sounds safer than Iraq.

            by bigjacbigjacbigjac on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 03:24:03 PM PDT

            •  I hear you bigjac 3 times over

              Getting folks downstream is difficult.

              Particularly when we are in the realm of politics.

              And I do wonder how we can focus on a small domestic issue like of access to abortion care (and it gets worse by the moment) when we have raging Iraq to contend with...which is just all too overwhelming in and of itself.

              But we have go to do something domestically on the lack of access to abortion care because if we don't do something abortion care will be completely unavailable in most states in the middle of country.  As long as you can get a plane ticket and have money for care your are OK...so that probably means almost everyone reading this would still have access to abortion care if needed.

              But poor women and their families pay a very heavy price...as does our country, when we force women to bear a pregnancy against their will on behalf of the state.

              I am an old hippie also.  How did I give myself away?

              by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 03:40:32 PM PDT

              •  How did you give yourself away?

                I suppose when a person sounds sensitive enough to see the beauty in things around her, I think hippie.  

                I went to the first paragraph of this diary, to tell you what I mean.

                ...thank everyone...wonderful community, rich and robust...lovely and informative public space...beautiful diaries...

                Many of these diaries are about as beautiful as the growls and barks of an attack dog.

                But, since you are firm and forceful yourself, you see the beauty.

                Sounded like a hippie to me.

                by bigjacbigjacbigjac on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 04:46:48 PM PDT

                •  by the way,

                  you can click on the recommend box on anyone who writes a comment in your diary, or anyone who participates in the same comment thread as you.

                  The only time I do not click on the recommend box is when I really do not like the comment.  When I feel it is hostile.

                  Look carefully at the comment thread in this diary of yours, and click on the little numbers at the top of each comment.  I like to do that, to see who is clicking on what comment.  At least you have an idea of who is reading the comment thread.  Some people read the diary, read the comment thread, and click recommend on a few of the comments, and that is all.

                  Another thing, remember I said to click on my username?

                  If you are curious about anyone, click on that person's username, and explore diaries and comments on other diaries.

                  by bigjacbigjacbigjac on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 05:00:17 PM PDT

                •  4thepeople wrote a beautiful diary

                  on being diagnosed with single cell lung cancer recently.  It landed on the recommend list.  This was the first diary I read on Dkos that wasn't abortion related.  The title was Goodbye Cruel World-I'm Outtie.  And for such a potentially sad and depressing diary, it was amazingly reassuring.  The give and take of the responses  carried considerable grace and portrayed a caring community on Dkos.

                  Maybe I should read more diaries to find the growl and bark ones...though I will probably "speed read" those.

                  by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 05:50:27 PM PDT

•  Excellent diary - tough topic

  You are so right about the need for medical care being available. Even in CA it's tough for women in rural areas to receive needed care.

  Post a tip jar so we can thank you. Recommended.

  by SallyCat on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:16:31 AM PDT

•  It takes a village to provide abortion care

  and ALL women deserve quality abortion care!

  by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:19:28 AM PDT

  •  so I thought this would be the tip jar

    But that didn't work. Sorry.

    by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:24:23 AM PDT

•  My first diary here

  in March 2005 -- The hidden TRAP behind "Safe, Legal and Rare" -- addressed this very subject.

  And in the intervening two years, the situation has deteriorated to the extent that there is a growing list of states with only one remaining clinic -- and that one on the endangered list.

  Thanks, Readrock, for making clear the reason I want to gag whenever I hear someone parrot "safe, legal and rare" as if it meant anything but further repression and endangerment of women. It is the mantra that has enabled the deliberate creation of the current crisis. Anyone who doubts that simply is not informed.

  Well-meaning people who voice support for that non-policy have no idea of what they're really advocating. Over time, I have been forced to conclude that those who support that policy and do understand what's happening are shills for the religious right -- and their name is Legion.

  by moiv on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:26:29 AM PDT

•  How many women have to die?

