UK – Debate about woman jailed for abortion is missing something crucial

Britain is rightly outraged by a woman’s imprisonment for abortion. But there’s no such thing as a good jail sentence

Janey Starling
14 June 2023

A mother of three has been sent to prison for ending a pregnancy and Britain is in uproar. Radio stations are rolling out condone-or-condemn debates on the woman’s choice to end her pregnancy. Feminists on Twitter are contrasting the length of her sentence with the average time men serve for rape. But, amid the outrage, aren’t we missing something startlingly obvious?

This is a chilling reminder of the state’s power to police both women’s pregnancies and their right to be mothers, and a flexing of the cruelty that the state is willing to inflict on mothers – and consequently, the children who depend on their care.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/woman-jailed-abortion-28-months-criminalisation-pregnancy-prison-jail/


To Be Pro-Choice, You Must Have the Privilege of Having Choices

April 11, 2022
By Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective

As a queer woman who grew up in North Carolina, I learned at an early age that my Blackness could be a source of great joy — but it could also pose a threat to my safety and autonomy.

In middle school, white boys laid their hands on me without my consent when I sharpened my pencil. To travel through town, I had to pass a building dedicated to Senator Jesse Helms, a champion of modern-day anti-abortion laws. It was all a daily reminder of the tight grip that whiteness had on my full liberation. I did not consent to that either.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/11/opinion/abortion-black-brown-women.html


USA – When a commitment to precedent rings hollow

The June Medical ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court illustrates how relying on stare decisis can only go so far in ensuring abortion access.

by Jennifer Taylor
3 Jul 2020

We often hear that we’re living in “unprecedented times.” What is not unprecedented is the precarious status of abortion access in the United States (and parts of Canada, too). While abortion rights seem slightly safer after the decision of the United States Supreme Court in June Medical Services LLC v Russo, this is a shaky victory.

If anything, June Medical proves that precedent is slippery — and political.

Continued: https://www.nationalmagazine.ca/en-ca/articles/law/opinion/2020/when-a-commitment-to-precedent-rings-hollow


USA – Fighting for Abortion Access in the South

Fighting for Abortion Access in the South
A fund in Georgia is responding to restrictive legislation with a familial kind of care.

By Alexis Okeowo
Oct 14th issue, the New Yorker

In June, 1994, at a pro-choice conference in Chicago, twelve black women gathered together to talk. One, Loretta Ross, was the executive director of the first rape crisis center in this country. Another, Toni Bond, was the executive director of the Chicago Abortion Fund. A third, Cynthia Newbille, was the leader of the National Black Women’s Health Project, which was among the first national organizations to be devoted to the wellness of black women and girls. After the first day of the event, which was hosted by the Illinois Pro-Choice Alliance and the Ms. Foundation, the group met in a hotel room. “We did what black women do when we’re in spaces where there are just a handful of us,” Bond, who is now a religious scholar, recalled. “We pulled the sistas together and talked about what was missing.”

Continued: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/10/14/fighting-for-abortion-access-in-the-south