In Favor of Feminism: Share Your Views
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I'm right there with you, Aice!
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Even more evidence that palaeolithic artists were women.
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I’ll be away from the boards for a few days, nothing serious or anything health related.
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Hope all is well, DivineMrsM!!
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While I totally disagree with this Texas abortion law and do believe it will be overturned, I also find myself somewhat disappointed by all the attention it’s getting. Many may think otherwise but why are there not more voices raised for preventing pregnancy when it’s not in the plan? Contraceptives (by men and/or women) should be the bigger focus when possible, which I believe is the majority of situations. Insist on protection and if someone feels unable to do that, perhaps they should reevaluate that relationship. I am not victim blaming, I just don’t understand feeling like a victim, we are capable of so much, why isn’t controlling our lives any different?
This refers to the common reasons for unintended pregnancy, which is often poor/no prevention, I am not referring to rape, incest, molestation.
What fo you all think is the root cause or should get more attention?
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Illimae, There are many voices advocating for preventing pregnancy. And there are many others who are strongly against it. Since you are referring to Texas, it reminds me of a documentary about a teen fighting against abstinence only education in Lubbock, Texas. I don’t know if the issues are the same as when the documentary was made, but I’m guessing they are in many places. Here’s a link to the Wikipedia article about the documentary. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Education_of_Shelby_Knox
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Latte, being in the “Bible Belt” certainly doesn’t help. In my opinion, abstinence only education is just not reasonable and hasn’t been for at least 60 years.
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@ Illimae
I am somewhat disappointed the new Texas law is not getting enough attention, but I hope I am just being impatient and young women are organizing.
Prevention is very important but the conversation should not digress from the core which is women’s right to make decisions. There will always be cases when prevention didn’t work or circumstances have changed or health issues struck.
I watched The Bird Cage yesterday- great movie, I have seen it many times. The dialogues never get old and are as funny now as they were 25 years ago when the movie was made. Few things have changed.
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Muska, I completely agree about our right to make these decisions. My focus is more on prevention because it’s typically far easier mentally and physically than an abortion. My husband and I had an accident once and I am beyond grateful to have been able to get a morning after pill, despite the pharmacist glare but friends of mine who’ve had abortions dealt with big emotions and still do, it’s definitely not easy.
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Illimae, I hear the morning after pill is under threat too in Texas?
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Muska, I don’t think so, I’m pretty sure it was just the actual abortion procedure after the “heartbeat” is verified but I could be wrong. I haven’t read it myself, just going by local news reports.
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Yes, Abbott apparently has plans to sign a regulation to further restrict access to the morning after pill according to a report I saw today.
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Yes, I saw that too - no pill. I agree that we desperately need "sex education". I also agree that if women are going to get called out & punished, the man should receive the same. It's difficult to impregnate yourself.
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beaverintx, thanks for the info. Well, I don’t like that either but I looked it up and at least it’s not an outright ban. It does reduce the timeframe for a doctor to prescribe it from 10 weeks down to 7 weeks. It’s unfortunate. I wish the right to lifers would embrace preventing pregnancy instead.
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I wish the forced birthers would mind their own damned business. They are not pro life, they're anti women.
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Hmmm....
Make vasectomies mandatory procedures for men who are “not ready to be fathers"
It's easier to unload a gun than it is to wear body armor.
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Illimae and everyone, The Guttmacher Institute is a great resource for learning more about contraception and abortion (and other issues). Here is a link which includes information about unintended pregnancy. https://www.guttmacher.org/united-states/pregnancy/unintended-pregnancy
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I don't know if anyone is familiar with The Satanic Temple, but they have an Abortion Ritual donation card that you can send to the governor of Texas.
TST is a political organization that advocates for body autonomy/women's rights. The Abortion Ritual(up to 24 weeks) is meant to give women a way around restrictive abortion laws via religious exemption laws. If you go to their site and read their current posting, they are ready to go to court w/Texas if the need arises. They're just waiting for a member to initiate the lawsuit.
They are currently paying the legal fees for several members in litigation with other states that have overly restrictive abortion laws.
Heads up - they are not a GERF/TERF friendly organization. Gay/Trans rights are another if their platforms.
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I believe reliable birth control should be available FREE to anyone who wants it. Here in Colorado, free long-acting birth control (IUD, implant) led to a 42% reduction in abortions (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/colorado-birth-c...)