  This is the question we need to answer in deciding where we go from here.  Must it be the thousands (from the pre-Roe era)with hundreds of thousands more losing the ability to have future children from damage or infections due to criminal or self- induced abortions?
  Women marched, lobbied their state and federal legislators, spoke at public gatherings and to the press about the horrors of those times.
  Now its happening again, but being kept quiet as religious zealots continue to gain ground and convince government to eliminate safe abortion care.  
  Those who demonstrate at clinics shout absurdities like: "Sex for pleasure is a sin punishable by death", "Birth control is a sin and causes abortions", "Abortion causes breast cancer", "Abortion causes insanity"- or suicide or (well, you fill in the blank).  Unfortunately it appears our state and federal legislators and even U.S. Supreme Court justices now buy into this nonsense- as evidenced in their recent ruling, which also characterizes women as inadequate to make the decision to end a pregnancy.  If they really don't think they can trust women with Choice, how can they trust us with a child?  
  As one who experienced the nightmare of the pre-Roe days, its hard to accept that we're rapidly regressing to that when more and more women will die.  We must work to get the Freedom of Choice Act (federal law) passed, speak out at every opportunity, lobby our state and federal officials to SAVE women and publicy refuse to accept this-
  Women's lives are on the line once again!
  Thank you Readrock for a well informed and right on target diary- please keep writing.

  by Womantrust on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:52:37 AM PDT

  •  Sad to say this

    but I believe it is true.

    Women of even moderate financial means rarely end up as victims of unsafe abortion.

    The women and girls whose lives are sacrificed to policies promulgated even by politicians who claim to be on their side are disposable.

    They don't have money for political contributions, they are a drain on public assistance programs, and they most often don't vote.

    They're disposable.

    by moiv on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:41:11 AM PDT

    •  disposable is the word, moiv

      dehumanized objects, things, functions, perhaps incubators for others. whatever you want to call it, we treat these women as if they were not humans.

      imo, that's the linchpin, the necessary first step in thus process is to regard these women as NOT HUMAN.  that's the hard part. after that, it's all downhill from there.

      by LivesInAShoe on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 12:34:35 PM PDT

      •  That classification

        seems like the hard part to you, to me, and probably to most of us here.

        But to some people it seems to come all too easy.

        by moiv on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 04:28:13 PM PDT

  •  Not just how many, but which ones?

    The women who will die if abortion is re-criminalized will be poor, minority, single mothers.  Not exactly a popular group in this counrtry.  If outlawing abortion were going to affect rich, white people it would never happen.

    by docswede on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:48:22 AM PDT

    •  Outlawing abortion care

      If outlawing abortion were going to affect rich, white people it would never happen.

      Or if altar boys could get pregnant.

      (If this comment strikes anyone as flippant, think about it. It's not.)

      by Beket on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:52:29 AM PDT

      •  I agree.

        Not flippant.

        by bigjacbigjacbigjac on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 03:39:25 PM PDT

    •  so, such laws will discriminate

      against poor minority females...

      by LivesInAShoe on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 12:37:01 PM PDT

      •  I have been saying for a very

        long long time that if you want to expand abortion rights and safe guard the rights you have, then amend your State Constitutions.
        On November 3, 1970, Washington voters approved Referendum 20, which legalized abortion in the early months of pregnancy. Fifteen other states had liberalized their abortion laws by that time, but Washington was the first -- and so far the only -- state to do so through a vote of the people.

        This was more than two years BEFORE Roe. The best way and possibly the easiest way to take Roe out of play is to amend State Constitutions now. If Roe should fall then it will become an issue for the States to decided, better to be prepared, better still to make Roe irrelevant.

        by ghengismom on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 01:06:24 PM PDT

        •  Require training in all med schools?

          What about requiring that all medical schools that receive public funding teach the provision of abortion care?

          Could we also agree that all hospitals that receive public monies need to be provide hospital based abortion care for high risk pregnancies?

          These are two ways this issue can be addressed at the federal level and would begin opening up access to quality abortion care for all.

