Do it. Via blogforchoice.com
Today, January 22, is the 37th Anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion and has subsequently saved the lives of countless women.
This week has been a remarkably craptacular one for progressive politics, so I wanted to end the week with some rabble-rousing, by asking you to answer this year’s Blog for Choice Day question: What does Trust Women mean to you?
If you have your own blog, you know what to do (hint: Blog for Choice, and go register your blog with the NARAL peeps). If you don’t, please chime in on our comments thread, and/or in your Facebook status, or your Twitter, or your Tumblr, or your T-shirt.
I could write an essay (and I’m sure at some point I will, if I haven’t already) about what “trusting women” means to me, but in a nutshell: trusting women means respecting them enough to allow them the freedom to make choices regarding their fertility that I might disagree with.
Now you go.
Where to start…
In this context, it means to understand that no man will ever, no matter how hard he tries or how sympathetic he is, understand what it feels like to face the possibility of pregnancy. That’s true whether it’s a planned pregnancy or not. We have the ultimate responsibility here, like it or not. So support us if you can, shut up if you can’t and get out of our way. After all, it’s what we do about your reproductive capacity, now, isn’t it?
And now that I think about it, I’m not sure I like the phrase “trust women”. It sounds too much to me like “tolerate people who are different from you”. Both of them are speaking to the powerful about the less so, and they both give the powerful the option to say, “You know, I don’t think I will.” I don’t really care if the male population trusts me to care for my body or not. I’m going to do what I think is right, and they can go to hell if they don’t like it.
Let’s not ask for trust. Let’s DEMAND RESPECT.
Done and done! Thanks for this post.
http://thatbrowngirl.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/trust-women/
To me it means stop infantalizing and condescending to women.
We know what pregnancy means. We know whether we’re prepared to handle it, whether it will have a positive or negative impact on our lives, whether we want to be mothers right now…
I find the language of Sarah Palin to be just as offensive as fire-and-brimstone condemnations from the more blatantly misogynist anti-choicers.
My blog entry hasn’t shown up on the Naral site yet, but here ’tis!
http://mkp-hearts-nyc.livejournal.com/269663.html
[...] Today is Blog for Choice Day by PhDork at The Pursuit of Harpyness Blog for Choice Day News: Shooting Man in Head is Not News by ProfBigK at Feminist Philosophers Blog for Choice 2010 by Frau Sally Benz at Feministe Reality Check by Mór Rígan at Morrigan Reborn -34.925770 138.599732 [...]
I blogged for choice! And my formerly anti choice husband (he came around a couple of years ago) told me he likes it! I said, “wow, we’ve come a long way, baby.” He said, “sure have.” Here’s to trusting women!
wow, I’m glad that there is celebration an important US feminist legal decision.
I hear mischiefmanager about demanding respect, “trust women” will hopefully remind everyone that women are human beings and are every bit entitled to make decisions about their life, especially those about sex, reproduction, and family planning. That as human beings those decisions are every bit as important and meaningful as the ones made by non-women folk.
Trust women is also about women supporting women who are making decisions, especially those about sex, reproduction, and family planning.
mackey, I’d love to know more about the politics of abortion in Oz; for a big nasty pro-choice feminist I’m shamefully ignorant of most other nations’ policies.
[and thanks for the note!
]
I always knew that nobody knows my body as well as I do, and I’m the best judge of what I can or can’t do, including the not-trivial task of bearing a pregnancy to term. These days, a big part of my personal pro-choice stance is the simple fact that I’m offended as hell that anyone would think of my children as consequences. My children are wanted and beloved, just like all children should be.
The short story is, that abortion appears in most states and territories criminal code (there is the exception of Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory where abortion is legal and on request).
I think the situation is somewhat different to the US, where even though it is in the criminal code of some states and territories, there is the capacity for the woman and the woman’s doctor to make decisions together.
Also, the procedure itself can be partially funded through Medicare (Australia’s publicly funded health care system). And it is still performed in some public hospitals.
(check out the wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Australia )
There’s a couple of recent cases that indicate the precariousness of having abortion in the criminal code.
In most polls conducted on the issue, the majority of Australians (over 2/3) support the idea of a women’s right to choose.
Family Planning Clinics and Female Health Clinics that perform abortions as part of their sex, reproductive health and family planning functions still get picketed by those who want to ban abortion. Feminist groups still organise counter gatherings to support women who are entering the clinic so that the woman is able to access the care that she requires.
I haven’t heard of any clinics (in particularly in the last 10 years) in Australia being firebombed, and/or health professionals being killed for working in a clinic where abortion is performed.
Maybe I should turn this into a post for the harpys’. There’s the issue of the parliamentary debate on RU486 and its availability, which finally is no longer subject to the Federal Health Minister’s approval, and its availability is determined by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Hopefully you all get the gist!
It’s such a sensative subject.
I hate how most people against pro-choice seem to say that if you “fucked up and aren’t careful” then you must suffer the end result of your actions. Like children are punishment. What the fuck?
And those women who do have abortions suffer too, sometimes for a long time with thought and feelings. Everyone acts like they are out having dirty martinis the next night laughing over what a joke it was.
I think we shouldn’t ask for them to trust us. I agree with the earlier post. I don’t care if anyone trusts me. Fucking RESPECT ME.
I have to agree with oceanbreeze, to have respect is a lot better than to have trust, this whole “Trust women” is like saying most women are these immature, flighty identities begging the “moral majority” that they’re grown up enough to make a major decision by themselves.
Roe Vs. Wade, may it long continue!!