Let’s lean into hope. Those who recognize the humanity and necessity of reproductive freedom outnumber those who don’t.
By a show of hands, who here is around 50 years old? I was born in 1975. Women before me had fought for rights I didn’t even know I had. I had never lived in a world where reproductive freedom was not available. I had never known a world where women couldn’t access birth control unless your husband approved. I had never been taught that women couldn’t access credit until the 1970’s. I assume those around my age have the same experiences.
I have been on a journey of learning the true history of our nation over the last 10 years and it’s been eye opening. Within our systems, policies, and institutions, racist and misogynistic policies are baked in to be invisible unless you dig deep and have proper context or lived experience.
~
Here is a list of things not available to women until recent history:
● Get a credit card in her own name - not available until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974
● Be guaranteed that they would not get fired for getting pregnant - not available until the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978
● Serve on a jury in all states - U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Taylor v. Louisiana when the Court held that states must treat men and women in the same way in respect to jury service in 1975.
● Fight on the front lines - It was 2013 that the military ban on women in combat was lifted ● Get an Ivy League education - Most of these universities did not admit females until late 1960’s all the way until the 1980’s.
● Take legal action against workplace sexual harassment - The Civil Rights Act of 1964 created the basis for discrimination cases in its Article VII and established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But it wasn't until 1980 that the EEOC determined that sexual harassment was a form of sex discrimination
● Decide not to have sex with their husband - Spousal rape was not criminalized in all 50 states until 1993
● Obtain health insurance at the same monetary rate as a man - Sex discrimination was not outlawed in health insurance until 2010. Women still often pay more in health insurance than men. For health insurance companies, women are considered high risk because they tend to visit the doctor more frequently, live longer and have babies, according to healthline.com.
● Access to the birth control pill - In 1960, the pill was approved for use as a contraceptive. However, it was illegal in some states and could only be prescribed to married women for purposes of family planning. Not all pharmacies stocked the pill, and some who opposed birth control said, “oral contraceptives were immoral, promoted prostitution and were tantamount to abortion.” Five years after the Food and Drug Administration approved the pill for contraceptive use, 6.5 million American women were on the pill. Though it was not until 1972 that the pill was available to unmarried women.
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), first proposed in 1923, is an amendment to the United States Constitution that guarantees equality of rights under the law for all persons regardless of sex. Section 1 of the Amendment reads “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”
As of January 27, 2020, the ERA has satisfied the requirements of Article V of the Constitution for ratification (passage by two-thirds of each house of Congress and approval by three-fourths of the states), yet has still not been ratified as part of the constitution.
North Carolina is one of the states that has still not ratified the ERA, along with South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, Utah, Arizona, and Arkansas. This means we have much work to do, especially in our own state!
How does this affect us? The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned nearly 50 years of reproductive rights precedent and returned control of abortion law to the states. The ERA would have provided federal protection, had it been part of the constitution.
~
Women and girls today are living the legacy of women’s rights that seven generations of women before us have given their best to achieve. Alice Paul, the organizer who first wrote out the Equal Rights Amendment in 1923, said, “I always feel the movement is sort of a mosaic. Each of us puts in one little stone, and then you get a great mosaic at the end.” Women, acting together, adding their small stones to the grand mosaic, have increased their rights against all odds, nonviolently, from an initial position of powerlessness. We have a lot to be proud of in this heroic legacy, and a great deal to celebrate.
However, it is important to know where we came from so we can be strategic and organized about keeping these rights from being stripped from us.
We have been on a women’s rights journey for nearly 200 years. The formal beginning of the movement is considered to be the Women’s Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, NY in 1848. One of the organizers, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, drafted a Declaration of Sentiments detailing their grievances:
● Married women were legally dead in the eyes of the law
● Women were not allowed to vote
● Women had to submit to laws when they had no voice in their formation ● Married women had no property rights
● Husbands had legal power over and responsibility for their wives to the extent that they could imprison or beat them with impunity
● Divorce and child custody laws favored men, giving no rights to women
● Women had to pay property taxes although they had no representation in the levying of these taxes
● Most occupations were closed to women and when women did work they were paid only a fraction of what men earned
● Women were not allowed to enter professions such as medicine or law ● Women had no means to gain an education since no college or university would accept women students
● With only a few exceptions, women were not allowed to participate in the affairs of the church
● Women were robbed of their self-confidence and self-respect, and were made totally dependent on men
So we have made progress over the last 175 years, but we are in a time where our children will have fewer rights than my generation has had. How is this possible? It is policy. It is political. Let me be clear - it is strategic and organized. Which means we have to be as well.
