Articles - Nevada County Citizens For Choice

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?

THE TURNAWAY STUDY

June 30, 2019 By Lynn Wenzel

Presented by the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH).

It is estimated that more than 4,000 women are denied wanted abortions due to facilities gestational limits every year. As more states pass gestational limit laws, thousands more will be affected.

The Turnaway Study was the first study to rigorously examine the effects of receiving versus being denied a wanted abortion on women and their children. Nearly 1,000 women seeking abortion from 30 facilities around the country participated. Researchers conducted interviews over five years and compared the trajectories of the women who received a wanted abortion to those who were turned away because they were past the facility’s gestational age limit. As legislators pass more and more laws to restrict access to abortion care, it’s important to document what happens to women who are unable to obtain an abortion.

RESULTS

Abortion does not harm women. It does not increase women’s risk of having suicidal thoughts, or the chance of developing PTSD, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, or lower life satisfaction. Abortion does not increase women’s use of alcohol, tobacco or drugs. 95% of women said abortion was the right decision for them. Women who received a wanted abortion were more likely to have a positive outlook on the future and achieve aspirational life plans within one year.

BEING DENIED AN ABORTION REDUCES WOMEN AND CHILDREN’S FINALCIAL SECURITY AND SAFETY.

Women denied an abortion had almost four times greater odds of a household income below the federal poverty level and three times greater odds of being unemployed. There was an increased likelihood that women didn’t have enough money to pay for basic family necessities like food, housing and transportation if they were denied an abortion. Women unable to terminate unwanted pregnancies were more likely to stay in contact with violent partners, putting them and their children at greater risk than if they had received the abortion. Continuing an unwanted pregnancy and giving birth is associated with more serious health problems than abortion.

WHEN WOMEN HAVE CONTROL OVER THE TIMING OF PREGNANCIES, CHILDREN BENEFIT

Existing children of women denied abortions were more than three times more likely to live in households below the federal poverty level and they were less likely to achieve developmental milestones than the existing children of women who received abortions. Nine percent of children born because an abortion was denied met the threshold for poor maternal bonding, compared to three percent of children born subsequently to women who received an abortion.

OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS

Out-of-pocket costs for women whose insurance or Medicaid did not cover abortion were $575. For more than half, out-of-pocket costs were equivalent to more than one-third of their monthly personal income. It cost closer to two-thirds of their monthly personal income for those receiving abortions after 20 weeks.

For more information about the Turnaway Study and detailed references, visit http://bit.ly/TurnawayStudy.

THE TRUTH ABOUT ANTI-CHOICE LIES — AND WHY THEY’RE WRONG

June 30, 2019 By Lynn Wenzel

Anti-choice zealots often win the war of words about abortion. The time for those of us who are pro-choice to be pleasing or to attempt nuance is long past. By allowing the antis to call those of us who support accessible reproductive health care for all women “murderers,” and clumps of cells “innocent babies,” we allow them to decide the terms of the debate and to put us on the defensive. Here are some talking points. It’s time for us to claim the high ground—to talk about how anti-choicers want to kill women (which no access to reproductive health care will do), leave babies in impoverished homes, and increase the suffering of all women across the globe. Remember, WE are pro-life—ALL life. Use the term and make them ask you why. Then tell them.

Abortion Causees Mental Suffering: For many women—the girl raped by a family member, the woman whose baby is not viable, the 17-year-old who wants to go to school, the poor woman or woman of color who has no insurance and does not want to give birth in a maternity care system that is deadly for black women, abortion is a reasonable choice. Research consistently says that women are more likely to report grief, anger and sadness about a pregnancy than an abortion. The emotion women were most likely to feel after an abortion is relief. Abortion does not cause depression or anxiety. And while we know that a small number of women experience emotional issues after abortion, this is common after every major life event.

The “Abortion Industry” is Only In It for the Money: The truth is, doctors and other medical professionals take large pay cuts to perform abortions. The average abortion doctor earns $105,000; the typical OB/GYN earns nearly $250,000. Medical professionals who perform abortions do it because they want to help others. And most clinics charge barely enough to cover their expenses.

