Nevada County Citizens For Choice

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You are here: Home / Articles

What My Ancestors Might Think of This Moment in U.S. History

June 1, 2022 By info@citizensforchoice.org

MS. More Than A Magazine, A Movement, 5/27/2022, by Aletha Y, Akers

WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 14: Abortion rights activists shout at Anti-Abortion activists during a Bans Off Our Bodies rally and march to the Supreme Court of the United States on Supreme Court of the United States on Saturday, May 14, 2022 in Washington, DC. Abortion rights supporters are holding rallies across the country urging lawmakers to codify abortion rights into law after a leaked draft from the Supreme Court revealed a potential decision to overturn the precedent set by landmark Roe v. Wade. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

 

I read the draft decision by the Supreme Court in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and wondered what my ancestors would think of us—the U.S.—at this moment. I knew immediately what one might think. Her name is Lillie and her story motivates my work as an obstetrician-gynecologist and as an advocate for sexual and reproductive rights globally. She would say that history is repeating itself after learning little from its past.

Click Here to Read More

Filed Under: Reproductive Rights

A Glimpse of a Potential Post-Roe Future Through Texas Women’s Stories – The Washington Post

May 23, 2022 By info@citizensforchoice.org

Great article by Sophie Novack in The Washington Post 5/15/22

Kathaleen Pittman, director of Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, La., is relishing what feels like a moment of quiet, despite the drilling outside her office. On this Friday afternoon in mid-March, workers are replacing some of the abortion clinic’s phones, leaving hers briefly disconnected. Since Texas implemented a near-total ban on abortions last fall, the lines have been flooded with calls. “Our phones are literally worn out,” Pittman says.

Before Texas’s ban, she tells me, patients could call Hope Medical and get an appointment the same week for the state-mandated first consultation, and often come back the next day for the procedure. Now, it’s typically a two-week wait just for a call back to schedule a first visit, and a couple more weeks before patients can have an abortion. Pittman showed me a red clipboard with the waiting list of people who have called in the past 10 days. The stack of pages with names; phone numbers; how far along they are in pregnancy, if known; age and parents’ contact information, if they are a minor, is an inch thick.

This spring, I drove to clinics in Louisiana and Arkansas, tracing paths that many of the thousands of Texans who have left the state for an abortion in recent months have traveled and speaking to patients about the obstacles they have faced along the way. The abortion clinic in Shreveport, a 5½-hour drive, is the closest to my home in Central Texas that still offers abortions past about six weeks, which is before most people even know they’re pregnant. Little Rock — home to the two abortion clinics in Arkansas — is an eight-hour drive one way. Both states require two in-person visits, 24 and 72 hours apart, respectively, which means many patients must make the journey twice.

The stories that follow are snapshots from this moment. Texas women shared them with me in interviews inside the clinic during first consultation visits in Shreveport, in a car on the way to the clinic for a procedure in Little Rock, over the phone after finally having an abortion following weeks or months of waiting.

They’re also a glimpse into what will likely be a far more common and widespread reality very soon. If a similar version of the draft opinion leaked in early May holds, and the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade as expected, access to legal abortion would disappear in much of the Midwest and across the South, from Texas to the eastern edge of the United States. About half of states would likely ban abortion in the ruling’s wake; Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and 10 other states, have “trigger” laws that would ban the procedure almost immediately. As a result, more patients would end up traveling farther and waiting longer. These stories explore what that means — for mental health, for family, for work, for daily life in innumerous, interconnected ways. These are patients’ experiences, in their own words. Some women requested partial anonymity to protect their privacy. In the case of the woman who requested full anonymity, her OB/GYN, Crystal Berry-Roberts, who does not perform elective abortions but treated the woman after her procedure, confirmed her story.

Interviews have been edited and condensed.

I found out I was pregnant when I was about five weeks, and it was around six weeks when I started calling and calling. By the time I got [scheduled], they told me I was too far [along] to get the appointment in Texas at all. I got put on a waiting list here [at Hope Medical Group in Shreveport]. It took longer than two weeks. I had to wait and look for the area code to call me. You can’t miss this call.

I’m 12½ or 13 weeks. The GPS told me I was going to run into a crash, and I was going to get here late. I start panicking, trying to call while I’m driving to the clinic. You feel like all your decisions are just based on this law that put you in this time crunch. It’s painful because it’s already a hard choice. Knowing the baby is growing, being forced to keep pushing it along, and going through all these obstacles — it’s a little traumatizing.

I have five kids. My youngest is 4. Since I had her, I’ve been going through a custody case. I’m just trying to not make any more decisions, especially something financially, that’s going to hurt them.

I had an abortion about three years ago. But it was different because I didn’t have to be forced to get attached to the baby. I was able to make a decision and have it done. It wasn’t like being backed into a corner, feeling nervous and scared every day.