Let’s talk specifically about Reproductive Freedom and bodily autonomy for women.
● Of our 50 states, 14 have eliminated abortion access completely - no exceptions ● 7 states have severely limited abortion access such as: bans after 12 weeks, 72 hours waiting period, making it necessary to see a provider twice, creating additional barriers (These would have been unconstitutional under Roe V. Wade)
● An Alabama Supreme Court has effectively ended access to IVF, leaving families navigating infertility in limbo.
● After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, some IVF patients scrambled to move their frozen embryos to jurisdictions that protected
access to the procedure, just in case their states’ new anti-abortion laws might be interpreted to outlaw discarding embryos as well.
● National anti-abortion bills — including the Republican-backed House bill known as the Life at Conception Act, which has 125 GOP sponsors — do not exempt IVF and could be used to outlaw the procedure.
● Although intrauterine devices (IUDs) and emergency contraceptives (EC) – such as Plan B, Ella, and the emergency application of IUDs – work by preventing pregnancy, many people mistakenly believe they are abortifacients and can end a pregnancy. Polls indicate that as many as 73% of people incorrectly think emergency contraceptive pills can end a pregnancy in its early stages. Despite some common misconceptions, emergency contraceptive methods and regular use of the IUD do not terminate a pregnancy, stop the implantation of a fertilized egg, or affect a developing embryo.
● Although Medicaid programs are required to cover family planning services, some states have attempted to exclude certain contraceptive methods from their state Medicaid programs. In 2020, Texas received permission from the Trump Administration to exclude emergency contraceptives from its Medicaid-funded family planning program, after requesting to exclude coverage in 2017. This waiver will remain in effect until December 2024. Similarly, in 2021 the Missouri senate voted on a bill that would have barred
coverage of emergency contraceptives from the state’s Medicaid program, which failed, but is still incredibly frightening. And in 2023, Iowa stopped paying for Plan B for survivors of sexual assault through its Crime Victim Compensation Program. Although these measures affect coverage of emergency contraceptives – not their legality – they still constitute attempts to restrict access to certain contraceptive methods. Additionally, in 2021, the Idaho legislature enacted a law that bars “abortion-related activities” in school-based clinics, which prohibits health clinics at public schools, including higher education institutions, from dispensing emergency contraceptives, except in cases of rape.
This is the government all up in women’s bodies and personal healthcare decisions.
Abortion and reproductive autonomy is a hot button issue. It has been strategically made to be so. It has been attached to morality, which really riles people up because then faith and religion get brought into the conversation.
Let’s review some facts and disrupt myths:
Women who obtain abortions represent every religious affiliation.
● 13% of abortion patients describe themselves as born-again or Evangelical Christians ● 22% of U.S. women are Catholic, yet 27% of abortion patients say they are Catholics. Hmmm, so even religious women are seeking abortions, for a myriad of reasons.
MYTH: Women are using abortion as a method of birth control.
In fact, half of all women getting abortions report that contraception was used during the month they became pregnant. No contraceptive method prevents pregnancy 100% of the time.
MYTH: Women have abortions for selfish or frivolous reasons.
The decision to have an abortion is rarely simple. Most women base their decision on several factors, the most common being lack of money and/or unreadiness to start or expand their families due to existing responsibilities. Many feel that the most responsible course of action is to wait until their situation is more suited to childrearing; 66% plan to have children when they are older, financially able to provide necessities for them, and/or in a supportive relationship with a partner so their children will have two parents. Others wanted to get pregnant but developed serious medical problems, learned that the fetus had severe abnormalities, or experienced some other personal crisis. About 13,000 women each year have abortions because they have become pregnant as a result of rape or incest. None of these reasons are selfish or frivolous.
MYTH: Women are often forced into having abortions they do not really want. Some women say that pressure from a husband, partner, or parent was one of several reasons they chose abortion, but only about 1% give that reason as the "most important" one in making their decision. Conversely, some women who do not want to continue their pregnancies are pressured to do so by family members, friends, or fear of social stigma.
MYTH: Many women come to regret their abortions later.
Research indicates that relief is the most common emotional response following abortion, and that psychological distress appears to be greatest before, rather than after, an abortion. When a wanted pregnancy is ended (for medical reasons, for example) women may experience a sense of loss and grief.
