Support Universal Abortion Care in America
Tue Aug 07, 2007 at 07:45:29 AM PDT
We have a crises in America today and women and their children are suffering. Women in the middle of the United States and in the deep south are trapped. When unintended or fatal pregnancy strikes, women are unable to find abortion care. If they can travel they will be fine. If not, they will be forced to carry a potential life threatening pregnancy against their will. On behalf of the state. Now there are many things Mississippian’s need but a poor woman forced into motherhood is not one of them.
Abortion care is increasingly unavailable to women in America because of the ongoing assault to make abortion rare by making it impossible to deliver care. Look at Mississippi if you want to see what ten years of legislation has done to limit access to women the most in need of abortion care. For a compelling look at the problem in Mississippi please view The Last Abortion Clinic produced by PBS's Frontline in 2005. It is available to watch for free on line. Please look at the strategy of the very clever and well funded anti crowd. This video is even more true now than it was then as the assault on the PROVISION OF ABORTION CARE continues in the statehouses with no relief at the federal level.
In The Last Abortion Clinic there is the exploration of the judiciary which also unfortunately remains right on target. We are losing our ability to appeal to the courts to protect reproductive rights. We can no longer assume the courts will protect American women guaranteeing their right to THEIR LIFE AND LIBERTY. When do American WOMEN represent LIFE, anyway?
We never know when a pregnancy will be life threatening for a woman. A woman may require medication that is toxic to the pregnancy because of a long, long list of conditions from bi polar disease to cancer. And a pregnancy induced clot is frequent enough that women with high blood pressure issues may choose to forgo another pregnancy. The list of health related reasons is endless and we haven't even gotten to other reasons women need abortion care. They may have abusive partners and cannot imagine bringing a child into that environment when they cannot yet protect themselves and the children they already have. They may have children they already are struggling to feed, clothe and shelter. And the list goes on...too young, too old. The youngest patient we have ever seen was eleven and the oldest was 55 so the spectrum of women seeking abortion care is HUGE.
There is a crises in America today as large numbers of American women are being forced to bear a pregnancy against their will on behalf of the state. How can we not recognize that this problem MUST be addressed? We do not have to wait for Roe to be overturned for Mississippi women. There is only one remaining abortion clinic located in Jackson so women without transportation outside of Jackson have no "Roe" protection. And the same is true for women in rural Alabama and Louisiana and Arkansas...and even South and North Dakota...and on and on. The number of places you can go to receive abortion care continues to drop as the state regulates providers out of existence. So many laws are going into place because the anti's introduce piece after piece of legislation to "regulate" abortion to make it safer for women. IF THE STATE IS SO CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY OF WOMEN WHY NOT OPEN UP ITS PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SYSTEM TO PROVIDE ABORTION CARE? Seriously. Louisiana has a large state run medical system including seven hospitals and three medical schools. Most states have a similar system. So if the health and welfare of women is so important why not open these systems up to provide abortion care, from teaching it in medical schools to offering hospital based care for high risk women? Why hasn't this been done if the HEALTH OF THE WOMAN is what is important here?
The truth is that no one cares about the health of poor pregnant women with unintended pregnancies. Or at least cares enough to do the right thing and help provide abortion care. Or support provision of abortion care. We have no leadership on the issue of universal abortion care. Senator Hillary Clinton, a wonderful contender for the US Presidency, is seemingly the perfect leader on the issue of universal abortion care but she has yet to utter the phrase "universal abortion care". That seems like an easy enough strategic step to take in order to LEAD and offer support. "Safe, legal and rare" has been used for fourteen LONG years. Senator Clinton shared just recently an update on this current American crises in abortion care. She added "And when I say rare, I do mean rare". Ah well. Let poor pregnant women fend for themselves. Don't look. Statistics will tell the tale as maternal and infant mortality and morbidity rates rise and we will work to combat those consequences along with abject poverty forced maternity breeds. And this human suffering could have been prevented by providing universal abortion care in America.
Forcing women to bear pregnancies against their will on behalf of the state because abortion is rare appears to be MORAL these days. American values at work. Gosh, aren't we proud? Forget the Constitution. Forget life and liberty of the woman. Forget it all. There are bigger problems and abortion is a losing issue for Democrats, so we say.
Oh well. This is nothing new. Poor women suffer. Many of these women are mothers already and their children suffer as well. These women are voiceless and faceless. They have no lobby in Washington and serve as political chips to be brokered. But they also are the canaries in the caves and the first warning signs the democracy is failing and basic human rights are being lost. And unless the Democratic Party rises up and does the right thing on behalf of poor pregnant women seeking abortion care the assault on human rights will continue.
How much backbone does it take to start discussing UNIVERSAL ABORTION CARE, anyway? After all don't we all have common ground on making sure abortion is SAFE AND LEGAL? If ever there was a time, it is now.
