I recently (11/16/05) attended a talk given by Gloria Feldt, former president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. This was co-sponsored by many organizations, including but not limited to Penn Med students for choice, Penn's chapter of the ACLU, and the Women's center. The talk was entitled "Gloria's Top 10 Ways to Fight Forward for Your Rights and Health" and she alluded to her recently published book called
The War on choice: Right-Wing attack on women's rights and how to fight back.
While it's likely that some people have read this book, I thought it might be useful to post some of her comments and some of my thoughts. Since there have already been diaries today on "similar" topics by shanikka and MediaGirl I waited a bit before posting. Also, it took me a little while to get this written- due the fact that I seem to be extraordinarily slow, I'm going to post this in two parts.
Gloria was given a very nice introduction by a medical student who had met her many years before in New Mexico. The student, Andrea, had since been active in many issues related to women's reproductive rights as well as equal access to healthcare. It was an encouraging start and something that Gloria came back to: the power of the personal story. She believes that the most important opportunities to win people over that might have an anti-choice stance arise by telling those people what is important to you personally, and what has solidified your convictions about reproductive freedom, civil liberties, and the right to privacy.
What follows is my interpretation of her talk. It might not necessarily follow her talking points word-for-word, but it's what I gained from the evening.
In her introduction, Gloria made the point that the war on choice is still very active and that it's important not to get complacent. Since she was speaking to an audience largely made of college-age women, she realized that many of us were born after Roe v. Wade had been decided. Because of this, many young women have become complacent. She pointed out several ways that the right-wingers have continued to wear away at the public and tried to convince us we don't really support reproductive freedom. How have they tried to take away the right to choose, and to make an informed decision?
First, it's all about access. The right to decide whether or not to have a child is important. Every person should be able to decide that for themselves. However, if your pharmacist refuses on "moral" grounds to fill your prescription for birth control, they've effectively taken away that right from you. If you live in one of the 87% of U.S. counties that has no medical provider who can perform abortions, again that access is lost and the right to choose is also effectively lost. Similarly, cuts in funding have also limited access to healthcare in many if not most states and counties.
Second concerns the packing of the courts with judges friendly to the right wing. This is happening at all levels- it's not only the Supreme Court we need to be thinking about. While this might be the most obvious battle-ground, Bush has been packing the lower federal courts with right-wing idealogues. As far as the Supreme Court goes, its makeup will determine whether or not to hear important cases that may challenge precedents such as Roe v. Wade, Griswold v. Connecticut, or Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
Third is the ominous trend of granting an implanted embryo or fetus full legal rights, and defining it as a "child" eligible for health insurance coverage. Further, Bush signed into law the Unborn Victims of Violence Act which allows for criminal penalites to be assessed based on harm done to a fetus, regardless of the fate of the woman harmed in a violent assault.
Fourth is the embracing of ideology over science. This has been evidenced many times over (take the refusal of some right-wingers to even acknowledge the existence of gloabl warming), but a timely example is the refusal of the FDA to approve emergency contraception. This point is especially critical to me, as a scientist. The FDA, which is supposed to base its decisions on the best scietific evidence possible, instead did the following:
Top agency officials were deeply involved in the decision, which was "very, very rare," a top F.D.A. review official told investigators. The officials' decision to ignore the recommendation of an independent advisory committee as well as the agency's own scientific review staff was unprecedented, the report found. And a top official's "novel" rationale for rejecting the application contradicted past agency practices, it concluded.
Fifth is the omnipresence of gag rules and other forms of censorship. George W. Bush reinstated the Global Gag Rule during his very first month in office: apparently, he just couldn't wait to begin interfering with the reproductive freedom of women all over the planet. In brief, this form of censorship denies healthcare providers to even discuss the possibility or even existence of abortion, let alone provide that service to clients.
Lastly, Gloria mentioned the path often taken by conservative pundits, which is to provoke polarizing debates that ignore the issue at hand. Why should pro-choice advocates find any need to defend their "side" of the debate? For example, why should there be two sides to emergency contraception? It is a form of personal healthcare; there is no debate, end of story. However, as liberals tend to do, we often see more than one side, and get drawn into this false debate that ends up leaving behind the larger issue: that of reproductive freedom and self-determination and most importantly the right to privacy. It isn't only about abortion. There is more at stake, and we can't forget about that.
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After this introduction, I am going to take a break. Gloria went on to talk about her top 10 ways to fight forward for your rights and health; I'll have to cover that another time. In the mean-time, what are your stories? Could you convince someone to see your side? Most importantly, are you boycotting Target?