The Anti-Choice Movement Wants to Save Women’s Lives: The U.S. is the most dangerous place in the developed world to give birth and one of the few countries in the world in which maternal mortality has increased over the past 25 years. If we really cared about women, wouldn’t we make giving birth a safe and medically non-dangerous procedure? Research consistently finds that banning abortion kills women. In nations that prohibit abortion, the rate of dangerous secret abortions skyrockets and suicide becomes a leading cause of maternal death. States that attempt to ban all abortions with no exceptions or who make the procedure a felony only succeed in subjecting women to punishment and, sometimes, death, as a penalty for being raped, for example.

Anti-Choice Laws Stop Abortion: This we know is patently untrue. Research confirms that the abortion rate has fallen slightly in recent years because of expanded access to birth control and to abortion under the ACA. Not restrictive abortion policies. In Latin America where abortion is banned, the rate is more than three times the rate in the U. S. And, if women are forced underground, they will die from botch abortion attempts.

Abortion is Bad for Women’s Health: Anti-Choice fanatics have no concern for women’s health. If you oppose affordable health care, want to treat pregnancy as a pre-existing condition and take no steps to reduce maternal mortality, your claim to care about women is specious and nonsensical. Peddling the lie that abortion causes breast cancer is another lie that harms women. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), a nonpartisan professional organization for OB/GYNS emphasizes that abortion care is critical to women’s health.

Pierce the myths and lies. Re-claim the moral high ground. Speak truth to protect and save women’s lives.

https://www.ansirh.org/research/turnaway-study

https://www.comparably.com/salaries/salaries-for-abortion-doctor

https://www.abortionclinics.com/abortion-clinics-by-state

https://georgiabirth.org/blogcontent/2019/2/10/things -you-need-to-know-about-the-maternal-mortality-rate-and-the-collapsing-maternity-care-system

https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/access-birth-control-through-aca-drives-down-abortion-rate

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/4/4/1847713/-Trump-Administration-Expands-Dangerous-Global-Gag-Rule-Endangering-Impoverished-Women

Rhetoric vs. Reality: Setting the Record Straight on Medication Abortion

June 28, 2019 By Lynn Wenzel

Excerpted from a June 2019 article from the Center for American Progress

By Nora Ellmann, Kelly Rimar and Jamila Taylor

Medication abortion can be a key tool in the fight for reproductive choice: It has the potential to bring abortion access to those who need it most—particularly people of color, low-income people, people in rural areas, and others who cannot easily access providers giving individuals greater agency over their health care decisions.

Medication abortion, or abortion with pills, is safe, effective, and less invasive than a surgical procedure and gives people the option to have an abortion outside of a clinic in the comfort and privacy of their own homes. Yet despite the proven record and benefits of the medication abortion regimen, anti-choice groups continue to spew false claims about its safety.

As access to quality reproductive health care is under siege, it is crucial to recognize and correct the lies around medication abortion that anti-abortion groups have propagated in order to influence federal and state policies. Ellmann, Rimar and Taylor have detailed the truth behind myths about medication abortion.

Myth 1: Medication abortion is unsafe

Reality: The medication abortion regimen is used in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy and consists of two medications: mifepristone and misoprostol. Mifepristone is taken first, generally in a clinic or health center, followed by misoprostol one to two days later, usually at home. Mifepristone, the first of the two pills, has extremely low rates of adverse events and is safer than many medications, including Tylenol and Viagra.

In 2016, after a thorough review of medical evidence, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) extended the eligibility period from seven weeks to 10 weeks gestation and reduced the approved dosage from 600 mg to 200 mg. In March 2018, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report affirming that the FDA acted appropriately in revising the Mifeprex label in 2016, despite anti-choice advocates’ claims to the contrary.

