Feminist book review: The Story of Jane

Talk about things they didn't teach you in school - comprehensive sex ed, how to write a cover letter, America's underground abortion networks.

I've been pro choice since I was a kid, and I understood as a teenager that illegal back alley abortions killed women. But I'm a little ashamed to say it wasn't until recently that I learned about pre-Roe feminist organizations that linked women with reputable abortion providers. This is all changed when I read Laura Kaplan's social history The Story of Jane.

Kaplan was one of the Chicago women who served in Jane from 1969 to 1973. She interviewed her former colleagues from Jane to weave a fascinating narrative of how a few feminists organized an underground railroad through which thousands of women safely obtained illegal abortions.

The story is incredible. A University of Chicago student named Heather Booth was active in civil rights and women's rights, and desperate women kept asking her where they could obtain abortions. She became known as a local resource for referrals, and recruited a group of women to help her field phone calls from women with unintended pregnancies. They contacted doctors and negotiated prices for the patients.

When Jane members realized one of their abortion providers was not licensed or professionally trained as a doctor, they saw it was possible to provide quality abortion care without a degree. One of the Jane leaders, referred to in the book as "Jenny," believed the organization could assist more women if Jane members became providers instead of relying as heavily on local doctors, many of whom charged high fees.

Jenny and several other women learned to perform first and second trimester abortions, though they had little or no medical background. Despite police surveillance and several serious setbacks, they operated for four years until the passage of Roe enabled women to legally seek out doctors for abortion services.

Kaplan's brisk prose is refreshingly readable, not academic. I finished the book in an afternoon and was never bored. My only regret is I don't know the identities of the women who were involved with Jane. They are true feminist role models, and were too humble to want or need recognition.

Jane and its sister organizations in other cities set out to meet the overwhelming demand for abortion services in the late sixties, and of course we still face numerous barriers to abortion access today. But there are lots of ways we can organize to expand access. Your pro-choice campus group can join FMF's Adopt-a-Clinic Campaign to support your local clinics.

We can educate ourselves and our decision makers by speaking out on how abortion works, sharing abortion stories, and discussing how prevalent and safe abortion is in the US. In the spirit of Jane, we can increase the number of abortion providers by pushing states to allow nurses and midwives to become providers, and working with med schools to include abortion care in the curriculum.

Jane exemplified civil disobedience at its best, where individuals took collective action to improve women's lives. It is an important part of our past that must stay in the past, and a reminder of why we fight for women's lives today and tomorrow. I hope to be as plucky and dedicated an activist as the women of Jane, and I am excited and privileged to know so many pro choice warriors who continue to embody that independent feminist spirit. We know we must never go back, and we won't.

Do You Feel Lucky? What Unwanted Pregnancy Meant In the 1960s

The battle between pro-choice and pro-life (or anti-choice) protesters seems to be waging at overwhelming extremes lately. And as an intern here at FMF, I have taken part in writing updates dealing with abortion bills being passed state by state, on a weekly basis. However, of all the writing I have read about abortion and the argument for pro-choice, this article stands in a category of its own.

Guernica, a magazine of art and politics, featured a piece titled "Lucky Girl" by Bridget Potter. Ms. Potter wrote a historical memoir about what life was like in the 1960s, and the segment featured here is about her experience with an unwanted pregnancy at age 19.

Disclaimer: This piece of writing is not for the faint of heart. Some of the descriptions are rather shocking, if not grotesque. But I believe being shocked into reality can be a very effective way to learn and appreciate what we have.

The reason this story stood out to me was because it is a personal account. A stark, honest description of the measures this young woman went to for a solution to her problem. There are plenty of people, especially women, who do not understand why Roe vs. Wade was as monumental as it was, and why so many fight to protect it. This true story might help clarify that.

Because, you see, Ms. Potter's circumstances were not uncommon for her day. She was not irresponsible about contraception, simply misinformed. Sadly, one mistake led to her unwanted pregnancy, at a time in her life when she did not have the time, living conditions or finances to support a child.

Ms. Potter explains: "There was also an acute social stigma attached to an unwed mother with an illegitimate child; maternity homes were frequently frightening and far away. All counseled adoption. The only alternatives were a shotgun wedding or an illegal abortion.

According to a 1958 Kinsey study, illegal abortion was the option chosen by 80 percent of single women with unwanted pregnancies. Statistics on illegal abortion are notoriously unreliable, but the Guttmacher Institute, a respected international organization dedicated to sexual and reproductive health, estimates that during the pre-Roe vs. Wade years there were up to one million illegal abortions performed in the United States each year."

Today, single motherhood is much more common (although often still not desired) and not nearly as frowned upon as it used to be. We are also far better informed about contraception, and have many more options aside from diaphragms (which were only given out by pharmacists to married women at the time) and the suspicious "pink foam" that Ms. Potter used.

