In 1972 my mother worked for a Jewish assemblyman in NY
who favored decriminalizing abortion. His Catholic opponent
shared this view, so outraged Catholics threw their votes
to Irwin.
At 16 I left for college armed with a year’s
supply of birth control pills, a pro-choice virgin.
Reagan was elected, and my freshman English professor
canceled class to lobby for abortion funding for poor
women.
I carpooled to the capitol with the radical Lesbian
Feminist League. “Pregnancy,” one woman
sneered. “At least that’s a problem I’ll
never have.” (Womyn! How times have changed.)
Contraceptive research in the 70s and 80s meant exciting
options on the horizon: the Today sponge, a nasal spray
from Sweden—for men! Cosmo ran a feature on the
cervical cap, and they were hard to get, so I wanted
one. But as I learned over the years, opponents of choice
don't just favor limiting access to abortion, they oppose
preventing pregnancy too. Twenty years later, we have
fewer options than ever, and generic birth control pills
cost $1 a day, condoms $1 a pop. It's like a sin tax,
a fixed price for sex.
***
I met someone once who shared my birthday, September
12. “I know what your parents were doing Christmas
Eve,” he said. The problem is my parents weren’t
married until the end of January. If my mother'd had
better access to birth control, I probably wouldn't
be here.
But I’ve never been pregnant, and the right to
have an abortion is protected in my state's constitution.
So why travel across the country for the march for women’s
lives? It’s been 12 years since I last marched
downtown bearing coat hangers, during the last Bush
recession.
-Nearly half the women of childbearing age today were
born after Roe v. Wade.
-According to retired Justice Harry Blackmun’s
papers, the Supreme Court would have overturned Roe
v. Wade in 1992 if Justice Kennedy hadn't changed his
mind.
-John Ashcroft’s Department of Justice has demanded
the confidential hospital records of women who had third-trimester
abortions to see if they were medically necessary. What’s
next, a scarlet "A" branded on our breasts?
Last month, Alexander Sanger, the grandson of pioneer
Margaret Sanger and an international advocate for planned
parenthood, came to town to promote his new book, Beyond
Choice. He spoke eloquently about the history of modern
condoms, made possible by Goodyear’s invention
of vulcanized rubber. What struck me most was his wife
worrying that perhaps he should travel with security
guards, to visit bookstores.
***
So I’m going to Washington, along with thousands
of other pro-choice pilgrims from the West Coast. I
can’t afford this trip—but I can’t
afford to stay home either in the safe haven of Northern
California. It's hard to justify. What’s more
important: creating jobs or preventing millions of dollars
allocated preaching abstinence? our troops in Iraq or
spreading the word about Plan B?
To those who absurdly claim there is no difference
between Bush and Kerry, I point to Senator Kerry’s
promise that his first act in office would be overturning
the gag rule. (The gag rule prohibits government dollars
from being given to overseas family planning organizations
that even mention the word “abortion”—even
though a prior rule sponsored by Jesse Helms already
prohibits US funds from being used for abortions.)
President Bush's judicial appointments have been so
extreme that when he's been unable to get even our Republican-controlled
Congress to approve them, he's resorted to waiting until
Congress leaves on vacation and appointing them anyway.
With the state of the world, it’s easy to forget
about protecting basic rights like women’s health
and the right to decide how big a family you want to
have.
I invite you to come out and join me, April 25 in Washington
but also on November 2 and every day in-between. The
choice remains ours—at least for now.
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