Over the past 30 years, more than 60 countries and territories have liberalized their abortion laws. From Ireland to Nepal, abortion rights are becoming recognized as fundamental human rights for millions of people worldwide. And in Latin America, the Green Wave is ushering in a new era of liberalization in Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, and elsewhere in the region.
Only four countries have rolled back the legality of abortion. They are Poland, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and the United States.
The devastating regression on abortion rights in the United States makes the country a stark outlier to the global trend toward liberalization.
So we know that there is no one size fits all for reasons for abortion. In fact, like all medical decisions, it is something that should be discussed and decided ONLY by the patient and their doctor. Reproductive freedom extends beyond abortion access to access to contraception, fertility treatments, and overall gynecological health.
I challenge you to understand that every woman has multiple stories relating to gynecological health. I asked many friends over the last couple of weeks why reproductive freedom is important to them. The answers were raw and real:
1. Because I have children that face the consequences of an older generation’s actions. I’m completely against abortion as a form of birth control, but people are completely ignorant to the fact that even emergency procedures to keep a woman alive are legally and medically defined as “abortion”. People don’t even realize the people they personally know that have had to have this done who wanted and loved their baby. The population needs to educate themselves instead of screaming what they’ve been told into other people’s faces.
2. I believe it is a very personal decision to be pregnant and no one except the person responsible for carrying that embryo/fetus should be permitted to dictate what that person does with their own uterus. Only each individual can decide what they emotionally, physically, morally, ethically, and monetarily are able to do in regard to carrying a child, birthing a child, and/or raising a child.
3. When my embryo implanted in my fallopian tube during my first IVF transfer, I had a medically induced abortion necessary to save my reproductive organs and life. Abortion is medical care. Full stop. I do not want religion playing any part in my healthcare decisions.
4. Pregnancy is something which changed my body forever. If I were to get pregnant now, it could kill me. The birth process is still terrifying, agonizing, and far too often fatal in the US, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. This is exponentially worse for Black women.
Now, let’s consider the intersection of sex and race when it comes to reproductive freedom.
Women of color find their reproductive autonomy under siege due to racist, discriminatory policies that disproportionately affect them. Last year, the North Carolina General Assembly voted to override Governor Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 20, an anti-abortion policy that adds restrictions to abortion care services and prohibits abortion after the 12th week of pregnancy. Policies like Senate Bill 20 exacerbate the challenges faced by women of color in controlling their bodies and making informed decisions about their reproductive health. Reproductive justice remains a critical issue today because it embodies not only the right to access contraception and abortion but also broader concerns such as economic stability, racial equality, and the ability to parent in safe and supportive environments.
Black women in North Carolina face significant disparities in maternal health outcomes, with Black mothers experiencing higher rates of maternal mortality, pregnancy complications, and inadequate access to prenatal care. According to the CDC, 60% of pregnancy-related deaths
are preventable. Arguably, the gap in services that exist for structurally excluded communities who are in between poverty and financial stability in North Carolina is a violation of Black women’s reproductive rights.
From challenges with menstruation, fertility issues, ovarian challenges, pregnancy complications, uterine challenges, etc. women face concerns that men will never experience and should not be governing.
Democracy and voting rights are vital tools in this struggle, offering a means to challenge unjust policies, elect representatives who prioritize the interests of those most impacted, and elevate the voices of all women. Through active participation in democratic processes, we all can work towards a future where reproductive justice is not just a dream but a reality for all.
Let’s lean in to hope. Those that recognize the humanity and necessity of reproductive freedom outnumber those that don’t. We need to mobilize and organize to get out the vote in numbers that protect women in our country. We need to demand women’s fundamental human rights at all levels: Federal, State, and Locally.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/abortion-access-tool/NC
https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/slideshows/10-states-with-the-highest-std-rates?slid e=13
https://www.guttmacher.org/2024/06/midyear-2024-state-policy-trends-many-us-states-attack-re productive-health-care-other
https://sexeducationcollaborative.org/states/north-carolina
https://ncblackalliance.org/the-struggle-for-reproductive-rights-for-women-of-color/#:~:text=In%2 0addition%2C%20groups%20like%20the,rights%20agenda%20on%20their%20terms.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/10/28/fact-check-9-things-women-couldnt do-1971-mostly-right/3677101001/
https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/faq
https://prochoice.org/wp-content/uploads/women_who_have_abortions.pdf https://reproductiverights.org/maps/worlds-abortion-laws/