However, it is not the facts that got my attention. It was the dangerous, expensive and seemingly hopeless struggle Ms. Potter endured to attain an illegal abortion. How isolated she felt in her predicament, and the countless other women who experienced the same situation then and are experiencing it today.

This story will bring out emotions in you that may contradict each other. And if nothing else, it will make you realize who was considered a lucky girl back then, how lucky we are as women today...and how quickly it can all be taken away.

Photo credit: lilyana at deviantART

Pro-Choice is Our Choice Too...Roe at 37

First of all, let me say, happy 37th anniversary of Roe v Wade! Now that that's out of the way - don't celebrate, ACTIVATE!

Yesterday, West Coast Organizer Jacqueline, new FMF intern Laura Garnett and myself attended an event called "Pro-Choice is Our Choice Too...Roe v. Wade at 37". It was put together by the National Council of Jewish Women in Los Angeles, along with the Hollywood chapter of NOW and local Planned Parenthood chapters.

The awesome, super-pro-choice speakers included: Rebecca Iaacs, the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles; Dr. Arthur Fleisher, an OB/GYN who has been practicing medicine since the 50's and performing abortion since BEFORE Roe v. Wade (because abortion became legal in California in 1970); Professor Laurie Levenson of Loyola Law School; and Abbe Land, former Mayor of West Hollywood, current West Hollywood City Councilmember, Co-CEO of the Los Angeles Free Clinic and a past FMF staff member!

The message I would like to convey to you (in case you didn't know) is: OUR RIGHTS ARE NOT SAFE! Roe v. Wade basically ruled that abortion can't be entirely outlawed, but it can be regulated to death - and the anti-choice movement is sure taking advantage! From the Hyde Amendment, to state funding restrictions, to parental notification and consent, biased counseling requirements, mandatory delays, ultrasound requirements, reporting requirements, and more - when it all boils down, abortion is accessible for women with means, and for everyone else, it is not. In fact, 87% of counties in the U.S. do not have a single abortion provider.

In addition to having hugely negative consequences on women's ability to exercise their legal right to abortion, these types of anti-choice tactics are slowly chipping away at the legality of the right itself. Personhood amendments in particular, which we are seeing increasingly (several states had them on the ballot in 2008, state legislatures have considered them and North Dakota's House has even passed one, and we can expect to see them on the 2010 ballots in CA, NV, AK and CO, if not in more states) aim to directly challenge Roe v. Wade.

The North Dakota bill which has passed in the ND House (but has yet to pass in the Senate or be passed into law) defines "personhood" as beginning "at the moment of conception". Of course, the meaning of "moment of conception" is up for debate, but nevertheless, this bill's sole purpose is not only to ban abortion, emergency contraception, and even some forms of birth control in North Dakota, but to make its way to the Supreme Court and overturn Roe v Wade.

And as Laurie Levenson stated yesterday, "We are one vote away from overturning Roe v. Wade". We don't know how Justice Sotomayor will vote on the issue of choice. We know that the two most pro-choice Supreme Court justices, Ginsburg and Stevens, are also the oldest and most likely to retire. So, if Roe v. Wade gets overturned, what next? Well, 15 states actually have unenforceable abortion bans on the books, that would immediately go into effect should Roe be overturned. Oy!

Furthermore, the anti-choice movement has been very successful at making "abortion" a dirty word and making people feel it is a procedure they should be ashamed of. The constant messaging that "abortion is murder" and increased messaging about the connection between fetal/embyronic "life" and "personhood" surely serves their goals well as people internalize these messages like they're a McDonald's marketing campaign.

The reality is that 1 in 3 American women will terminate a pregnancy at some point in their lives. Abortion is one of the most common surgical procedures performed. So why is it so stigmatized?!

Today, on the 37th anniversary of Roe, please treat it not as a celebration, but a call to action! Make sure young people realize the very real and constant threat our rights are under. Raise awareness about abortion - the procedure itself, how common and safe it is, and encourage people to speak up and speak out for our rights!

Palin: "Pro-Life...is Pro-Woman"

Happy Birthday Roe v Wade! What better way to celebrate than have to listen to Sarah Palin say "the Pro-Life movement is Pro-Women."

In a recent facebook post, entitled "Marching for a Beautiful Life," Palin makes claims like the one I just mentioned, but also that overturning Roe will actually give women more options, and that CPCs are, in fact "helpful pregnancy resource centers." As interesting, upsetting, maddening, and sometimes hilarious some of her claims are, I would really like to comment on one of her facebook supporters comment, Sharla, who posted the following.

"The ironic thing about the pro-choice movement is that most women don't feel they have a choice. They are pressured into having an abortion by the boyfriend/husband, a parent or a friend. You are right when you say that pro-life is pro-woman!"

Obviously, women never make their own decisions, we must have our boyfriends and husbands do it for us; we are incapable of making a decision about our futures. This woman's claim that women have no agency is the most anti-woman accusation. Furthermore, by accusing the anti-choice movement of actually providing no choices at all is nothing short of ludicrous, which is probably why Palin agreed and posted something similar.