It’s affected my time with my kids. I can’t explain it to them, but they know something is going on. At times I think they’re scared that I’m sick or something. I keep making up all these excuses why I don’t have the energy or don’t eat with them, because I feel so nauseous. Going through the longer process and being depressed at times, ’cause you got to think about it for longer and longer — just trying to hide all of that from everybody who I care about, so they don’t take on those feelings. Especially my kids.

I found out that I was pregnant in the beginning of February. I knew [an abortion] was going to be expensive, that I was going to have to jump through all these hoops and hurdles. I was worried, you know: Am I going to get in trouble because of this abortion law? Am I going to get sued?

I was on a wait list [at Hope Medical Group] for like two weeks, and they finally set my appointment for March 4th. We drove four hours, booked a hotel. Friday morning, I had my consultation appointment. Then they tell me that I have to come back for the surgery. So we had to drive four hours back home, wait till the next Saturday to drive all the way back. It was a little hectic and stressful.

Thankfully, I’d just gotten my tax returns, so we were able to take care of everything financially. It was at least $1,000. If we hadn’t gotten our taxes, or if this was a later time in the year, we may not have even been able to do this. I don’t have health insurance. I couldn’t go to a real OB/GYN. Our Planned Parenthood is actually shut down. [My hometown] has one of those [crisis pregnancy centers] where you walk in and they try to tell you that abortion is bad, you know, God made this choice for you, and all that stuff. But they were able to give me an ultrasound and tell me how far along I was before we went all the way to Louisiana.

I was waking up every morning throwing up, couldn’t really eat, just dealing with all this stuff, while trying to take care of my [3-year-old son]. I dreaded every day, just waiting for that phone call [to get off the wait list]. It was awful. Like, please call me, please call me. Because the longer I wait, every day that goes by, I lose another day of my chance of getting an abortion.

To read more click here

Filed Under: Reproductive Rights

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

October 1, 2020 By phylliso

Nevada County Citizens for Choice joins with the country in grieving the loss of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was a trailblazer for women, of course, but also for all people in this country. As a student, a professor, a lawyer and a judge, Ginsburg was a pioneer for women in the legal field and beyond. She was one of the only women in her law school class at Columbia and during this time she cared for her young children and her seriously ill husband while excelling in her coursework. Ginsburg graduated first in her class at Columbia Law and went on to found the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project where she argued five sex discrimination cases before the Supreme Court.

Ginsburg was not a fancy woman and she asked little for herself alone. So, it is incumbent upon all of us to ask for ourselves and our posterity what she mirrored by her work on the Court—to commit to the fight against injustice and to value and respect all human lives; to be brave and to stand for reproductive justice; to continue to work to remove barriers to reproductive health care; to support women’s and family’s rights to decide when and how to have children and to treat family’s with dignity and respect in those decisions; to protect the rights of all people—women, people of color, LGBTQ people and people with disabilities; and to mirror Ginsburg’s kindness and compassion by attempting to understand the plight of those less fortunate than ourselves and to work for their betterment.

Such decisions as Reed v. Reed which challenged the automatic preference of men over women as administrators of estates, resulting in the first time that sex discrimination was viewed as a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment; as the Virginia Military Institute decision in the 7-1 opinion that the Institute could no longer remain an all-male institution; and as the Lily Ledbetter Dissent in Ledbetter v. Goodyear that spurred the creation of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act were norm-setting.

Nevada County Citizens for Choice (C4C) supports the right of all people to make their own informed choices about reproductive health. The free/low cost Clinic C4C supports and that is staffed by Women’s Health Specialist’s professional medical staff, provides a full line of reproductive services, including STI testing and treatment, HIV testing, pregnancy testing, contraception and emergency contraception, breast, gynecological and testicular exams and health care referrals. Ginsburg blazed many of the trails that we follow now and will continue to follow. The laws she championed are the legal backbone of what we do. She once said, “I wasn’t going to sit in the corner and cry.” We, too, are finished crying. We owe it to her to rise up, to give little girls today role models for strength and justice. Joe Hill said as he walked to the gallows, “Don’t mourn. Organize!” In honor of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, let us go forward with even more resolve, unafraid, secure in the rightness of our work for gender equity and reproductive justice.

For information on Nevada County Citizens for Choice or to donate, go to www.citizensforchoice.org or www.facebook.com/CitizensforChoiceNevadaCounty. . For an appointment or to speak with a medical professional call 530-891-1911 or 800-714-8151 ~ 24/7. And don’t forget to VOTE!

Filed Under: Reproductive History, Reproductive Rights

Lynn Wenzel: Citizens for Choice celebrates 30 years of public service

September 18, 2019 By Lynn Wenzel

September 15, 2019   Other Voices Lynn Wenzel

Nevada County Citizens for Choice invites the community to a celebration on Thursday, Sept. 19 from 5-8 p.m. at Trolley Junction Restaurant, Northern Queen Inn, 400 Railroad Ave., Nevada City as we observe our 30th anniversary supporting reproductive choice.

