College Week of Action: a recap

Last week was the first College Week of Action, an effort spearheaded by Planned Parenthood along with Family Planning Advocates of New York. The purpose of the College Week of Action this year was to get college age people to advocate for and support the Reproductive Health Act (RHA). The Reproductive Health Act is a comprehensive policy designed to protect personal decisions regarding reproductive health and implements a different perspective regarding abortion.

Three years before Roe v. Wade, New York State took a progressive step as one of the first states to decriminalize abortion. The current law framing abortion outside of criminal contexts has not been integrated into overarching New York State Law, however, so it has no security and abortion is still a crime in the penal code. Furthermore, the current law neglects the idea of the fundamental right to make private medical decisions as well as how abortion care is provided. In this context, New York has lagged behind – current laws are technically unconstitutional, and it is the only state that still regulates abortion as a crime.

Even considering the current outdated and narrowly-defined law, New York State can make another progressive step with the Reproductive Health Act. RHA not only guarantees the right to use or refuse contraception for everyone, but also ensures the right to abortion in the case of endangered health and takes abortion out of the penal code which means abortion would be treated as a matter of health – exactly what it is.

Seven other states have already passed laws like the Reproductive Health Act. At the same time though, several states passed abortion restrictions within the last year and over 450 bills restricting or banning abortion have come to several different state legislatures, each threatening Roe v. Wade. If this law is passed in New York, reproductive rights would be protected even if Roe v. Wade were overturned.

For more information about RHA, check out these sites:
NYCLU
NARAL Pro-Choice New York
NOW NYC

Jeri
VOX Student Intern

Blog for Choice 2011

It's almost time for the 38th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. To commemorate the day, NARAL is sponsoring the sixth annual Blog for Choice Day to get people reading and talking about reproductive rights. In wake of the recent decision by Congress to repeal health care reform, reproductive choice is starting to become less and less available.

I've participated privately over the years, updating my Livejournal and Facebook, with my thoughts on the day and sometimes talking about my experiences of becoming a feminist and how pro-choice became a part of my persona. I'd like to share this with all of you and encourage you to share your stories about why you're pro-choice.

Back in middle school, I got involved in an abusive relationship with a male friend of mine. It was the worst experience ever. I felt like I was walking on egg shells, hoping that I could make it through the day without a bruise or feeling like dirt. I was depressed and felt like nobody could help me. Abusive relationships weren't talked about much then - that would come later in high school. Nobody imagined that I was harboring this secret, a secret so bad that it nearly killed me. One afternoon he tried to choke me when I upset him and slapped him across the face for grabbing at me. After pinning me down, he finally let go after he saw that I was scared as hell. That's when I knew I had to tell someone.

I started high school a few weeks after that horrific day and eventually told my counselor. The physical abuse stopped but he continued to stalk me and taunt me in school. When I started telling people he knew, he got really angry and came to my house one day when I was alone. He pushed past my door and threatened to rape me. I shouted so loud to get out that he finally did. When I knew he was finally gone, I bolted the door, went into my room, crawled into a ball and just cried for over an hour. I should have been thankful that I was safe but I kept thinking what if he did rape me, what if I got pregnant, even resorting to thoughts of suicide.

Ever since that day I started digging more and more into subjects like abusive relationships, rape, and reproductive choice. If I came from a conservative family, I may have been expected to carry to term if I indeed become pregnant. My life would be so different now if I had become pregnant at fourteen, especially if it was by a violent assault.

Being pro-choice is not just about having abortions; it's about having control over your body and destiny.

Superbowl Sunday Ad: Controversial?

Pizza, football, chicken wings, beer….and anti-choice commercials? The biggest buzz about the Super Bowl this year is not the teams playing or the half time show but a 30-second ad by the anti-choice group, Focus on the Family. The ad, featuring football superstar Tim Tebow, has both anti-choice and pro-choice groups up in arms. According to Focus on the Family, the commercial will share the personal story of Pam Tebow, Tim Tebow’s mother. Mrs. Tebow has spoken in the past about her difficult decision to continue her pregnancy during a serious illness, against her doctor’s advice. Her pregnancy resulted in the birth of her son, Tim Tebow, who is now a famous football player.

As this ad shows, because of Roe v Wade, women have the legal right to make decisions about their health that are best for them and their families. This is a right that must be preserved to strengthen the health of women and their families. However, this is not an ad that has a pro-choice message. If you look at the Focus on the Family, their long-stated agenda has been to overturn Roe V. Wade. If Focus on the Family is successful in repealing a woman’s right to choose, women facing a high-risk pregnancy like Pam Tebow’s would not have the ability to make the personal health decision that is right for them. Women with high-risk pregnancies, who know that their lives or the lives of their fetuses are at risk, deserve to have every medical option available to them to consider in consultation with medical professionals. Pam Tebow made the choice to keep her child and the right to do so.

Despite the appeal of the Tebow family story, it is important to remember that Focus on the Family’s goal is to overturn Roe v. Wade and outlaw abortion. This is a position that runs counter to what the majority of Americans believe. Focus on the Family has every right to spend $3 million as it chooses, but it is surprising, at a time when so many individuals in the U.S. and around the world are in need of aid, that a Super Bowl ad is the organization’s priority. The commercial is slated to air on this Sunday’s Superbowl broadcast.

The following is a video featuring Sean James that has been put out by Planned Parenthood: