My husband and I are about to become the grandparents of twins, and we are overjoyed at the prospect of welcoming these two new persons into our family. Our daughter, although she has no parenting partner, made the decision to become pregnant through IVF because of her great desire to share her life with children.
Some people think that reproductive justice is all about abortion. It is not. It is about choice — if and when to become a parent. My daughter had that choice, but far too many women in our country do not. Unplanned pregnancies are a fact of life; over three million occur each year in the U.S. In many cases, carrying such a pregnancy to term would mean severe financial hardship for the woman, which quite often means inadequate care for existing children. (60% of women seeking abortions are already mothers.)
Abortion, then, is a necessary element of reproductive choice. But 18 states currently ban or severely restrict the procedure. Others have enacted restrictions that make abortion essentially out of reach for many. These restrictions are supposed to protect women, but in fact do just the opposite.
You have a unique opportunity this weekend — to both learn about the actual effects on women of abortion restriction, and to help those in restrictive states who need abortions. Please come to a staged reading of The Turnaway Play on Sun. Oct. 5 at 2 p.m. at the Shea Theatre in Turners Falls. The play, full of drama and humor, is based on groundbreaking research by Dr. Diana Green Foster, comparing life outcomes for abortion-seekers who were able to obtain abortions with those for women who sought abortions but were “turned away.”
All proceeds from the event will benefit the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project (The MAP), which supplies low-cost abortion medication to persons throughout the U.S. Tickets, $10, are available at the door and at https://fccpr.us/donate/. Sponsored by the Reproductive Justice Task Force of Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution.
Louise Antony
Leverett