Why I’m Giving to Abortion Funds on #GivingTuesday

As you may know, today is the 1st ever #GivingTuesday, a day to give back and celebrate generosity. There are a lot of worthy causes  I could write about that are dear to my heart: feminist media, domestic violence shelters, animal sanctuaries. And if you give to any of these…huzzah! But I’m going to write about why it’s important to give to abortion funds. Because of all the causes and charities I support, abortion funds may just be the most stigmatized.

Reproductive rights are human rights. Abortion is healthcare. No one has the right to dictate what you do with your body. No one should ever be turned away from having an abortion (or any medical care) due to an inability to pay. Everyone should have the ability to make healthcare choices without worrying about financial constraints.

Having vacillated my whole life between living low-income and fiscal comfort, I know what it’s like to have to choose between rent and groceries,  healthcare and electricity. I know what it’s like to go hungry because you’ve already spent your entire paycheck on bills. Desperately worrying about where you’re going to get the money to pay your expenses is a frenetic nightmare. No one should ever have to decide between rent or their reproductive healthcare.

…So why do I give to abortion funds? For all of these reasons. Because I trust people to choose what’s right for them. Because income should never mandate healthcare. Because I hope someday, reproductive freedom will truly be free.

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Roundup of Feminist Celebs’ Political Videos

Originally published at Bitch Flicks.

Election Day is TODAY, people! So I’m going to chat a bit about politics.

Many assume Hollywood is a liberal nirvana (or I guess a hellhole if you’re a Republican). But that’s not exactly true. Not only do films lack gender equality and purport sexist tropes. While many participate in fundraisers or ads for natural disasters or childhood illnesses or breast cancer, most celebrities remain silent when it comes to supposedly controversial human rights issues like abortion and contraception. But not this year! Because of the GOP’s rampant attacks on reproductive rights (gee thanks, GOP!), more celebs are adding their voices to the pro-choice symphony dissenting against these oppressive laws.

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…I don’t believe employers should tell someone whether they could have contraceptive care or not. Every woman in America should have access to contraceptives.

Oh really, Mitt Romney???? You’re the same anti-choice douchebag who supports the Blunt Amendment (which allows employers to determine birth control coverage) and wants to defund/dismantle Planned Parenthood your 1st day in office. When you were Governor, you vetoed vital emergency contraception legislation, despite claiming you were pro-choice.

Lies, lies, lies. No wonder you believe in a binder full of women.

…When Governor Romney’s campaign was asked about the Lilly Ledbetter bill, whether he supported it, he said, I’ll get back to you. And that’s not the kind of advocacy that women need in any economy.

“Now, there are some other issues that have a bearing on how women succeed in the workplace: for example, their health care…A major difference in this campaign is that Governor Romney feels comfortable having politicians in Washington decide the health care choices that women are making. I think that’s a mistake. In my health care bill, I said insurance companies need to provide contraceptive coverage to everybody who is insured, because this is not just a — a health issue; it’s an economic issue for women. It makes a difference. This is money out of that family’s pocket.

“Governor Romney not only opposed it; he suggested that, in fact, employers should be able to make the decision as to whether or not a woman gets contraception through her insurance coverage. That’s not the kind of advocacy that women need. When Governor Romney says that we should eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, there are millions of women all across the country who rely on Planned Parenthood for not just contraceptive care. They rely on it for mammograms, for cervical cancer screenings. That’s a pocketbook issue for women and families all across the country.

“And it makes a difference in terms of how well and effectively women are able to work. When we talk about child care and the credits that we’re providing, that makes a difference in terms of whether they can go out there and earn a living for their family. These are not just women’s issues. These are family issues. These are economic issues. And one of the things that makes us grow as an economy is when everybody participates and women are getting the same fair deal as men are.

“And I’ve got two daughters, and I want to make sure that they have the same opportunities that anybody’s sons have. That’s part of what I’m fighting for as president of the United States.

President Barack Obama in the second presidential debate advocating reproductive rights and how it’s not just a healthcare issue but an economic issue!! Huzzah!
THE BILL OF REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES HEREBY ASSERT THE FOLLOWING AS FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS THAT NO GOVERNMENT MAY DENY, AND THAT OUR GOVERNMENTS AT EVERY LEVEL MUST GUARANTEE AND SAFEGUARD FOR ALL.

ONE: THE RIGHT TO MAKE OUR OWN DECISIONS ABOUT OUR REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND FUTURE, FREE FROM INTRUSION OR COERCION BY ANY GOVERNMENT, GROUP, OR INDIVIDUAL.

TWO: THE RIGHT TO A FULL RANGE OF SAFE, AFFORDABLE, AND READILY ACCESSIBLE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE INCLUDING PREGNANCY CARE, PREVENTIVE SERVICES, CONTRACEPTION, ABORTION, AND FERTILITY TREATMENT— AND ACCURATE INFORMATION ABOUT ALL OF THE ABOVE.

THREE: THE RIGHT TO BE FREE FROM DISCRIMINATION IN ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE OR ON THE BASIS OF OUR REPRODUCTIVE DECISIONS.

From the Center for Reproductive Rights.

This is remarkable because 1) it is gender neutral and 2) it addresses issue of access. Because without both RIGHTS and ACCESS, there is no choice.

Well done, CRR.

You can sign the Bill of Reproductive Rights here.

(via keepyourbsoutofmyuterus)

It is poor women, disproportionately women of color, who have to scrape together money for an abortion – foregoing rent or utilities, pawning dear items, taking food out of their children’s mouths, or worse. It is these women who consider suicide or self-harm, risk inducing an abortion on their own, or continue a pregnancy against their will and better judgment because they cannot find the money or get to a clinic in time. And it is these women whom policymakers continually ignore but who must live with the consequences of political fights over which they have little control.
Jessica Arons on the Hyde Amendment  (via iamdrtiller)
With regard to abortion. I accept my church’s position on abortion…Life begins at conception, that is the church’s judgment. I accept it in my personal life. But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews. I just refuse to impose that on others, unlike my friend here, the Congressman. I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people, women, that they can’t control their body. It’s a decision between a woman and her doctor.” — VP Joe Biden

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