On January 22, 1973, I was still in high school and pretty clueless about a number of things, including abortion. I was raised Catholic and with a deep and resounding respect for nuns. I have written here about my aunt who was a nun. I have shared some insights from Sr. Donna Quinn in the past and below is something that, used with her permission, I am sharing with you today. She wrote this the day before the anniversary of Roe V. Wade, on January 21.
Sr. Donna Quinn
More from Sr. Donna Quinn
About my aunt who was a nun.
This morning as we experienced minus zero temps in downtown Chicago we went past Soldier Field- home to the "Super Bowl" game Sunday with the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears and then past the SOXfest weekend event in the Palmer House with the Chicago White Sox I instinctively pulled my Sox scarf around my face to block the freezing temps. We were on our way to the Conversation on The Future of Choice with Celinda Lake a leading political strategist from D.C.
We were also blessed to hear the words of
Fay Clayton Chair of Planned Parenthood,
Colleen Connell Ex.Dir. of ACLU who has challenged generations about restrictive access to contraception and laws restricting access to prenatal testing.
Toni Bond Leonard a Visionary President of
Black Women for Reproductive Justice who is recently serving the Guttmacher Institute's Board of Directors,
Melissa Gilliam Assoc.Prof. of Pediatrics at the Univ. of Chgo.who.has her MD with degrees from Yale,Harvard, and Northwestern Univ.
Grace Allen Newton Chair of Personal PAC,
Pam Sutherland Activist who works in Springfield as Vice Pres. of Public Policy at PPIL
Four of us had lunch at a small table ..One is an Illinois Legislator, one a
young Jewish woman who mirrored everything I was thinking before I could say it.We laughed as I shared that with her
I am writing this primarily because I promised a few weeks back that if given the opportunity I would ask Celinda Lake about the Immigration Issues so many of you are working on with so many hurting families..
I talked with her privately and she shook her head about not having the votes..She spoke in sad tones about the children of the Dream Act.
I said we might compare the rhetoric used about China's violations of human rights to our own violations. With President Hu Jintao visiting
Chicago this was on my mind..
There is so much to do to stop the violence in this world. We have an
uphill battle in the U.S.with this new Congress to keep women's primacy of conscience and personal decision-making in tact..We worked over the decades to implement good legislation Now we must work to keep it and to begin this for our female children on Earth. So much still to do....
Never give up the struggle ....Never give up hope......Donn
When I asked if I could share this with others, unedited, she said, " Sure Sheila....share it with others...We're all in this together...Donna"
Here are some other friends of mine who also do their part to make reproductive rights for women a reality. In a little corner of the world, they work to make abortion rights safe and accessible. They know what it was like for women before, before they could access birth control, safe abortions and have some autonomy over their own bodies. They speak from the past and stand for the present. Women owe women like this a debt of gratitude, as they are the women who continue to fight for all of us, for human rights.
From the local paper, a full page ad, paid for by supporters of reproductive rights for women.
These women in a way influence an army of silent supporters. At last I saw statistics on, (and that was some time ago) several thousand women and men in their area who voted pro choice at elections to preserve a women's right to chose, were among their readers and activists. They work tirelessly to give a non partisan representation of the facts of abortion politics, survey the votes of those who can make decisions on behalf of the voters and know the law. They personally at times are clinic escorts, protesters, they write, they work to influence legislation by lobbying and they are mothers, grandmothers and respected pillars of the community. Issues of access, parental consent, sex education, abortion, and access to all the services of reproductive clinics, and many other reproductive related issues are clarified scientifically, kept in the forefront of the public who seeks information and it is always delivered without political rhetoric, in a clean, informed and factual way.
They work to debunk inflammatory rhetoric of the extreme right, ideas such as linking breast cancer to abortion which one of the congressman in their area spouts on from his official letterhead. You can visit their website here http://mcccprochoice.org/
Copyright 2011 by SheilaTGTG55 and additional words and picture attributed.
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Comments
If they over turned this which there is always talk, I think I would go into hiding in utter shame.
Good piece Sheila and rated with hugs
Fay: I completely agree. What really gets me is knowing how many of these women before Roe had the back alley abortions, sought medical help, but had developed infections which took their lives, as it was too late. Lots of the doctors at a teaching hospital in Chicago, my friend one of them, witnessed this first hand. Woman after woman coming in, with no hope, only death. Why do the politicians think they should be in charge of women and their reproductive issues. Are they really trying to protect unborn fetuses or are they trying to keep women under their thumb? I just don't know.
Rosycheeks: Yes and the thing is women who are working now, doing so much, advancing, are there because of the advent of birth control and abortion rights, otherwise, they would not be able to compete, they would be chained to the possibility of becoming mothers without it being on their preferred timing.
damn
But Ilove you ... and I send you hugs and sweet thoughts...
Rateeeed
Catherine: Thanks for the visit. My stake in this has always been about a woman's autonomy over her own body. My idea is about privacy and trusting women to understand their own needs and situations, along with any one else they chose to include in that process.