Palin urges us to not buy into the pro-choice rhetoric because, in fact, "the culture of life empowers women by offering them real choices."Apparently, women are offered more opportunities and choices for the future if they 'choose life.' So.....by offering women fewer options, you are in fact offering them more? That makes about as much sense and is about as correct as Palin's explanation of the Bush Doctrine. The reality is that the pro-choice movement gives women 100% control over their bodies; they can choose between life, abortion, adoption but more than that, they can make choices about their future, as a mother, as a student, as a worker.

As so off base as the majority of her post was, Sarah Palin was correct in saying that a woman who chooses life when her situation is less than ideal is strong; it absolutely takes a strong woman to do that. But it takes a strong woman to choose abortion too; pregnancy decisions are not for the weak. By taking the option of abortion away, it is taking away a personal strength that all women are capable of. It is taking away a right to OUR life. It forever implies that we lack agency and are incapable of making the right decision, and so the decision must be made for us.

Similarly, what the anti-choice movement fails to do, is recognize women as individuals rather than one large group that all want the same thing. Each and every one of us have different life experiences, different living situations, different dreams, and different aspirations. To overturn Roe would make the claim that despite all of these differences, all women are the same; all women want to be mothers, all women want the same future.

Losing the right to choose is losing the right and freedom to be a woman, to be an individual, to be a human being. Anti-choice is not pro-woman. Pro-woman means allowing women 100% control over her body, her life, her future. Not her husband or her boyfriend or her baby daddy, not her government, not her church and certainly not Sarah Palin, but her.

So here is to THIRTY SEVEN amazing years of pro-woman, pro-choice Roe v. Wade.

Check out Jezebel's open letter to Sarah Palin in response to her Facebook post!

Attention DC Feminists: Roe v. Wade Rally, January 22!

Join activists and allies as we rally in support of the 37th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision outside of the Supreme Court on January 22!

Here are the particulars:
Date + time: January 22nd at Noon
Location: Supreme Court, 1st Street NE between Maryland Ave and East Capitol
Metro: Union Station + Capitol South

Don't forget to bring your double-sided signs!

Join DC NOW for a celebration following the rally at 6 o'clock!
DJ, feminist art, and fabulous friends
Location: 800 4th Street SW
Metro: Federal Center SW
Donations of food and beverages are encouraged.

Become a NOW member for $35 and $10 will benefit the DC Abortion Fund!

For more information visit www.dc-now.org

Throwback! The Early Days of Roe v. Wade

Sometimes I get so caught up in the battles we face as activists today that I forget about some of the struggles our foremothers faced back in the early days of the feminist movement. Too often we think about the history of our movement during the "designated" times (Black History Month, Women's History Month) or because of special anniversaries, when we should actually consider our activism as part of a continuum. That way, we can be innovative and progressive while we simultaneously think back on the work and contributions of those who came before us.

My awesome feminist sister found a crazy relic from the early days of Roe v. Wade while doing a research project at Barnard. Meet "Abortion Eve," a comic book heroine trying to decide whether or not to have an abortion. While it is certainly a little dated, it is a revealing look at abortion in 1973 and is pretty brilliant at times:

"Scientific research shows that certain groups of people are immune to this dreaded affliction [unplanned pregnancy]. For example: not one President of the United States has ever been known to suffer from it. In all the wars which our proud country has known, not one General of the Army, Admiral of the Navy, or even a lonely helicopter pilot has ever contracted this malignant plague... You may ask who, then, is it that suffers the most? For some strange reason typists do, as well as nurses, secretaries, welfare mothers, and sopranos. Even some well known actresses and athletes have fallen victim to it. Extensive analysis shows the one common denominator in people who have an unplanned pregnancy: THEY ARE ALL FEMALE!"

Love it! Take a look, this is totally fascinating for feminist history nerds like me. Another one of my sister's finds: What Now?! Under 18 and Pregnant, a guide written by and for teenagers in 1977. We need more honest talk like that and less preaching nowadays, don't you think?

Third times the charm?

Kudos, Bob Schieffer for putting reproductive choice on the presidential debate agenda! Finally, a question was asked about the role of Supreme Court nominations and Roe v. Wade. The next administration will potentially appoint up to three new justices to the court -- and it only takes one to strip women of their reproductive rights.

So why did it take so long to have this discussion? What did you think about last night's debate? Are the issues you care about being discussed?

Access to abortion and birth control are not the only things at stake in this election. Pay equity, affirmative action, marriage equality and much more are all on the ballot this year.

With only 19 days until Election day, it's time to take action now! Some of you don't have to wait until November 4 to vote with early voting beginning in many states. Organize your campus and march to the polls today to vote as if your life depends on it! And if you can't vote now, keep the debate going by educating your community about why their vote is so important this fall!