          Lack of hospital based abortion care is a serious problem at this point in time.  We can find the statistics on how many hospitals still provide care in the USA.  The number outside of major metropolitan areas is AMAZINGLY small.  What is happening to "high risk" women who need hospital based abortion care these days?  Eating cake?

          by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 01:36:08 PM PDT

          •  I have no problem with any of that just

            remember it its meaningless if you don't protect the rights we have.

            by ghengismom on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 01:41:56 PM PDT

•  more anecdotal evidence

  I had a boyfriend umpty years ago, whose family had parted ways from the catholic church, because, by obeying the anti-contraception rules, his mother had become pregnant,against the precise warnings of her doctor, that she would die,if she had another baby.
  Well, she died.
  The baby lived.
  So now they had two motherless children, and a father who was really not ready for this.
  Anecdote, not data.

  by shycat on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:55:49 AM PDT

  •  Evidence is out there

    and you are right to point out that personal experience is not evidenced based data.  I will pull together some figures on maternal mortality and morbidity in recent years.  We should be able to compare these with figures from previous years though we have never had the "utopia" of quality abortion care for all in the USA.  We were doing slightly better for a short period in this EPIC STRUGGLE TO PROVIDE CARE.  But it is getting worse.  Do go look at the resources available at www.pbs.org in conjunction with Frontline when it produced the documentary entitled "The Last Abortion Clinic" which is available free in video streaming format.  Take a look at the dire state of affairs for women and their children in the good state of Mississippi.  And you can find lots of excellent resources including data on this issue through the www.pbs.org website.

    I think reviewing the data on the state of health and welfare of women and children in the deep south today would be very very revealing.  And easily doable.  Great idea for another diary!

    by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:16:41 AM PDT

  •  umpteen

    The word is umpteen.

    And, yes the church is trying to slow down promiscuity, and in the process, doing more harm than good.

    by bigjacbigjacbigjac on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 03:58:58 PM PDT

    •  That's too funny

      umpty is a multiple of umpteen,but of course you knew that. :P
      Out here in this redneck partathewoods- it is 'umpty'.
      I have no explanation for this, just use it as I grew up with.

      by shycat on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 10:50:38 AM PDT

      •  Late comment

        I understand.  I thought you accidentally misspelled it.

        My parents were both Ozark Mountain hillbillies, but they both went to college, and would never call themselves such.

        So, maybe umpteen is educated hillbilly slang, and umpty is a less literate corruption of the word.

        I should have checked Wiktionary before writing this.  

        Maybe one of us should make an entry in Wiktionary.

        Or two entries.

        by bigjacbigjacbigjac on Wed Jun 13, 2007 at 01:17:15 AM PDT

•  "abortion care" puts it in the right perspective

  Thanks for a great diary, Readrock. I agree, just using the single word "abortion" constantly tends to obscure what's really important: Providing high-quality, accessible healthcare that real women really need. That's much more important and to-the-point than just making abortion "rare."

  I now believe the whole "make abortion rare" mantra is really an anti-choice view in disguise. It's a red herring, codespeak for abortion is icky so let's shove it under the rug. But worse than that, it's equivalent to saying we should make a woman's ability to exercise her rights rare!  

  After all, once a woman is pregnant, we can't "prevent" her abortion, we can only provide it. It's really unintended pregnancy we need to make rare. When people confuse reducing unintended pregnancy with reducing abortion, the whole perspective changes to one that is anti-woman and pro-fetus. Because if you're only concerned with reducing abortion, it doesn't matter that the woman doesn't want the pregnancy, it only matters that the fetus be given a chance to live. As a result, women suffer, and so does accessible "abortion care."

  by choice joyce on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:03:45 AM PDT

  •  there is one easy thing we all can do

    and perhaps even agree upon.  When discussing abortion try adding the word care to the word abortion.  The results are suprising.  This is an easy enough thing for everyone to do who supports reproductive justice so see what happens.  "Abortion care" is not always correct terminology but more often then not, it is.  For example what about this:

    I BELIEVE ABORTION SHOULD BE SAFE, LEGAL AND RARE

    or this:

    I BELIEVE ABORTION CARE SHOULD BE SAFE, LEGAL AND RARE.

    That one little word "care" changes our scope and perspective tremendously.

    So try linking care with the word abortion and see how that improves the dialogue on this most difficult and MISUNDERSTOOD issue.

    by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:40:51 AM PDT

    •  Yes, a big "Exactly!" to abortion CARE, but

      I BELIEVE ABORTION CARE SHOULD BE SAFE, LEGAL AND RARE.

      Let's leave off the "rare" here. Maybe substitute "accessible" or "available."

