How a trial in Texas changed the story of abortion rights in America

August 9, 2023
By Sarah Varney

During the five decades that followed Roe v. Wade, lawsuit after lawsuit in states across the country chipped away at abortion rights. And again and again, the people who went to court to defend those rights were physicians who often spoke in clinical and abstract terms.

"The entirety of abortion rights history is a history of doctors appearing in court to represent their own interests and the interests of pregnant people," said Elizabeth Sepper, a law professor at the University of Texas-Austin. But in July, in a Texas courtroom, the case for abortion was made by women themselves who had been denied abortions and sued the state to clarify the exceptions to its ban, which makes it illegal to perform an abortion unless a patient is facing death or "substantial impairment of a major bodily function."

Continued:  https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/09/1187378801/texas-abortion-law-trial-reproductive-rights


USA – ’We need to quit tip-toeing around the word abortion’: Rights group says the key to access is open dialogue

Analysis by Alaa Elassar, CNN
Sun May 1, 2022

(CNN) Meg Schurr was 22 years old when she says she was sexually assaulted. ​

A college student in New York with the dream of working in public health, Schurr's life came to a grinding halt when she discovered she became pregnant as a result of the assault in 2014.

“My pregnancy couldn't have been more unplanned or unwanted -- it resulted from an encounter that I didn't want to have and asked to stop," Schurr told CNN.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/01/us/abortion-stories-legislation/index.html


USA – The Last Decade Was Disastrous For Abortion Rights. Advocates Are Trying To Figure Out What’s Next.

The Last Decade Was Disastrous For Abortion Rights. Advocates Are Trying To Figure Out What’s Next.
This year, the battle over abortion rights reached a fever pitch. That’s what this entire decade was building toward.

Ema O'Connor BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on December 17, 2019

As the decade draws to a close, the national right to abortion is in the most vulnerable place it’s been in decades.

Since 2010, hundreds of laws restricting abortion access have been enacted all over the country, making the procedure less attainable and forcing abortion clinics to close. The US has gone from having around 1,720 facilities that perform abortions in 2011 to 1,587 in 2017 (the last year reproductive rights group Guttmacher Institute surveyed). As of this year, there are six states with only one abortion clinic left. Twenty-five abortion bans were signed into law in 2019 alone, leading to nationwide protests. Though all, so far, have been blocked by the courts, a major fight over abortion rights at the Supreme Court is yet to come.

Continued: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emaoconnor/abortion-rights-decade-bans-trump-kavanaugh-planned


How comedy is speaking up about abortion

How comedy is speaking up about abortion
It remains a contentious and emotive issue – but, despite opposition, comedians are determined to break taboos and speak their minds, writes Alice Jones.

By Alice Jones
22 August 2019

Comedy has a long and noble history of busting taboos but is every subject fair game for humour or are some too serious to joke about? What about abortion, for example?

In 2019, it remains a contentious and emotive issue: a YouGov-Cambridge Globalism survey in May found that 46 per cent of US citizens thought abortion was unacceptable (in the same poll, only 17% of British people said abortion was unacceptable). Beliefs aside, it has the potential to be a traumatic topic for some who have undergone the procedure.

Continued: http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190821-how-comedy-is-speaking-up-about-abortion


How ‘Shout Your Abortion’ grew from a Seattle hashtag into a book

How ‘Shout Your Abortion’ grew from a Seattle hashtag into a book
Amelia Bonow was recently in Seattle to talk about the book, "Shout Your Abortion."

Originally published December 12, 2018
By Nicole Brodeur, Seattle Times columnist

Amelia Bonow was in a Lyft, headed to Seattle’s Neptune Theatre, when she told the driver what awaited her there: She had co-founded a movement called “Shout Your Abortion,” aimed at humanizing, normalizing and de-stigmatizing the procedure. It had spread from Seattle across the nation, and resulted in a book of personal essays by abortion clients, and providers, that was being launched before a crowd of supporters that night.

The driver had a story of his own, apparently, because at some point during the ride, Bonow posted on Facebook: ” … having my one thousandth conversation with a male Lyft driver who knocked somebody up who had an abortion and hasn’t ever talked about it …”

Continued: https://www.seattletimes.com/life/how-shout-your-abortion-grew-from-a-seattle-hashtag-into-a-book/


Lift Every Voice – “Shout Your Abortion” Is Changing the Conversation

Lift Every Voice - "Shout Your Abortion” Is Changing the Conversation

by Caroline Reilly
Published on November 1, 2018

In 2015, Amelia Bonow shared her abortion story on her Facebook page.

Roughly a year after having her abortion, Bonow watched as the House of Representatives voted to defund Planned Parenthood, where she had gone to have her procedure. Incensed by a culmination of rising anti-choice animus, she decided to proudly and matter-of-factly announce that she’d had an abortion—and that she regarded this experience with gratitude. A friend, appreciative of her disclosure, asked if she could share it on Twitter.

“WE NEED A HASHTAG #SHOUTYOURABORTION,” she texted.

