Abortion is one of the most controversial topics of the day, one that has two distinct sides that have very strong views. The readings for Tuesday all deal with this topic. Listen up had two stories about two different women and their experience with being pregnant and the option of abortion. The first article, “Abortion, Vacuum Cleaners and the Power Within” by Inga Muscio deals with a women and her aversion to the abortion process. She compares it to a vacuum cleaner. She also describes the emotional effects of the machine and how she cried and vomited, and how she had a gapping hole in her for two weeks after. This didn’t happen once, but twice, she had to do the whole things over again. After these experiences she decided to study medicine and healing processes and what she found was that healing tarts with in, which is contrary to mainstream society because we look for most things outside from the body. “We look outside for just about everything: love, entertainment, well-being, self-worth, and health (Muscio 115).” She also sees that people don’t look to themselves for answers or truths, but look for experts in whatever area your studying. When she got pregnant for the third time she did not go to the abortion clinic. Instead she hired a masseuse and drank herbal abortifacients and emmenagogues. Through this her baby died. She believes that if abortion were in our own power then abortion clinics would be completely unnecessary. While I understand how the stigma that comes with going to an abortion clinic would disappear if people did this, I also think this way is really unreliable. How safe are the things that this women doing, and how effective? You hear about homemade remedies to have an abortion, but some of them don’t work and some are also very dangerous.
The second article, “And So I Chose” by Allison Crews, dealt with a young women and her choice to keep her baby. Growing up she was taught to be pro-life, but after seeing a young girl go into a clinic and see the pain on her face, she decided not to be. She put together a website to empower feminist teen mothers. When she was a sophomore in high school she got pregnant and decided to go through with the pregnancy. People told her that she was an irresponsible teenager and a hopeless breeder. People told her that she could not be a good mother and the only option was adoption. She was not able to make any choices for herself because people said she was to young to make these important decisions. But when she went through labor and her son was born, she felt reborn and decided to keep the baby. “Through giving birth, I loudly and publicly proclaimed my freedom of choice (Crews 148).” Allison Crews believes that pro-choice is our right to choose whatever reproductive option we want. I really like Crews thoughts because whatever choice you make it affects your life, not any one else’s. It’s your life and you should live it whatever way you want to. Who are other people to judge you on what you do, they should worry about their own lives.
“Abortion Is a Motherhood Issue” by Judith Arcana brought up a good point about the link between abortion and motherhood. She says that they are often separated for convenience but also purposely. She also says that maternity starts at conception. “When the pregnancy is deliberate, or accepted, we say baby. When the pregnancy is an accident, or reject, we say fetus or embryo… (Arcana 225).” This is a good point, because people do this to help protect the mother’s feelings. Judith Arcana worked an Abortion Counseling Service and saw the effect that abortion had on these women and that they did not make this decision light. “Every woman who has an abortion know what it means, and lives in the meaning the best way she can. Abortion is a matter of life and death… (226).” Obviously most women don’t go into abortion clinics not knowing what they are doing. They are accepting responsibility of whatever choice they make knowing its best for them and their babies.
“Feminism in our Time” contained an article on the Roe v. Wade case. It describes how Sarah Weddington, Linda Coffee, and Norma McCorvey came together to fight the Supreme Court to legalize abortion. The high court voted 7 to 2 state laws that restricted a woman’s right to an abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy (Feminism in our Time 400). Abortion used to only be allowed to get if the mother’s life was in danger, but that changed after it was found to be unconstitutional to not allow a women to get an abortions. The article describes that the abortion law was a product of Victorian social life that discourages illicit sexual conduct. This might be partly true but most people don’t have unsafe sex because they can “fix” it with an abortion. Another reason the article says abortions were made illegal was because back in the day they were really dangerous and that a lot of women died because of it. The last reason they say that the abortion law was enacted because it was State’s job to protect the fetus, because it is a human life once conception happens. The law was overturned based on the idea of personal privacy and liberty and this should include a woman’s choice to get an abortion. Abortion is a tricky topic with a lot of different opinions.
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