Mifepristone remains much more heavily regulated than other prescription drugs as a result of the politicization of abortion care. The FDA has required a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for mifepristone. The mifepristone REMS limits its distribution; providers must register to be permitted to distribute mifepristone, and it can only be distributed in hospitals, clinics, or medical offices. This means that under the REMS, mifepristone is not available at pharmacies and can only be prescribed by a limited number of providers, which

significantly and unnecessarily restricts access to medication abortion—particularly for people who live far from a clinic or do not have an approved provider in their area. The American Medical Association (AMA) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) support lifting the REMS, as they are not medically necessary!

Myth 2: Medication abortion is traumatic

Reality: Everyone experiences abortion differently, and those who have abortions are entitled to the full range of emotions about their experience. However, research and powerful personal storytelling indicate overwhelmingly that people do not regret their abortions. So-called post-abortion syndrome, which anti-choice groups often point to as evidence of the traumatic effects of abortion, is not recognized by the American Psychological Association and decades of research have disproven the claim that abortion compromises mental health.

As for the physical experience of a medication abortion, most people report bleeding, nausea, cramping, and fatigue. These symptoms resemble those of a heavy period, and over-the-counter medications such as Ibuprofen are recommended for pain management. Most people may resume normal activity within a day or two after a medication abortion.

If there is any trauma involved in abortion care, it is the struggle of having to navigate unjust restrictions on abortion access and attacks from anti-choice protesters and politicians. The landmark Turnaway Study from Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) provides evidence of this experience. The study found that while having an abortion was not associated with mental health issues, being denied a wanted abortion was associated with anxiety and low self-esteem in the short-term. The option to end a pregnancy at home provides patients with greater access to care and prioritizes autonomy and comfort in the abortion experience.

Myth 3: Medication abortion is ineffective and reversible

Reality: Medication abortion is more than 95 percent effective and has been used safely in the United States for nearly two decades. Although the two-drug protocol is recommended, misoprostol—the second medication—is about 75 percent to 90 percent effective in terminating an unplanned pregnancy when taken alone.

The medical community overwhelmingly agrees that claims of “abortion reversal” are unsupported by medical and scientific evidence. Promoters of this myth claim that abortion may be reversed after mifepristone is taken as long as the second drug, misoprostol, is not taken and the hormone progesterone is administered throughout the first trimester. However, this simply is not true. This implies that those who choose to have abortions second-guess themselves and later regret the decision. In reality, people who have abortions take their reproductive health decisions seriously and, as previously discussed, almost universally do not regret the decision.

Conclusion

Medication abortion is a proven safe and effective method that can significantly improve the availability and experience of abortion care. It is a powerful enabler of reproductive autonomy, allowing people to choose the abortion setting that is safest and most comfortable for them. To ensure access to this crucial health care option, we must put an end to the lies that undermine the health care decisions of all people seeking abortion care.

Rape Culture in the U.S. – Causes and Solutions for an Epidemic Problem

June 11, 2015 By Freddy Zylstra

‘Put molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it. Took her home and I enjoyed that, she aint’ even know it’.

~ Rapper Rick Ross, in ‘You Ain’t Even Know It’
(‘molly’ refers to MDMA, or Ecstasy)

Rape culture is alive and well in the United States. It asserts that men have a right to women’s bodies, with or without consent.

Nearly 1 in 3 male college students admitted they would rape a woman if they could be certain no one would find out and there would be no consequences, according to a University of North Dakota survey.

respect for personal boundaries is critical — Respect for others boundaries is essential to stopping rape culture

The survey, released in December 2014, contained sobering insight into the students’ definition of rape, depending on the wording of the question rather than an understanding of the behavior. When the question was posed as ‘would you act on intentions to force a woman to have sex’, 31.7% responded ‘yes’.

The researchers changed the wording of the question to ‘would you act on intentions to rape a woman’ and found that only 13.6% said ‘yes’.

Why did the respondents think there was a difference?

The paper, “Denying Rape but Endorsing Forceful Intercourse: Exploring Differences Among Responders,” was released recently in the journal ‘Violence and Gender’.