Continued: https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/shout-your-abortion-book


I Saw A Woman Die From A Self-Induced Abortion — That’s The Cost Of Our Silence

I Saw A Woman Die From A Self-Induced Abortion — That's The Cost Of Our Silence

By Nisha Verma
May 1, 2018

A few months ago, I got a tattoo of a coat hanger on my right wrist. When people ask me what it means, I tell them the story of the woman I once met who didn't deserve to die. I tell them about the lack of access to safe and legal abortion that killed her.

Warning: Some readers may find the following details graphic and triggering.

At the time, I worked as a resident at a hospital in Botswana. This woman had tried to end her pregnancy with a "coat hanger abortion" — in her case, by placing sticks through her vagina into her uterus. She was pronounced dead on arrival to the hospital. She was 22 years old. She died because she lived in a country where safe and legal abortion did not exist. 


Continued: https://www.bustle.com/p/i-saw-a-woman-die-from-a-self-induced-abortion-thats-the-cost-of-our-silence-8867712


Can We Redesign the Way We Talk About Abortion? Meet the Women Behind 5 Very Powerful Design-led Projects

Can We Redesign the Way We Talk About Abortion? Meet the Women Behind 5 Very Powerful Design-led Projects

“There’s an intellectual resistance to beauty and good design sometimes—a notion that if something is flashy, there is a lack of seriousness behind it. I object to that.”
Words by Madeleine Morley

Published on June 12th, 2017

What does real freedom to choose look like, even (or especially) in the states and countries where legislation is decidedly pro-choice? And how can graphic design help communicate a more accurate narrative? As the anti-choice movement gains traction, the positive effects that abortion has on millions of lives can get lost, so we spoke with the people behind five projects and platforms where graphic design and visual communication is contributing to the portrayal of abortion as a normal medical procedure and basic human right.

Continued at source: Eye on Design: https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/re-designing-the-narratives-of-abortion-how-designers-are-contributing-to-the-pro-choice-effort/


U.S. – Efforts Aimed at Repealing the Hyde Amendment Gain Momentum

Guttmacher Institute

July 14, 2016 News Release

New Analysis Details Hyde’s Impact on Vulnerable Groups, Documents Growing Campaign to Restore Abortion Coverage for Poor Women

For the last four decades, the Hyde Amendment has banned the use of federal dollars for abortion coverage (except in the most extreme circumstances) for women insured by Medicaid, the main public health insurance program for low-income Americans. According to a new analysis in the Guttmacher Policy Review, abortion rights advocates and policymakers alike are working on multiple fronts to build support for lifting the Hyde Amendment.

The analysis details Hyde’s detrimental impact on low-income women in general and women of color in particular. Poor women experience unintended pregnancies at five times the rate of their better-off peers, and abortion has become increasingly concentrated among this group. Many affected women struggle to come up with the money to pay for the procedure and, as a result, often experience delays obtaining an abortion; some are forced to carry their unintended pregnancy to term. Because of systemic social and economic inequality, women of color are disproportionately likely to be poor and insured through Medicaid—and are therefore disproportionately impacted by the Hyde Amendment.

“Federal and state restrictions on abortion coverage hit the most vulnerable groups in our country hardest,” says Heather D. Boonstra, author of the analysis. “A repeal of the Hyde Amendment would not only restore abortion coverage for women most likely to experience an unintended pregnancy. It would also entrench full reproductive choice and autonomy as a fundamental right for all—rather than a privilege for those who can afford it.”

Unfortunately, Boonstra explains, the majority (60%) of women of reproductive age who are enrolled in Medicaid live in states that do not cover abortion except in very limited circumstances. This means some seven million women aged 15–44—including 3.4 million women living below the federal poverty level—are unable to use their Medicaid coverage for abortion services. Slightly more than half of the seven million women are women of color.

Boonstra documents how grassroots organizers, advocates and policymakers are working to build support in Congress, in state legislatures and among the American public for repealing the Hyde Amendment. For example:

  • All* Above All, a network of reproductive rights and justice groups, has led the grassroots effort through activities such as social media, college campus visits and a petition to Congress.
  • Digital campaigns, including the 1 in 3 Campaign and #ShoutYourAbortion, encourage women to share their stories about abortion in order to destigmatize the procedure and strengthen support for abortion access.
  • In Congress, legislators are gathering support for the EACH Woman Act and the Women’s Health Protection Act, both of which directly aim to roll back federal and state restrictions on abortion coverage and care.

“Recent grassroots efforts, digital campaigns and legislative actions are bringing the much-needed voices of low-income women to the national conversation about abortion access,” Boonstra says. “Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down abortion restrictions in Texas, there is a sense that efforts to roll back other restrictions—including the Hyde Amendment—are gathering momentum. This decision represents important progress, even as advocates and lawmakers remain realistic that repealing Hyde is a long-term goal that will require years of hard work to overcome myriad political and other obstacles.”

Full analysis: “Abortion in the Lives of Women Struggling Financially: Why Insurance Coverage Matters” by Heather Boonstra

Source: Guttmacher Institute