      When I hear "there are too many abortions" I think of Goldilocks and the Three Bears - if there are "too many" how many would be "too few" and how many would be "just right?"

      Obviously, for those who are so-called "pro-life" ONE is "too many," there is no "too few," and zero is "just right."

      And "whatever" is to them a reasonable quantity of women's lives, health, and human rights being sacrificed to their mythical "God."

      by Beket on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 11:14:58 AM PDT

    •  Substituting Abortion Care for aborton

      is an EXCELLENT point!  While no one wants to increase the number of abortions, it is incredibly important not to reduce the number of abortion care facilities!

      Speaking hypothetically about abortion is so very different than when it is you who needs care.  

      Everyone thinks their own (or their family member's or their friend's) situation is differen.  

      The top reasons for abortion are:
      rape, incest and me.

      by AlliHi on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 02:11:32 PM PDT

    •  You are

      my kind of nitpicker.

      I agree.  We on the left must start saying and writing abortion care, abortion care, abortion care.

      And I see how that should stop people from saying safe legal and rare.  Do you want good medical care of any kind to be rare?

      by bigjacbigjacbigjac on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 04:06:51 PM PDT

      •  "Good medical care of any kind should not be rare

        You are absolutely right bigjac.

        I THINK YOU HAVE IT!

        Abortion care, abortion care, abortion care!

        by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 04:26:24 PM PDT

•  GREAT Diary, Readrock!!!

  Politically we are supposed to talk about making abortion rare. But in reality what we are talking about is making "abortion care" rare which is a very bad thing for women and their families.  

  Exactly!

  by Beket on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:33:59 AM PDT

•  Exactly!

  So there is the amazing disconnect.  Politically we are supposed to talk about making abortion rare. But in reality what we are talking about is making "abortion care" rare which is a very bad thing for women and their families.

  Exactly!

  by Beket on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:38:00 AM PDT

•  What good is a procedure when you can't get it?

  The scarcity of abortion care providers and the tightening of state legislation of abortion clinics (TRAP laws, etc.) is a scary situation.  Thanks for sharing this diary, Readrock.  Keep it up!

  by docswede on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:44:27 AM PDT

•  I agree with your premise that there has been

  an erosion in access to abortion care (I also like the use of the word "care" here), however I disagree with what I gather to be your assertion, that this is so because of the "safe, legal and rare" argument.  Rather, I think there has been deliberate actions to reduce access to abortion on the state and federal level (under the direction of President Bush) that have flown under the radar screen of most Americans, and that have gone largely unreported by the media.  

  by masslib on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 11:02:02 AM PDT

  •  Women are dying now Docswede

    because access to ANY KIND OF ABORTION CARE has been cut off. Discerning these figures is difficult because if "Etta" the woman I describe in my diary died of another stroke as a result of continuing her pregnancy, what would her official cause of death be, particularly if she was early?  But of course, lack of abortion care which is happening NOW also has many tragic consequences beyond death for the woman.

    What Moiv describes with the cutoff of second trimester care in Texas OVER NIGHT because of legislation (without press coverage I might add) was MONUMENTAL. That was a major reduction in care literally overnight to a HUGE GEOGRAPHIC AREA.  It trapped women with dire pregnancies.  Hopefully most folks realize amniocentesis is not done until 15 weeks and generally takes a week or two to get results.  So second trimester care, though a very small part of abortion care occurring in the USA, is still very necessary for the women and their families who need care.

    by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 11:11:55 AM PDT

  •  What Readrock is saying

    is that the two are inextricably and symbiotically connected.

    By my count, there are half a dozen people commenting in this thread who actually know something about providing abortion care.

    We know at least as much about our own profession, and about the politics of statutes and regulations affecting it, as anyone else knows about what they do.

    It would be presumptuous (not to mention really silly) of Readrock, or Beket, or docswede, or Womantrust, or choice joyce or me to lecture Jerome a Paris about the effects of regulation on the energy market, or Bonddad about the market forces affecting the cost of new housing, or OrangeClouds about the harmful effects of governmental policy on the safe food supply.

    What we know is that when politicians play doctor, a lot of people suffer, and some even die.

