Raising Awareness of Fertility Awareness

Posted on 4.24.2012 by Kelly

Last week I read an article on Jezebel (“Women Try to Rebrand the Catholic Church’s Position on Contraception”) about efforts by some women in the Catholic Church to revitalize Natural Family Planning (NFP). This method of family planning is generally sanctioned by the Church, though there are some who think that it should only be used to space out children and to aid conception. The article argues that it is hypocritical for one method of pregnancy avoidance to be allowed and promoted as natural, “unmedicated, God-given rhythms,” while other contraceptive choices are prohibited. While overall I agreed with the sentiments of the article, as a practitioner of the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM), a secular form of natural family planning, I took issue with the article's dismissive and uninformed attitude towards NFP and FAM. It's an attitude I have received repeatedly from other feminists, health care providers, and others who claim to support a spectrum of reproductive options.

Why Isn't Anti-Abortion Extremism Considered Terrorism?

Posted on 4.22.2012 by Kelly

Happy Sunday and Earth Day! Here's a thought-provoking article by Matthew Harwood at Salon considering who sets the agenda for what is considered terrorism. Why are "instances of vandalism, such as activists breaking windows and spray-painting 'Animal Liberation Front' or 'Earth Liberation Front' on things" called "terrorist acts" while more violent acts carried out by right-wing extremists, such as arson of abortion clinics, are given lesser weight? Why do we accept that Muslim communities are subjected to constant surveillance and harassment by the government while anti-abortion Christian churches are left alone?

Check it out: "Is this man a terrorist?"

On Pragmatic Feminism

Posted on 4.20.2012 by Lily

Confession: I’m a longtime lurker, first-time participant in this world. My feminist identity can be largely attributed to the feminist blogosphere, in all its diversity and glorious controversy; several years ago I even wrote my senior thesis on the topic. But the Provider Project represents my first official foray behind the scenes. So, hello and welcome! Let’s get to know each other a bit.

For the past few years (pretty much since I turned in that thesis) I’ve been working in abortion clinics. I’m trained primarily as a counselor, though I’ve also at various times been a medical assistant, receptionist, and all-around clinic lackey. Abortion work is intense, exhilarating, heart-wrenching, exhausting, and profoundly gratifying. It is what I want to do with my life.

And part of my job, as I see it, is talking about my job. It’s being public about what I do. It’s enlightening people about the reality of abortion and clinics and sexual and reproductive health, because being open is how we fight stigma and shame.

It’s no secret that one in every three women will have at least one abortion in her lifetime, or that over 99% of American women having heterosexual intercourse use contraception at some point. For this hardly insignificant population, abortion and birth control are not theoretical questions of morality and rights to be debated on the floor of Congress. They are real life problems and needs. If only we collectively demanded that our leaders work in favor of our realities!

And that’s what I really want to talk about: reality.

TRANSVAGINAL ULTRASOUNDS! Or How We Missed the Real Story in Virginia

Posted on 4.18.2012 by Amy

To demonstrate why we need stories from abortion care workers in the struggle for reproductive justice, I want to share a little story about an recent legislative mishap you may remember...

A couple months ago, some legislators in Virginia decided to pass a law mandating ultrasounds for women seeking abortions. Their thinking seemed to center on a few monkey-brained assumptions:

1. Women seeking abortions may not realize they’re pregnant until they have an ultrasound.

2. After viewing a blurry, black-and-white blob, women will become so overcome with motherly emotions that their financial/logistical/emotional/spiritual reasons for seeking abortion will disappear.

3. Women can’t make decisions for themselves. Legislators should make decisions for them.

4. People who know nothing about medicine are qualified to dictate medical policy.

The legislators might have benefited from speaking to someone in abortion care who had a basic grasp of what happens between providers and patients. If they did, they might have realized:

1. Most women seeking abortion realize they are pregnant.

2. Ultrasounds are routinely provided as part of abortion care.

3. The level of detail required in the ultrasound image would mandate a TRANSVAGINAL ULTRASOUND for many women in early pregnancy.

Then something glorious happened. People who had a basic grasp of medical knowledge noticed that the law would require a specific medical procedure that involved putting.something.potentially.unecessary.into.my.vagina. The rage of the feminist community was unleashed upon Virginia. More than a thousand people protested outside the State Capitol and some were arrested. The word “vagina” was EVERYWHERE.

“Transvaginal,” said the TV anchors.

“Vaginal probe,” agreed the newspapers.

“Holy crap!” said those of us unaccustomed to seeing the word “vagina” in such places.

Many decried the bill as state-sponsored rape. Here, the feminist community may also have benefited from the wisdom of abortion care workers, who might have noted that transvaginal ultrasounds are in fact a routine medical practice that clinics often use to accurately diagnose gestational age.

Some in the world of abortion care worried that patients might come to see all transvaginal ultrasounds as rape. Others hoped patients would understand it was the legislative force -- not the actual probe itself -- that was a violation of will. For the most part, these voices were drowned out by sound bites.

The outcry forced Governor Bob McDonnell and the Republican legislators to back down, instead passing a watered-down version of the bill that required an abdominal ultrasound and the offer of a TRANSVAGINAL one.

But the debate ignored another key provision of the Virginia law -- one that many in abortion care believed would far more dramatically impact the lives of women seeking abortions. The bill required a waiting period between the ultrasound appointment and the abortion -- you know, so women could get a good hard look at that fuzzy, black-and-white picture. Women who lived within 100 miles of the clinic would need to wait 24 hours. Those who lived more than 100 miles away would need to wait two hours.

Seriously Bad News from Guttmacher on State Abortion Restrictions

Posted on 4.17.2012 by Amy

I was getting amped up for the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Conference at Hampshire College this past weekend when the Guttmacher Institute sent me one serious downer of an email.

It turns out almost all legislatures that have convened so far this year -- and by almost all, I mean 45 out of 46 -- have introduced measures related to reproductive health and rights. About half of those provisions would restrict abortion access. All that in three months.

Here's some seriously depressing highlights:

*Legislators in 11 states have introduced ultrasound requirements.

*Legislators in 11 states introduced restrictions on medication abortions.

*Legislators in 14 states have introduced restrictions on abortions in later pregnancy prior to fetal viability.

*Legislators in five states that mandate contraceptive coverage have introduced measures to expand or create exemptions for employers.

Check out the full report from the Guttmacher Institute here.

Rather than getting totally depressed about the situation, I'm trying to focus on the work of providers and activists who are struggling to block these provisions and continue helping women access health care. It cheered me up to remember the thousands who protested the Virginia law mandating a transvaginal ultrasound before an abortion. Here's a photo of a young pro-choicer in Virginia that made me feel a little better.