Jane, Roe v Wade and Racial Suicide

While we are awaiting the announcement of a new conservative supreme court judge, and with the fate of Roe v. Wade hanging in the balance, I once again started my own research. I am a woman. I have seen and heard a lot throughout the years and women’s rights are dear to me -always have been, always will be. I am a woman of all ages and I speak up for women of all ages.

I wanted to know more about the abortion rights throughout the years, not just here in the U.S. but worldwide. Where do we stand in comparison with other civilized countries?

During my research I came across a book THE STORY OF JANE -THE LEGENDARY UNDERGROUND FEMINIST ABORTION SERVICE and the reviews “made me” order the book and when it arrived I couldn’t put it down.

Jane, a group of 25-30 women existed only for about four years but what these women accomplished in that time is mindblowing. The Story of Jane is one of the most inspiring books I’ve read. It’s a true story about female history and also a story about our culture.

After reading the book I took a trip down memory lane. I remembered the girl in the Catholic boarding school, who had to leave because of an unwanted pregnancy. In the early 70’s, right before the abortion law changed in that part of Europe, the girl was forced to give up a child for adoption and when she came back she had changed. I often wonder what happened to her. Did she ever get over it or did she spend parts of her life searching for a child, that had been taken by the power of a law that left her unprotected?

I stumbled over a very thought-provoking blog post that I would love to share in parts here on my blog.

In the United States, abortion was widely practiced before about 1880, by which time most states had banned it except to save the life of the woman. Anti-abortion legislation was part of a backlash against the growing movements for suffrage and birth control — an effort to control women and confine them to a traditional childbearing role.

This legislation was also a way for the medical profession to tighten its control over women’s health care, as midwives who performed abortions were a threat to the male medical establishment. Finally, with the declining birthrate among women from Northern European backgrounds in the late 1800s, the U.S. government and the eugenics movement were concerned about “race suicide” and wanted white U.S.-born women to reproduce.

Laws prohibiting abortion subjected women to desperation, fear, and shame, and took a heavy toll on women’s lives and health.  Poor women and women of color suffered disproportionately, as the ability of a woman to obtain an abortion, let alone one that was safe, often depended upon her economic situation, her race, and where she lived. Women with money could sometimes leave the country or find a physician who would perform the procedure for a high fee. Poor women, for the most part, were either at the mercy of incompetent practitioners with questionable motives or unable to find anyone who would perform the procedure. Many attempted dangerous self-abortions, such as inserting knitting needles or coat hangers into the vagina and uterus, douching with solutions such as lye, or swallowing strong drugs or chemicals.

Because many deaths were not officially attributed to unsafe, illegal abortion, it’s impossible to know the exact number of lives lost. However, thousands of women a year were treated for health complications due to botched, unsanitary, or self-induced abortions, and many died. Others were left infertile or with chronic illness and pain.

Read the rest of the blog <<<here<<<

Women voting against women’s rights and with that against their own interest. Could somebody please explain it to me, because no matter how hard I try, I cannot understand it.

More than ever do I fear religious fanatics, more than ever do I applaud women (and men) who stand up against it.

We were ordinary women who, working together, accomplished something extraordinary. Our actions, which we saw as potentially transforming for other women, changed us, too. By taking responsibility, we became responsible. Most of us grew stronger, more self-assured, confident in our own abilities. In picking up the tools of our own liberation, in our case medical instruments, we broke a powerful taboo. That act was terrifying, but it was also exhilarating. We ourselves felt exactly the same powerfulness that we wanted other women to feel.

(Our Boddies ourselves)