Trust Women. Blog For Choice Day 2010

"Trust Women" Such a simple statement, only two words. But for me, it means so much. The meaning for me goes far beyond abortion rights. It means trusting women to make decisions about their lives, their bodies and their psyches. It means allowing women to make choices about birth control, about medical care, about abortion and about birth.






As a healthcare provider, I feel it is my responsibility to educate my patients. I give them the information, as clearly and as unbiased as I can and then I trust them to make the decision that is best for them. A woman shouldn't have to drive all over town to find a pharmacy that will fill her prescription for birth control pills or Plan B. A woman should be offered choices regarding her medical care and her decision should be supported. A woman should be able to obtain a safe and legal abortion without being harassed, yelled at or judged. A woman should be able to make informed choices about her birth. When we deny these things to women, we deny them equality, we deny them freedom, and we deny them humanity.

Part of trusting women is offering support. The choice they made may not have the results they were hoping for. A woman who has had an abortion should be allowed to grieve if she wants to. A woman who chooses a homebirth, but is transferred to the hospital because of complications should be welcomed and treated with kindness and respect, not ridiculed, lectured and scolded. A woman who chooses not use birth control and instead fills her home with children should not become the butt of jokes.

I trust women to make the decision that they feel is best for themselves, for their family, for their lives. I may not always agree with the choice that they make, but part of being Pro Choice means supporting the right to choose, regardless of the choice that she makes.


This was my entry for Blog for Choice Day 2010. To participate go to Blog for Choice and add your blog to the blogroll.

Other things you can do to celebrate the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade:

1. Update your Facebook status to "is celebrating the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade."
2. Change your user pic to the Blog for Choice Day image.
3. Share links to your blog post and Blog for Choice Day.
4. Use Twitter to let people know about your blog post and Blog for Choice Day.

Blog For Choice 2009

For the past three years, pro-choice bloggers have come together on January 22 - the anniversary of Roe v. Wade - to write about our reproductive health and our pro-choice values in order to celebrate Roe and to keep choice in the national spotlight. This year, NARAL Pro Choice America is asking people to blog their answer to this question:




What is your top pro-choice hope for President Obama and/or the new Congress?

There is a lot to tackle after 8 years with an Anti-choice administration. It is hard to pick just one, so I have picked three. I want the repeal the “Right of Conscience” rule. I want the “Global Gag Rule” (aka Mexico City Policy) to be abolished. I want evidenced-based sex education to be taught to our teens.
Right Of Conscience Rule

Issued by George W. Bush on December 17, 2008, the ‘right of conscience’ rule is a regulation that ‘protects’ a broad range of healthcare workers - from doctors to janitors - who refuse to participate in providing services that they believe violate their personal, moral, or religious beliefs. Federal Health officials may cut off federal funding to any state or local government, hospital, clinic, health plan or doctor’s office who do not accommodate employees who exercise their “right of conscience”

It was the Bush administration’s intention to protect workers who object to abortion. The final rule was taken to the extreme (how surprising!) and affected much more than abortion providers. The rule was aimed at Doctors and Nurses, but could be construed to include anyone, even the housekeeping staff that might have to clean up after an ‘objectionable’ procedure. Workers who did not want to dispense birth control pills, Plan B pills and other forms of contraceptives are now protected under this rule. For extremists who consider most forms of contraceptives on par with abortion, this was an answer to their prayers.

Although it has not yet been tested, this rule could also ‘protect’ workers who have objections towards certain types of end of life care, providing care to unmarried couples or members of the LGBTQI community.
Global Gag Rule
This policy requires non-governmental organizations to "agree as a condition of their receipt of [U.S.] federal funds" that they will "neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations". The policy has exceptions for abortions done in response to rape, incest, or life-threatening conditions.

This policy lead to serious loss in funding for organizations like International Planned Parenthood Federation, Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia and Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia when they refused to make changes required by the Mexico City Policy. Not only did these organizations lose much-needed funds, but also their ability to distribute birth control was hampered. It prevented their access to USAID supplied condoms and other forms of contraception. The ban promotes restrictions on Free Speech well as restrictions on accurate medical information, leading to increased number of unintended pregnancies, abortions and higher rates of STIs.

