Letter to the editor: Roe v. Wade anniversary
January 22, 2014
To the editor,
Today marks exactly 41 years since Roe v. Wade made legal abortion the law of the land. Yet politicians across the country continue to chip away at access to abortion. In the past three years alone, more abortion restrictions have been put into law than in the entire previous decade.
This concerted effort by politicians, whose goal is to eliminate all access to safe and legal abortion, is unacceptable.
My generation simply won’t stand for it. Six in 10 young Americans believe abortion should be available in all or most cases, and 68 percent of those who live in metropolitan areas believe it should be available in their own community.
That’s why I’m a member of Planned Parenthood Generation Action. Generation Action is a diverse movement of young people who are organizing across issues to achieve reproductive freedom. Here at the University of Massachusetts I work with VOX: UMass Students for Reproductive Justice to educate our community and advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights. Now, more than ever, it is critical that our voices are heard.
On this 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, VOX: UMass Students for Reproductive Justice reaffirms our commitment to the fight for reproductive freedom. In that fight, we dedicate ourselves to addressing diverse issues like poverty, immigration reform, queer rights and racial justice that are all deeply connected to the fight for reproductive justice.
The only way we can make progress is if we stand together.
Paul Gels
Boston, MA
Co-President
VOX UMass: Students for Reproductive Justice
George • Apr 21, 2014 at 5:19 pm
I don’t agree with abortion because I believe it is overwhelmingly used by parents ( I’m not quite sure if that’s the best word but I can’t really think of anything else at the moment) to stop unwanted pregnancies. When people engage in sex, even with contraception, there are consequences to their actions. One of these consequences is that the mother can become pregnant.
People need to own up to their decisions and accept the consequences of their actions. Just like how not wanting your 3 month old infant does not justify leaving your child to die in a dumpster, neither should an unwanted pregnancy justify having an abortion.
How can infanticide be so universally opposed, but abortion be so controversial? I suppose I’ll never quite understand.
Ann Onnimus • Feb 1, 2014 at 1:30 pm
“The “right” to spread your legs and rut like an animal without thought to consequences – because you can always just dispose of unwanted tissue later.”
Because only women are capable of rutting like animals, apparently… nice choice of words there. So what are the men doing, then? Tiptoeing through the tulips?
Interesting how you people turn these fetuses you claim to love so much, into no more than a punishment for people who do things you don’t approve of, instead of the person you claim it is on the other hand (how do you think a child would feel about being told that he or she exists because it’s a “consequence” to put his/her wayward mother in her place for “rutting like an animal”, as you so charmingly put it?). It’s so telling, because it shows what your priorities really are… you want to punish women for having sex. Even if they’re married or have been together for a while (because sometimes couples don’t want kids, or already have all the kids they can afford). Even if they use birth control (because birth control FAILS… and the majority of abortions occur because of that failure rate!) Even if there are medical or psychological reasons for why someone can’t be pregnant (despite the fact that it’s nearly impossible to get a doctor to give you sterilization surgery if you’re under 35 and female… and sterilization CAN STILL FAIL) but they still want to have sex with their partner.
Tell me, are you ever angry that there’s no chance of any lasting physical consequences for men who engage in the “rutting” too, or is it just the women? Do you really hate women that much? You must, you keep referring to them like animals instead of HUMAN BEINGS, which is symptomatic of the deep mysogyny surrounding the pro-life movement. You erase the woman from every picture, leaving AT MOST a disembodied uterus with a baby in it.
You need to stop pretending that you’re “pro life” because you actually care about babies, because you clearly have no problem with putting a baby into a situation where it is INTENDED as a PUNISHMENT for someone else, to make them miserable for having dared to “spread their legs”. A baby can’t be a gift and a punishment at the same time. You and your ilk also have no problem with denying government assistance to help their families, so you also have no problem with forcing these babies you claim to care about to grow up in poverty.
FYI female fetuses get aborted in other countries because of misogynistic attitudes not because people love abortion. Fight misogyny, not abortion. Fight poverty, not abortion. Fight the lack of access to contraception, not abortion. FIGHT THE ROOT PROBLEMS, NOT THE EFFECT.
If pointing out blatant hypocrisy and idiocy counts as “flaming”, then so be it. All I can think is that it must really suck to live your life while being so full of irrational hatred towards people for having sex.
Genghis Khan • Jan 27, 2014 at 2:06 pm
Over a million times a year people exercise that “last resort”. Wow. That’s a whole lotta “last resort.”
Over 50 MILLION times since Roe v Wade, approaching Mao’s decimation of his own people.
You want CHOICE? Exercise self-control. Choosing to NOT have sex like an animal in heat is also a choice. We’re not saying don’t have sex… how about being in a committed relationship, possibly even a marriage, before doing the deed – and making sure you’re not in a drunken stupor hooking up with some guy from a party. Oh, wait, that would mean responsibliity for yourself… and waiting to not only have children before you’re ready, but having sex before you’re ready.
You want PRO-WOMEN? Fight abortion – women across the globe are never born, because of abortion. Abortion is, globally, one of the most anti-women things around.
You want PRO-MINORITY? Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, was a vehement racist whose corporate strategy of targeting minorities, in particular blacks, is STILL IN EVIDENCE judging by where the majority of PP locations are placed.
Locke • Jan 26, 2014 at 4:03 pm
“Honey, we’re going to have a baby”
“going to”
That’s the difference. Pro-choice advocates believe that a woman’s right to control the health decisions of her own body outweighs the potential for a life. Trying to enforce puritan values to prevent people from having sex simply doesn’t work.
Nobody actually likes abortion; people use it as a last resort to prevent physical/mental health issues or to put off having children until they are ready. It’s not a pleasant choice, but it’s still a choice people have the right to make.
Genghis Khan • Jan 23, 2014 at 6:26 am
Ah, yes – abortion. The “right” to spread your legs and rut like an animal without thought to consequences – because you can always just dispose of unwanted tissue later.
I know I’ll get flamed, but let me ask you: When your mother discovered she was pregnant with you, what did she say to your father – “Honey, we’re going to have a baby?” or “Honey, we’ve got a fetus?”