The Texas law is very frightening, as it should never have been allowed to stand. I was raised extremely pro-life by an extremely pro-life mother and am very familiar with the subject. The goal is to outlaw abortion nationwide. Calling pro-lifers "anti women" isn't helpful nor accurate, though. They are typically good people who have lost sight of the full picture. They can't see the forest for the trees, so to speak. They honestly believe that outlawing abortion will help women. They truly don't see the harm this type of law will cause. We need to be vocal about it or laws like this will spread to more states. There are already a number of legislators interested in bringing similar laws to their states.
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One of the issues in considering abortion access and pregnancy prevention is violence against women. This is a helpful opinion piece from a Texas writer, with some links to research articles, about reproductive coercion and its relationship to abortion.
"Reproductive coercion occurs when a partner uses verbal threats or physical force to try to control the reproductive choices of another person. It includes trying to impregnate a partner against her will, controlling the outcome of a pregnancy, forcing a partner to have unprotected sex, and interfering with contraception."
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SummerAngel, maybe the pro-lifers YOU personally know have convinced you that they aren't anti-women, but that is not everyone's truth. And I don't care if any man claims to be pro-life, because it's none of his business in the first place. Most pro-life people are merely pro-zygote, pro-embryo, and pro-fetus. They do not care about babies, children, adolescents, or adults, except to control them.
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I should explain my posts. I am a committed feminist. I have lots of strong emotions (rage mostly) about the latest efforts to restrict abortion (Texas and elsewhere). I get it. What I want to add to the conversation is information from research on the topic of reproduction that informs the discussion and might be helpful in thinking about the issue. Diana Greene Foster, a UCSF professor, studied women who were turned away from abortions because their pregnancies were too advanced and compared their life conditions with women who were able to get abortions. She finds that not being able to get an abortion pushes these women and their families into increased economic problems and poverty for many years. Her research is reported in The 19th.
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Alice, keep in mind that you're speaking about my mother, whom I love very much. She is, overall, a very caring person. She has given a lot of her time and money helping women who were unexpectedly pregnant and wanted to keep the baby. She is not a monster. This is a problem I've seen over and over again with this issue: The inability to even attempt to comprehend what the other side is thinking and feeling. It leads to stonewalling on the issue and we'll never get anywhere that way.
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SummerAngel, I get that you love your mother. I also have "pro-life" relatives who donate money and items to new mothers and their babies. Good for them. But I really dislike the ones who say they are pro-life but picket choice clinics, or won't assist women (frequently girls!) who decide not to stay pregnant. And those babies don't stay newborn forever. Are the pro-lifers, even the "nice" ones, keeping those kids clothed and fed until they're adults? Are they finding college assistance or scholarships for them when the time comes? Are they babysitting them when the mother has to work extra hours or two jobs, or when she just needs a break so she doesn't crack up?
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I have many things to say on the topic of abortion so I will make numerous posts. I try my best not to mix politics with the feminism thread but in this case it's necessary in order to make a few points.
To start with, illimae, yes, teaching prevention of pregnancy would be a logical place to start in curbing abortion. However, not all states require sex education be taught in school (see chart, next post) Texas does not require it. But if they do teach it, the majority focus on abstinence-only. (chart, next post). Now when in the history of mankind has abstinence ever been effective among the masses?
Never.
Then there's the assault of the Trump administration on Title X funding which grants about $260 million a year to family planning clinics and related health services for low income and uninsured individuals. It serves about 4 million women annually through independent clinics. Forty percent of those women use Planned Parenthood affiliates. His administration ruled Title X grant recipients cannot discuss abortion or they lose funding.
Since Planned Parenthood does not perform abortions but does inform individuals about them, they withdrew from the Title X program, losing millions and loss of reproductive health care for many of their clients. So less education about pregnancy prevention.
Another thing. In the 1980s, Republicans made abortion a campaign issue when Reagan ran for president as a way to win votes. Many do not believe it was ever about saving the unborn. They just wanted power. And yes, the media magnify the two polarized sides of this debate because that's money in their coffers from this hot button issue. You are not going reap the same kind of salacious headlines with the topic of "teaching women and teens how to prevent pregnancy".
One more note. During Trump's term, he appointed 220 federal judges who serve for a life term. Many are conservative, young white males. He did his part to pack the courts so more rulings fall in favor of Republicans who do not seem to believe in women's equality. Keeping women poor and pregnant and raising children with little means doesn't seem to be a problem to them.
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The following statistics are from 2015. Only recently has Texas voted to update their sex ed policies (after 23 years) which go into effect next year; however, abstinence is still heavily favored and sex ed will still not be a school requirement.
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