According to a 2005 press release by Population Action:

Bush's Global Gag Rule Only Making Matters Worse – New Reports, Redesigned Web Site Illustrate Effects on Women in Developing Countries April 20, 2005
Four years since the reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule by President George W. Bush on January 22, 2001, the policy continues to erode family planning and reproductive health services in developing countries, according to new case studies made available today on the Global Gag Rule Impact Project’s Web site.
Key Findings Include:
* In addition to severe financial losses, the gag rule has resulted in the loss of technical assistance and contraceptive donations to key nongovernmental organizations in Ethiopia, worsening the country’s supply shortage.
* By preventing regional partnerships, the gag rule is crippling efforts in Ghana to address reproductive health and HIV/AIDS in a coordinated and effective manner.
* Nongovernmental organizations in Tanzania are struggling to sustain current levels of service since refusing to accept the terms of the gag rule; meanwhile, demand for supplies and services are ever increasing.

Evidence-based Sex Education
Teaching kids evidenced-based sex education will not make them sexually active. Educating teens about preventing pregnancy, limiting or preventing their exposure to sexually transmitted infections and the emotional impact of sexual activity will help keep them safe if they choose to become sexually active. One only needs to peruse the newspaper to see that Abstinence-only sex ed and virginity pledges don't work.
Trends Shift, With Births on the Rise
Teen Birth Rates Up in 26 States

Many Teens Don't Keep Virginity Pledges
Schools Need Programs Proven To Delay Teen Sex And Make It Safer --- Abstinence-only Isn't One Of Them

I hope President Obama will hear the pleas of many and undo the damage done by 8 years with a President who actively worked to outlaw abortion, severely restrict access to birth control and deny our children comprehensive sex education.

Blogging For Choice

I want to warn all of you that I am participating in "BLOGGING FOR CHOICE DAY". This won't be funny. This will be long, REALLY LONG. If you choose to comment, please be respectful and polite and I will do the same. Please do not post graphic photos. I am a believer of the first amendment but I will delete abusive, hateful or offensive comments. If this topic is upsetting for you, for whatever reason, just skip my blog post today. I will also be posting this and then going to work for the next two nights. I won't be able to respond to comments or delete offensive ones when I am at work or sleeping. I am praying that everyone will behave while I am out birthin' babies...


I had no idea how I was going to start this blog. This is not my forte. I scoured the Internet researching. I wanted to have facts. I wanted to prove my point. I thought about who would be reading this. I wanted to be thoughtful. I outlined the reasons that I am Pro-Choice. I went to Pro-Life websites to look at their arguments. (I know my NARAL brethren would prefer I use the Anti-Choice moniker when referring to them, but I will refer to them as they call themselves.) I talked with friends who have had abortions. I talked with friends who thought about having abortions and who ultimately didn't. I talked with my mom about what it was like before Roe v. Wade. I was lost. I have no idea how to write this post.

I am Pro-choice. I want women to have choices: The choice to have a safe, legal abortion, The choice to continue with their pregnancy, The choice to keep their baby, The choice to give their baby up for adoption. I want women to have access to affordable, comprehensive reproductive care. I want women to have access to affordable birth control and emergency contraception. I want children to have comprehensive sexual education and I want their parents to have a choice whether or not their children participate in that education. I want every child to be a healthy, wanted child.

It is that simple for me. It is not about the actual procedure of an abortion. It is about having a choice. So here I go. I am going to try and give you my argument for CHOICE.

Let's start off at the beginning of this dilemma, SEX.

We live in a culture today where sexual images and content are prevalent. Ironically, we now live in a time when the only sexual education we are supposed to teach is Abstinence Only Education. Guess what? It doesn't work. Independent researchers found that in four typical abstinence-only programs sampled from around the country there was absolutely no difference between the sexual activity of kids in these program and kids who were not. Children in these programs admitted to having sex at the same rate and starting at the same age as other students not in these classes. Whether they were in an abstinence-only class or not, by the time they reached 17 years of age, half the kids said they had had sex and half had not.

So half of the kids are not having sex? Not so much. They may not be having "penis in the vagina" sex, but they are still getting it on. A study from 2005 stated, "Many teens who take 'Virginity Pledges' substitute other high-risk behavior for intercourse". Theses teens, while may not have vaginal intercourse until they are married, are engaging in oral and anal sex at higher rates than the non-pledging virgin teens and less likely to use condoms once they become sexually active. These "pledgers" similar rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). "Advocates for abstinence-only education assert that premarital abstinence and post-marital sex are necessary and sufficient for avoiding negative consequences of sexual activity, such as STDs," the study says, adding, "This assertion collides with the realities of adolescents' and young adults' lives." "Advocates for abstinence-only education assert that premarital abstinence and post-marital sex are necessary and sufficient for avoiding negative consequences of sexual activity, such as STDs," the study says, adding, "This assertion collides with the realities of adolescents' and young adults' lives." "Not only do virginity pledges not work to keep our young people safe, they are causing harm by undermining condom use, contraception and medical treatment,"

Telling kids every day "don't have sex" and nothing else, really does not work. A report released by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states: For the first time in 14 years, the number of teenagers having babies in the United States rose last year, The report reveals that between 2005 and 2006, the birth rate for teenagers 15-19 years rose 3%. This follows a 14-year downward trend in which the teen pregnancy rate fell by 34% from its all-time peak in 1991.

