Posted on 10/04/2006 5:33:24 PM PDT by MotleyGirl70
NEW YORK -- As the abortion debate rages, Ms. magazine is releasing its fall issue next week with a cover story titled ''We Had Abortions'' that lists names of thousands of women who signed a petition making that declaration.
The publication coincides with what the abortion-rights movement considers a watershed moment.
Abortion access in many states is being curtailed, activists are uncertain about the stance of the U.S. Supreme Court, and South Dakotans vote Nov. 7 on whether to ban virtually all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest.
''All this seems very dire,'' said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Ms.-publishing Feminist Majority Foundation. ''We have to get away from what the politicians are saying and get women's lives back in the picture.''
Even before the issue reaches newsstands Oct. 10, anti-abortion activists have been decrying it. Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, wrote in a commentary that when she saw a Ms. announcement of the project, "the evil practically jumped right off the page."
Ms. executive editor Katherine Spillar said more than 5,000 women have signed the petition so far -- heeding its appeal to declare they are unashamed of the choice they made. The magazine itself had room for only 1,016 names, she said Tuesday, but all of them will be viewable online as Ms. encourages other women to continue adding their signatures.
Ms. says it will send the petition to Congress, the White House and state legislators.
The signatories include Ms. founder Gloria Steinem, comedian Carol Leifer, and actresses Kathy Najimy and Amy Brenneman, but most are not famous names.
Tyffine Jones, 27, of Jackson, Miss., said she had no hesitation about signing -- although she lives in a state where restrictions on abortion are tough and all but one abortion clinic has been closed.
Jones said she got an abortion 10 years ago -- enduring harassment from protesters when she entered the clinic -- in order to finish high school. She went on to become the first member of her family to graduate from college, and hopes at some point to attend law school.
"I wanted to do something bigger with myself -- I didn't want to be stopped by anything," she said in a telephone interview.
Another signatory, Debbie Findling of San Francisco, described her difficult decision last year to have an abortion after tests showed that she would bear a son with Down syndrome.
"I felt it was my right to make the decision, but having that right doesn't make the decision any easier," she said. "It was the hardest decision I've ever made."
Findling, 42, is married, with a 5-year-old daughter, and has been trying to get pregnant again while pursuing her career as a philanthropic foundation executive.
She says too many of her allies in the abortion-rights movement tend to minimize, at least publicly, the psychological impact of abortion.
"It's emotionally devastating," she said in a phone interview. "I don't regret my decision -- but I regret having been put in the position to have to make that choice. It's something I'll live with for the rest of my life."
Findling strongly supports the Ms. petition, and believes women who have had abortions need to be more open about their decisions. She has written an essay about her own experience, and plans to include it in an anthology she hopes to publish next year.
Ms. mounted this kind of petition drive when it was first published. Its debut issue in 1972 included a manifesto signed by 53 women -- many of them well-known -- declaring that they had undergone abortions despite state laws outlawing the procedure.
The next year, the Supreme Court issued its Roe v. Wade decision establishing abortion rights nationwide. Some abortion-rights activists are concerned that Roe could be overturned, either by the current court or if President Bush has the opportunity to appoint one more justice.
Smeal said Ms. staffers called the women who signed the petition to verify their information and be sure they were willing to have their names in print.
"The women thanked us for doing this," Smeal said. "They wanted to tell their stories."
The last time I saw her in an interview, she was with her new husband. She probably only hates real men.
Not only was I afraid to spend the rest of my pregnancy depressed and upset, I felt that my being healthy and happy would produce the healthiest possible baby.
Thankfully, all three of mine are perfectly healthy.
I'm glad yours turned out great, too. Just goes to show you that doctors don't know everything, and neither do their tests.
I made a mistake when I was 19 and was with a young woman who became pregnant but it was all about right now what are we going to do? And I regret it till this day.
I spent a few hours The other day with my two Great Grand Daughters (4 year and 8 months). What a wonderful blessing my Loving Creator has given me, some one so unworthy of so much love. My cup runneth over.
I hope so. Thanks for the post. Made me feel a little better.
Oh, I was also gonna tell ya. I had a "scare" with an old girlfriend back in college. It turned out ok, but had it not, I'm not sure what would have done. I wasn't mature enough then, you know, and even if I was, what were the odds she wouldn't have one anyways? It's hard to know, let alone do the right thing for a young person...And that's why this Ms. Magazine story has got me FLOORED (as they intended of course).
You mean that a man acutally did it with her? I thought that she was "female" oriented.
This is a pretty pathetic commentary on our society--especially to appear a week after those precious innocents in the Amish community were gunned down. While those bereaved parents grieve their loss, these people reflect upon their freedom. How ironic a contrast.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.