    And we also know, as anyone should and as FDR observed, nothing in poliitics happens by accident.

    by moiv on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 11:19:38 AM PDT

  •  "safe, legal and rare" did not "cause" this

    because obviously it is a very difficult and complicated social problem which we have struggle with forever.  I mean look at the history of women as autonomous beings able to control their fertility...it is a very short history so won't take long.

    And yes, while I like to blame the Clinton's for EVERYTHING they are not so powerful as to be responsible for the current UTTER LACK OF SUPPORT FOR ABORTION PROVISION.  Actually I really like the Clinton's and always have.

    The problem is that no one is speaking out about the abject lack of care and the state laws that are making it worse.  This assault against the provision of abortion care has become an epidemic.  We need leadership from above here and we are not getting it.  We need to educate the public about the reality of abortion care and the real need to guarantee quality abortion care for all.  And the old and tired and politically expedient "safe, legal and rare" ain't getting it...and in fact except for finding some decent political currency for a time, is making matters worse.

    by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 11:23:55 AM PDT

    •  But, see, it is more than that. We are getting

      leadership from above, just not at all the kind we need, from President Bush who is purposefully restricting access to abortion care not just in the US, but all across the world, not under the guise of "safe, legal and rare" but under the meme of "protecting the sanctity of life".  I agree with you that we need leadership from above that promotes open access to abortion.

      by masslib on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 11:32:11 AM PDT

      •  Of course Bush is a blight

        on the universe. We can expect nothing from him, or from the appointees who will remain in place after he is gone, than more of the same.

        It would be useless to complain about that.

        But what doesn't have to happen is the compliance and complacency of the political leaders who are supposed to be opposing the GOP's depredations -- and aren't.

        "Safe, legal and rare" means about as much as "God bless America." It's a safe soundbyte for nominally pro-choice politicans, so they latch onto it like a sugar-tit.

        And so far, even as women suffer and sometimes even die, none of them has had the moral fortitude or political courage to do more than regurgitate the same old pabulum.

        by moiv on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 11:44:28 AM PDT

      •  Well I agree Bush is a disaster on repro justice

        as he was ridiculous on this issue from the get go as was his dad.  But I guess I expect more from our friends.  I do think Sen. Hillary Clinton should do more as a woman to understand and promote true access to abortion care.  It doesn't even take a passport to come to the deep south to see how women and their families are being impacted by what has happened over the last eight years.

        I expect more.  I think that if our Dems start speaking the truth about the need for abortion care people will understand.  But if we don't educate people, the knowledge and desire to do the right thing isn't going to be there and it isn't going to happen. And we will never discuss how the state can help women and their families receive quality abortion care.  And we have to do this because it takes a village to provide quality abortion care for all.

        by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 11:49:51 AM PDT

        •  Bush is a disaster for repro rights...

          Bush has been a disaster of our entire nation and the world.  william f harrison

          by william f harrison on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 09:57:39 AM PDT

•  This is nothing new.

  No one would provide abortion care in central Louisiana.  They still won't.  

  Louisiana has been a black hole for abortion services for decades. Twenty years ago, while I was in high school, there were several girls who took "shopping weekends" with their mothers in either Jackson, MS or New Orleans. We teenagers knew they were going to have abortions, but the "grown-ups" would never mention the word.

  Excellent diary, Readrock; thanks for writing.

  by sbdenmon on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 11:08:01 AM PDT

  •  That happens now in Texas

    With no provider of care between Dallas and Shreveport, every Saturday we see half a dozen teenagers from East Texas who suddenly decided that it was time for a mother-and-daughter shopping trip to Dallas.

    I wish I had a lottery ticket for every time a worried mother has said to me that she had lied to her husband about where she and her daughter were going because "this would just kill her daddy."

    by moiv on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 11:25:45 AM PDT

•  Steps forward

  what we must do is organize private philanthropic efforts to make abortion available to women who can't afford it. And we ought to be prepared to have transportation services available in the event that some states make it illegal should roe go down.  

  by arion on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 12:11:46 PM PDT

  •  FIRST we must stop the assault on care

    We need to PUBLICLY OUT all of this abortion legislation that is labeled as protecting women's health when it really is limiting the ability to provided abortion care and a woman's access to care.  We need mount a REPRODUCTIVE BILL OF RIGHTS campaign in the USA.  We need to take back the issue and be able to eloquently explain the need for quality abortion care.  