Now someone is pregnant: What does she do?

Adoption or Keep the Baby

Well, it sounds great, but there are some problems with that, because we already have plenty of kids to adopt.
Nearly One Quarter of Foster Care Children Are Waiting for Adoptive Families.
In 1999, the latest year for which totals have been finalized, there were about 581,000 children in foster care in the United States. Twenty-two percent of these children -- about 127,000 kids -- were available for adoption.
Foster Care Population Down From 1999
Preliminary federal estimates indicate the foster care population decreased from 581,000 to 556,000 between 1999 and 2000. The number of children waiting to be adopted, however, increased to about 134,000 during the same period. [4] Early estimates for 2001 show the foster care population marginally increased to 565,000.
Many Children Spend Years in Foster Care
Almost 70 percent of the children waiting to be adopted had been in continuous foster care for two years or more; twenty-five percent for five years or more.
Many More Adoptive Homes Needed
Even with the recent increases in adoptions from foster care, the number of children waiting for adoption on September 30, 1999 was more than two-and-a-half times the number of children adopted during that year.

Until we can find homes for the thousands of children that go un-adopted each year, it unrealistic to think that EVERYwoman faced with unwanted pregnancy will be able to find a home for her baby.


Let's say she does find someone to adopt her baby, but they have no money…just a loving home to raise the child. This woman needs health insurance for herself and her unborn child. She will need: food, shelter and clothing. Who is going to support this woman while she is pregnant? Maybe she already has children, are you going to support them too? Who is going to write the check?

If she keeps the baby: Who is going to support this child after it is born? Who wants to write the check? Are you going to make faces and roll your eyes when you stand behind her in the check out line and she is using her WIC coupons and food stamps? So often "Pro-lifers" will support a woman while she is pregnant, then forget about her when the unborn becomes a newborn.

We fail our children when we do not teach them how to avoid pregnancy. We fail our children when we fail to find homes for them when they are put up for adoption. We fail our children when we do not support their mothers with job training, affordable housing, healthcare and childcare. We cannot take care of the children we have. It is cruel and irresponsible to force a woman to continue an unwanted pregnancy unsupported.

I urge all of you reading this to think about this issue when you are voting, both nationally and locally. Women's rights are slowly being chipped away by people who only support life while it is in the womb. If these folks are left unchecked, they will continue.

Here is some Freedom of Choice Talking Points to consider.
This article can be found on the web at
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030519/engle
Freedom of Choice Talking Points
By JONAH ENGLE
[Posted online on May 1, 2003]
Though polls consistently show a majority of Americans supporting freedom of choice, abortion rights are facing their greatest attack since the Supreme Court decision Roe V. Wade legalized abortion in the US thirty years ago.
§ Since 1995 states have enacted 335 antichoice measures.
§ Increasing numbers of states are imposing parental notice or consent as a condition to minors obtaining abortions.
§ The Bush Administration is nominating strongly antichoice judges to federal courts, including Carolyn Kuhl, Jeffrey Sutton and Priscilla Owen.
§ Bills banning "partial-birth" abortion have been passed in the US Senate and introduced in ten states. The vaguely worded bills seek to criminalize safe and common abortion procedures throughout pregnancy.
§ The number of abortion providers in the US has fallen by nearly 66 percent in the past twenty years; currently only 13 percent of counties have abortion providers, and eighty-six of the nation's 276 metropolitan areas don't have any abortion providers at all. Now more than ever it is essential that people who support full reproductive rights register their opposition to these rollbacks of Roe V. Wade. Contact your political representatives. Write a letter to your local paper. Call a talk-radio program. And join one of the many organizations that are working to guarantee continued, inexpensive access to abortion. NARAL Pro-Choice America, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the National Abortion Federation are all groups we heartily recommend. We've also compiled the following talking points for further information.