Guests will enjoy music by Nora Nussbaum and John Girton while sampling a large variety of delicious hors d’oeuvres and libations, enjoying the opportunity to mingle with new and old friends. Inspiring speakers will treat attendees to stirring and important information about the current status of reproductive rights in California and the nation.

Through its partnership with Women’s Health Specialists, Citizens for Choice is proud to serve the community through our operation of The Clinic! in Grass Valley that provides free- or low-cost health services to over 250 clients a month. As of July 2019, nearly 26,000 women, men and teens have been treated to unbiased, confidential and compassionate care at our location on Richardson Street.

With the loyal support of Nevada County citizens, what began as an advocacy and educational organization 30 years ago has grown into a full-service health organization, a goal that included moving into a much-needed, twice-as-large, bright clinic space that includes a serene and comfortable waiting area, large exam rooms, a nurse’s station and children’s play area.

As of July 2019, nearly 26,000 women, men and teens have been treated to unbiased, confidential and compassionate care at our location on Richardson Street.

Citizens for Choice could not have accomplished all this and more without the community — facilities, maintenance, utilities, rent and an expert medical staff all cost dearly

We celebrate our 30th anniversary in honor of this community — each and every one of you who has so generously supported our work. We hope you can come to the celebration. We look forward to seeing you there! If not (and we will miss you!) a donation in honor of the 30th anniversary would be welcome!

Citizens for Choice is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit public health corporation whose sole purpose is to provide information, education and services in support of reproductive health and rights. All contributions are tax deductible per current tax law. To RSVP, please contact info@citizensforchoice.org. If you cannot attend, please donate at https://citizensforchoice.org or send a check to P.O. Box 3525, Grass Valley, CA 95945.

Lynn Wenzel, who lives in Grass Valley, is a Citizens for Choice board member.

Filed Under: Community Involvment

LOW INCOME WOMEN HURT MOST BY ABORTION BANS

July 2, 2019 By Lynn Wenzel

By Sharanya Sekaram, Sri Lanka, June 5, 2019, Women’s Media Center

Watching the incredibly restrictive abortion bans unfold from Sri Lanka has been eye-opening. The United States’ bans propose even more intense punishment than those that currently exist in Sri Lanka. For example, Alabama’s bill would make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison. In Sri Lanka, the punishment for all abortion procedures that are “not caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the woman,” is up to seven years and/or a fine.

Undoubtedly, American women will still attempt to access abortion even if Roe v. Wade is ultimately overturned. This reality begs the question: If women are going to seek an abortion no matter the legal status of abortion in the country they live in, who will illegal abortion hurt the most? The answer can be found in examining how significant a role class plays in a woman’s decision to have an abortion.

Class impacts every decision a woman makes about her body from the second she finds out she’s pregnant. Imagine that you are a 35-year old mother of two living as one of the urban poor in low-cost housing. You are struggling to make ends meet. It’s very likely that you work in the in the informal economy, and therefore lack access to paid maternity leave and/or flexible work hours. Having another child would mean that you would potentially need to stay home for months without an income to care for a newborn. This is not an option for many women whose families cannot survive without their additional income and for whom childcare is not an affordable option. Of course, this decision may also be further complicated later in a woman’s pregnancy if it is found the child will be born with significant fetal abnormalities or disabilities and therefor require sustained full-time care which the families cannot afford to give.

This difficulty is compounded in if abortion is illegal. Women with a substantial income can afford to travel to places where abortion is legal and thus infinitely safer. Some can even find providers in their own communities who will perform the procedure for a substantial fee. Impoverished women don’t have these options, and so are forced to seek abortions outside clinics, which may lead to complications, or to resort to dangerous home remedies that can include everything from papaya leaves to bicycle spokes.

Evidence shows that a woman’s socioeconomic success is intrinsically tied to their reproductive lives – even privileged women see their career trajectories tied to their child-bearing. Studies show that forcing women to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term quadruples their odds of living below the poverty line, and laws that restrict abortion access have proven to deteriorate economic outcomes for women. This is to say nothing of the negative impact on the health, opportunities, and emotional well-being of the children born into these situations.

Are we having the right conversation about abortion? Are we placing the realities of women and their children at the forefront of our conversations, or are concerns over a debatable and relatively abstract sense of morality more important than their lives?

Filed Under: Reproductive Rights

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Volunteer Board Members

President, Director of Public Policy & Fund Development (Donors & Grants)
Elaine Sierra

Treasurer
Shannon Cotter

Secretary
Erin McGee

Director of Communications
Lynn Wenzel

Board Members
Margie Deteman
Deborah Armanino LeBlanc
Marty Dekay-Bemis

Manager of Condom Distributions Program
Cheryl Branch

Categories

  • C.H.O.I.C.E.S. club (1)
  • Community Involvment (1)
  • Current Societal Issues (4)
  • Reproductive History (6)
  • Reproductive Rights (11)
  • Uncategorized (17)
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