What the researchers discovered is that those respondents who said they might force a woman to have sex but ‘not rape her’ seemed to have high levels of indifferent sexual attitudes – in other words, they weren’t overtly hostile (as were the group who admitted to thinking that rape was acceptable), but they also didn’t perceive women as individuals who have the right to control their own bodies. It appeared that the respondents felt that acting aggressively was ‘expected’ and ‘manly’.

What cultural and peer behaviors encourage this belief?

In 2013, two Steubenville, Ohio high school football players were convicted and sentenced for the rape of a 16 year old girl. The media was flooded with comments about the young men, who had ‘such promising futures’ and how ‘sad it was their lives were ruined’

In reality, the girl was brutally assaulted by her peers, who transported, undressed, photographed and sexually assaulted her. The boys jokingly shared their crime on social media, posting photos of the rape, saying she was ‘like a dead body’ because she was incapacitated by alcohol. Hundreds of shared photos and text messages making light of the crime were presented as evidence during the trial.

At Kenilworth Junior High School in Petaluma, California, a school administrator informed all the female students that they ‘couldn’t wear tight pants because it caused the boys to be distracted’.

Why did the school feel it was incumbent upon the girls to change their dress and behavior? Purportedly because they feel the boys aren’t able to control themselves. Why not teach mutual respect and boundaries instead? This action inferred that the boys somehow weren’t to blame for their own behavior.

The treatment of women as ‘objects’, and violent behavior exhibited toward them by prominent sports figures such as NFL star Ray Rice sets a terrible example for teen boys who idolize these athletes. Had Mr. Rice’s vicious attack on his then fiancée not been videotaped and widely distributed in the media, it’s entirely possible the NFL would have looked the other way.

Who is responsible for perpetuating the belief that boys don’t need to respect boundaries with girls?

It seems everyone is to blame. Video games, Rap music, sports culture, internet porn, television, lack of action on the part of schools, and peer pressure are all factors. Adolescent and teen boys are getting the message that encourages them to ignore their emotions, objectify and degrade women, and resolve conflict through aggression. The media creates a minefield of gender identity and false expectations of what it means to become a ‘real’ man at a time in boy’s lives when they are struggling with overwhelming feelings of sexuality.

objectifying women in video games — Violent video games often portray women as ‘objects’

Is progress being made?

Arguably not fast enough, though there are programs to mentor young men and promote healthier, non-violent identities based on a set of values which embrace respect for women.

One such program is the Men of Strength Club. This school-based curriculum spans 22 weeks and teaches male teens ages 11-18 appropriate dating and relationship skills. They are encouraged to show their ‘strength’ and masculinity in positive and empathetic ways among their peers.

Winning the 2007 United States Changemakers competition to identify the world’s most innovative domestic violence prevention programs, the Men of Strength Club is now in schools across 10 states, including California.

Obviously, we have a long way to go. Providing fact-based sex education in our schools is one way to open dialog between parents and adolescents – the perfect opportunity to discuss the meaning of healthy relationships. The ‘Know it & Own it’ program developed by Citizens for Choice is a powerful tool in creating a sense of responsibility and respect in teens of both sexes.

Further Reading and Study:

The results of a 2013 National Study on teens and sexual violence: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/10/08/2748631/national-study-adolescents-sexual-violence/

http://dayofthegirl.org/rape-culture/ This website addresses the neglect and devaluation of girls around the world

http://therepresentationproject.org/films/the-mask-you-live-in/about-the-film/synopsis/
Documentary directed by Jennifer Newsome (Miss Representation) which explores the role of boys as they grow up with stereotypes and expectations of a society that condones aggression.

LOW INCOME WOMEN HURT MOST BY ABORTION BANS

THE TURNAWAY STUDY

THE TRUTH ABOUT ANTI-CHOICE LIES — AND WHY THEY’RE WRONG

Rhetoric vs. Reality: Setting the Record Straight on Medication Abortion

Rape Culture in the U.S. – Causes and Solutions for an Epidemic Problem

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