1) Reproductive Freedoms Are a Fundamental Human Right
It is a fundamental right of each individual to manage his or her fertility. Such reproductive rights are an integral part of women's social, economic and political rights, and have been affirmed in numerous international treaties and conventions including CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women) and the Program of Action of the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development.
2) The Denial of Safe, Legal and Affordable Abortions Threatens Women's Health In rare cases, carrying a pregnancy to term can pose a serious health risk to a pregnant woman. Whether or not abortion is safe, legal or affordable, women still have recourse to it. When abortion is illegal they are forced into having underground and often unsafe operations. This greatly compromises the health and well-being of pregnant women. Each year at least 78,000 women die around the world due to complications from unsafe abortions (13 percent of maternal deaths), and hundreds of thousands more suffer short- and long-term disability. Legalizing abortion helps prevent this tragedy--within five years of legalization, abortion-related deaths decreased 85 percent in the United States.
3) Legalizing Abortion Does Not Increase its Incidence
Statistics show that women worldwide, when faced with an unwanted pregnancy, seek abortions regardless of the legality of the procedure, and whether or not safe services are available. Countries as diverse as Canada, Tunisia and Turkey liberalized their abortion laws without an increase in the abortion rate. Holland, though it has a non-restrictive abortion law and free abortions, has one of the lowest abortion rates in the world, far lower than many countries where abortion is illegal (e.g., Chile and Brazil).
4) Medical Abortion Is a Very Safe Procedure, Especially in the First Trimester (When 88 Percent of Abortions Take Place) The health risks from an abortion are minimal.

- Less than 1 percent of women experience a major complication.

- The risk of death associated with childbirth is eleven times greater than the risk of death from an abortion.

5) When Women Are Not Free to Choose, Children Risk Coming into the World With Parents Who Are Not in a Position to Properly Look After Them
6) Though Abortion Remains Legal, Restricting Access to Abortion Penalizes the Poor, Who Are Less Able to Pay for Such Operations Despite the fact that abortion is legal in the United States, access is decreasing as numerous barriers have been set up. These include consent forms, extended waiting periods and, most notably, the Hyde Amendment, passed into law in 1977. The legislation denies federal funding for abortions (except in cases of rape, incest or when a pregnant woman's life is endangered) for poor women who rely on Medicaid, disabled women who rely on Medicare and Native American women who rely on the Indian Health Service for healthcare. In addition to these women, federal legislation denies access to abortions for Peace Corps volunteers, women in federal prison, women in the military, teenagers who participate in the State Children's Health Insurance Plan, patients of Title X family-planning clinics, residents of the District of Columbia and federal employees and their families. Only fifteen states make state Medicaid monies available for non-discriminatory funding of abortion. Abortions in the first trimester without complications start at $250-$350, and can run into the high hundreds or thousands of dollars. Without Medicaid funding, low-income women do not have equal access to a vital and legal medical procedure. Furthermore, welfare laws discourage states from providing assistance for abortions as well as to unwed mothers, placing low-income women in a double bind.
7) The Most Effective Way to Reduce Abortions Is to Reduce
Unintended Pregnancies Western and Eastern Europe have similar abortion laws but the West has far greater access to effective contraception. They also have, respectively, the lowest and highest abortion rates in the world. The Bush administration's decision to end contributions to the UN Population Fund, which funds family-planning projects in 142 countries, will perversely result in approximately 2 million unwanted pregnancies, 800,000 abortions, 4,700 maternal deaths and 77,000 infant and child deaths.


If you are still reading this, thank you. If you scrolled down to this, thank you. I will leave you with this story of my friend, who shall remain anonymous, but gave me permission to use her story in this blog.

I have a friend. She is personally against abortion. She is also one of the most fertile people I know. She got pregnant before she was old enough to buy a beer. She kept the baby. She met a man; they fell in love and got married. Despite using birth control, she got pregnant again. That man she fell in love with and married? He cheated on her, he was verbally abusive and he left her when her second child was an infant. She worked long hours to support her two children. She fought to get child support from their fathers. Then my friend started having heart problems. Serious heart problems. She had extensive testing and many surgical procedures to treat this condition. Her heart doctor told her not to get pregnant; he said it could kill her. He also told her that she could not use any contraceptive device that contained hormones. That meant that the pill, the shot, the patch and an IUD were out of the question. She petitioned her insurance company to get her tubes tied. They denied her claim. Her heart doctor, her family doctor and her OB/GYN doctor all wrote lengthy letters to her insurance company to try and change their minds. They still refused. In all of this chaos, she met a man. They fell in love. They got engaged. While planning their wedding, she found out she was pregnant. Their birth control had failed. My friend knew that getting pregnant and carrying the baby to term could kill her. She had been literally using birth control to save her life. It failed.

What should she do? Some people are okay with abortion if it is to save the life of the mother. Her doctor couldn't say for sure if the pregnancy would kill her, but he couldn't guarantee that she (and the baby) would survive. There are no absolutes in this world. We should always have a choice when fate reminds us of that.