Looking Forward to Back Alley Abortions

Dear Leading Ladies,

Two memories came to mind immediately when the leaked Supreme Court decision about Roe v. Wade hit the news. One was of a story a friend told of an abortion she had in college in the late 1960s in Boston. She was picked up in a car, blindfolded, and taken to a basement where she could hear rats scurrying about. When the procedure was over, she was returned to her dormitory. She was frightened beyond words and thought she might die, either in that dank, cold basement or from some infection afterwards. Nonetheless, she felt this was her best option. She and her boyfriend were not yet ready to marry – they would a year or so later – and they had plans to enter the Peace Corps for two years once they did.

The other memory is of moving to New York City in 1972, a year before Roe v. Wade, when abortion with no restrictions was legal only in New York state. Women (and girls) were coming from all over the country, if they could afford it, to terminate unwanted pregnancies. At a small, proprietary hospital on the Upper East Side, these patients sat for a short interview, as mandated by law, to confirm that they were there of their own free will and seemed psychologically prepared and stable to undergo the procedures.

The abortions were primarily D&Cs performed during the first trimester, but some were done later in pregnancies. The law allowed termination until 24 weeks. Who were the patients? They were all ages, but mostly white. Many were from the Southeast and under the age of consent, some as young as 12. They came with their mothers or older sisters, aunts and even grandmothers. How had they become pregnant? Some with their boyfriends but many by family members, family friends, and other older men. The abortions gave many of them a second chance at childhood.

How do I know all this? Because I was one of the counselors who spoke to the women and girls and tried to make sure they were ready and on board for what lay ahead.

The fight for women’s rights is going backwards

Is this what we have to look forward to, some 50 years later? A return to back alley and cross-country abortions? Surely, women in Massachusetts and some other progressive states will be protected. And women of means will always have access to what they need. But Jane Doe Inc. had it right when they wrote, “Let's be clear: overturning Roe is another in a long line of attacks on Black and brown people, on indigenous communities, on immigrants, on low-income people, on LGBQTiAA++ people, and others who are already marginalized and at risk of poor access to safe, affordable, and appropriate health care.” Indeed, polls show that over the past 50 years, the demographics of women seeking abortions has skewed towards those who are non-white and living in poverty. Reasons include the limited access to birth control and other health care compared to white women of means.

And lest there be any doubt, the end of Roe v. Wade should make us very nervous about the legal future of same-sex and interracial marriage, as well as various forms of contraception. It is horrifying to acknowledge that our daughters and granddaughters may grow up with fewer rights than many of us did.

Let’s not just get mad, let’s act!

Yet, as we feel frustrated and disappointed, let’s try to get beyond our anger and act.

In this week after Mother’s Day, let’s honor ourselves and our mothers with our strength and perseverance. As Heather Cox Richardson wrote last week, the original purpose of Mothers’ Day (note the placement of the apostrophe), initiated in the 1870s, “was part of women’s effort to gain power to change modern society.”

Hear! Hear!

Judy
With Therese and Mary
Leading Ladies Executive Team
Leadingladiesvote.org
ladies@leadingladiescote.org

READER COMMENTS:

Dear Therese et al,I LOVE this approach of specifically how and where to take action, thank you - and have an additional step I have been wanting to encourage for all our sisters and democracy-loving allies: let us become the change we want to see, let us step into power to rewrite the laws - by getting elected to office. At every level - local, state, federal. It takes dedication, for sure; easier on a local level than the others. I think we have become accustomed to, and maybe a little complacent about, thinking of leaders and politicians as ‘others’ to whom we pass off the responsibility to represent us (especially if we are from a marginalized group, or busy with jobs or looking after others or health concerns etc.). Let us rather envision ourselves as possible leaders of the community, that we nurture and lift up like an extended family. Every citizen, no matter their background, job, age, ability, heritage, identity, gender, ‘qualifications’, etc. has a valid voice, and diversity brings healthy and needed variety of experiences and perspectives and strategies to create a just society for all. Expressing our views, marching, writing, donating to good causes, and voting en masse is all awesome and can effect change …. but we can still be subject to the tyranny of a minority if they are the ones who have been voted into or appointed to power. Let’s imagine instead - what if everyone devoted at least 1% of their lives to some form of public office or service, or, for those that have the capacity, even more. Imagine what we could do if democracy-loving, decent people held a supermajority of the offices?? So please vote, (definitely vote, at the bare minimum!), please do what you can to help others to register and vote, support all the items on your list below, and please RUN FOR OFFICE….Robin W.

Brenda Riddell