    We need to do something to change public discourse.  Our top dems need new speech writers on this issue...that would be a start.  And get rid of the old and worn "safe, legal and rare" slogan as it has used up its political currency and is only hurting things at this point.

    by Readrock on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 12:24:34 PM PDT

•  I hope this gets rescued...

  thanks for it.

  by Elise on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 12:41:08 PM PDT

  •  Ah...I should have refreshed..

    too many comments likely for rescue...please keep writing though!

    by Elise on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 12:42:20 PM PDT

•  "State abortion restrictions have gone INSANE"

  completely agree and abortion is NOT a state's right issue... it is an American issue and an equal protection under the law issue...

  hope your diary gets rescued and great debut diary... thanks for your passion.

  by pfiore8 on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 01:03:40 PM PDT

•  The bad old days before Roe

  Prior to 1973 and the Roe ruling, 17 states and the District of Columbia allowed- some even funded- safe and legal abortion care.
  That was a patchwork system and is what we'll return to as Roe continues to erode.  Because we all understood the loss of women's lives and reproductive futures was too important to be left to state legislators (some in the South are illiterate today!)- we knew a federal ruling PROHIBITING states from outlawing abortion care was imperative.  So, women's organizations put the word out for attorneys and a case to take to the U. S. Supreme Court (which was composed of more compassionate and fair justices than now).
  The case chosen was Norma Jean McCorvey (Jane Roe) and the attorney was a young woman lawyer from Austin, TX who mostly had experience with wills and adoptions.  Sarah Weddington lived this case night and day, argued it in the U. S. Supeme Court and won! We thought at last women would be safe.  Then challenges began which resulted in rulings that began to erode or chip away at the RIGHT  to safe abortion care.
  So, protection from the national level is what we must have as no Southern state (the bedrock of religious fundamentalism based on ignorance and poverty)will legislate to protect safe abortion care.  The Freedom of Choice Act must be passed (which reaffirms Roe and stops individual states from outlawing or interfering with safe care).  This will take time and determination but we believe women's lives are worth the fight.  Even if the present Congress passed F.O.C.A., Pres. Bush has already promised to veto it and at this time there aren't enought Congressional votes to override his veto.  So women will die- but not Bush women- who have the resources to get safe care.
  We must change administrations in the White House, get F.O.C.A. passed and make sure our new president will sign it into law. These are big goals but doable and when you understand the alternative to not doing this is the loss of more women's lives- how can we not?

  by Womantrust on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:06:30 PM PDT

•  readrock, you rock!

  Readrock, I read your diary last night but was not able to respond until this morning.  As an abortion provider as a routine part of my gyn services here in Fayetteville, Arkansas, I agree with everything you have written here.  Pro-Life, a political and religious proper noun, is about as far removed from being "prolife" as one can get.  Pro-Lifers are routinely opposed to all sexual activity not intended for procreation, and most, like the Catholic Church, are mainly interested in and eager to punish women for seeking and receiving sexual pleasure by denying effective birth control methods and safe, legal, relatively inexpensive and readily available abortion care. Some are much more interested in denying the standard methods of preventing various sexually transmited diseases, either by means of vaccinations or condom use, than they are in preventing and treating what can be life threatening and fertility denying diseases snd pronlems.  Many Pro-Lifers are also opposed to all sorts of medical studies involving fetal stem cell research that may promise to cure many serious genetic and chronic health problems.   They would much prefer young sexually active women (and hundreds of thousands of frozen embryoes destroyed) die of sexually transmitted diseases and the multitude of disasters accompanying illegal abortions than in preventing some of the consequences that can result from pleasure seeking young and middle aged women who are not ready to have a, or another, child.  

  Is Pro-Life prolife?  Not in my book.  Pro-Life equals prodeath is a much more accurate assessment!

  william f harrison, md, facog      

  by william f harrison on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 09:51:21 AM PDT

  •  william, you are one of my heroes on this site

    a truly courageous man. thank you for what you do.

    sorry for the late reply - just came across this diary today

    by Pandoras Box on Wed Jun 13, 2007 at 12:53:06 PM PDT