Posted on 02/03/2006 11:10:47 AM PST by presidio9
The UConn Women's Center hosted an event Thursday night that highlighted a woman's right to choose an abortion. Co-sponsored by the National Abortion Rights and Reproduction Action League (NARAL), the event consisted of the documentary film, "Speak Out: I Had An Abortion," and a discussion among students about the social issue.
The film documented the stories of several women of different racial, social and religious backgrounds and their decision to have an abortion performed on them, whether it was legal or illegal depending on the time period. The film was directed by Gillian Aldrich and produced by Jennifer Baumgardner. The first segment dealt with an 85-year-old black woman named Florence Rice who had an illegal abortion performed to her at the age of 16 in 1938. At this point in time during the Depression, abortions were both illegal and greatly shunned upon in society, yet Rice stated she had no regrets over her decision.
Many women spoke about their lives and their decision to have the procedure, even if they had to keep the ordeal a secret from friends and family. Some, however, had to face the harsh consequences from their families. Jenny Egan had an abortion while in high school in 1994, but faced many hardships growing up in a conservative Mormon household. Her mother found out about her abortion after an anti-abortion group known as "The Brotherhood" sent a letter informing her parents of the abortion, to which her mother inflicted much guilt onto Egan. Upon entering an all-girl college, Egan found comfort in telling her story to her peers.
A woman named Robin Ringletta-Kottkin, who grew up in a strict Catholic household with anti-abortion beliefs, had to ultimately choose to have the procedure after an adoption agency informed her that they would not accept a bi-racial baby, since the father of the child was black. While still in college and with no way to care for and support the child, it was then that she realized society had valued some children over others, which led to her decision. Ringletta-Kottkin discussed the day of her abortion and the protesters she had to face outside the clinic. It wasn't until inside with the female physician that she felt comfortable about what she was doing. Since then, she has regretted not talking about her abortion because it had just created more shame for herself.
The goal of this documentary was to discuss this social issue with true stories of women who had to face this decision and the comfort they felt in openly dealing with their stories. The film chronicled the support women had for each other- whether it was just with their gynecologist or holding "speak outs" where women spoke to large crowds about their experiences. "When I saw women standing up for their support of abortion, I realized how little alone I was," remarked one woman who participated in pro-choice rallies.
After the film, Lisa Marie Griffiths, an instructor in the School of Nursing and a board member of NARAL, hosted an open discussion with students on their thoughts on the film and any questions they had regarding the medical procedure and social history of abortion. Some students chose to discuss their own experiences with abortion and the difficulty that came with the decision.
"The purpose is to bring awareness of women's choices and to increase acceptance in women's abortions," said Griffiths about the goals behind the event. "If we don't talk about it, it's still going to be a social stigma."
We don't know where this took place- this could have been a place where there were very few blacks around, never mind a black church or community.
??? Better tell all the people adopting Korean, Latin American and African kids that, I'm sure they'd be happy to get a few bucks back to help raise those non-white kids.
There are lots of conservatives and lots of libertarians on FR, and lots of disagreement about what constitutes a "conservative" or a "libertarian". Not everyone defines "conservative" as "anti-abortion". And not all libertarians are pro-choice (for that matter, neither are all leftist-socialists). Personally, I am interested in conserving and reclaiming the liberty guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
Just because it was illegal at the time, doesn't mean that an individual worker did not lie to her and say they couldn't take a biracial child. She was what 18, 19 or so at the time and probably would not have known any better.
No profit in placing U.S. born non-white babies in the U.S. And no profit on placing black babies in the U.S. no matter where they were born. I don't believe for a second that anyone is turning anything even remotely resembling a profit from placing African-born black babies into adoptive homes in the U.S. The very few Asian babies that are born in the U.S. and not wanted by their biological mothers/parents are almost all placed by non-profit ethnic community groups and ethnic churches.
This certainly is way too PC to be real. Having worked in crisis pregnancy agencies, I can't recall one adoption agency that would turn away a bi-racial baby. They're making this stuff up.
A college student in 1973 would have been even more aware than the average American about federal civil rights laws.
Such a claim would certainly not have passed the average 1973 college student's smell test.
Are you suggesting that attitudes towards having/adopting black/white biracial or black children was the same in 1973 as it is today?
I concede that there may have been an agency, even several, that rebuffed this girl. But even if she had to travel a couple of hundred miles to find another agency, a black church, or a black family, she would have done that if she had wanted to have the baby and do the right thing. Plus, there are good people (black and white) you can turn to even in neighborhoods that seem unfriendly to minorities. For example, are we supposed to believe that if she'd gone to priest at a Catholic church -- or a minister at a Lutheran church, etc, -- she would have been turned away? I don't buy her story.
I'm guessing you've never tried to adopt. You jump through many hoops and pay alot of money and you still aren't guaranteed a baby, of any color. It's been that way for the last twenty years. The problem is so many people do kill their babies instead of giving them life and a family that loves them. Many people now pay the mother's expenses while shes pregnant just so they can adopt her baby. Many of them give birth and then decide to keep the baby. I know a couple that this has happened to.Also in the early 70s even in junior high the school was promoting birth control even to us very young girls. If this woman was too stupid in college to use birth control, I understand how she can tell this tall tell and expect people to believe it. She thinks we're all dumb like her.
Reading comprehension problem? Where is there an agency making a PROFIT placing non-white babies for adoption in the U.S. Not admitting they're making a profit (since legally they all have to pretend they're "non-profit"), but actually making a profit. Check around and see what type of agencies have white newborns available and what type of agencies have black newborns available, and inquire about what the out of pocket expense to adopting parents would be for each one. A year or two ago, some black activist tried to make a big self-serving scandal out of this. He had no trouble documenting that agencies were charging many times as much for a white baby as for a black baby, which he claimed was illegal racial discrimination. The average cost for a black baby was nowhere near enough to cover an agency's actual expenses.
tall tell=tall tale
What kind of perverted thinking leads anyone to believe that abortions are an acceptable alternative to foster care?
For some yes and others no. I will remind you that the 1973 date is based on speculation and is the earliest possible date that her story could make any sense. I doubt the date as much as I doubt her story.
Most states and agencies are still very reluctant to place black babies with white parents, which often makes it difficult for white parents to adopt even when they're willing to adopt a black baby. A black couple wanting to adopt a black baby will have one in the time it takes to complete a basic home study and the legal paperwork. Completely healthy black babies are probably hard to come by, though, since abortion is generally accepted in black communities, and as a result most of the unwanted black babies being born are born to dysfunctional mothers with substance abuse problems.
I mostly agree with you, although I think you overestimate the amount of resources the average college student has available to him or her. I am not sure I completely believe her story either- many of these abortion stories tend to be self-serving, assigning blame for the abortion on everyone else but the woman herself. It is likely what she said happened, but it is also likely that she feared that if she had the baby, people would find out a) she got pregnant out of wedlock and b) she had sex with a black guy.
Foreign adoptions aren't cheaper. They are popular in the US because a child can be obtained a lot faster, and because there is virtually zero possibility of a biological parent resurfacing and getting a court to void the adoption and yank a terrified toddler out of the arms of the only parents s/he has ever known. If anti-abortion activists would turn their considerable energy toward fixing the barbaric adoption laws in this country, a lot more women would freely choose to carry pregnancies to term and give up the babies for adoption. An even bigger problem than the "reclaims" are the children who languish for years in the foster cares system, desperately wanting to be adopted, but can't be because courts refuse to terminate the parental rights of their chronically imprisoned and rehabbing parents.
Exactly. :)
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