“We do not say that a baby’s life is more important than the mother’s. We do say that they are equal. You may never directly kill either one of them. If, in spite of the best medical efforts, one or both of them die, nothing morally wrong has been done…That is far different from killing.”
“There are two questions at issue here. One is medical (Is there ever need for an abortion to save the mother’s life?) and the other is moral (Would an abortion in that case be justified?) The answer to both questions is no.”
“That’s right, Planned Parenthood’s idea of helping traumatized New Yorkers is to rip their precious babies apart and throw the body parts in the landfill — a horrible sin guaranteed to give suffering moms even more sorrow and anguish!”
“I know of women who have been raped and then had abortions, and are in counseling not for the rape but for the abortion! In rape, the trauma is ‘Someone hurt me.’ In abortion, the trauma is ‘I hurt and killed someone else: my child.’ That brings even more grief. We therefore help the questioner to see that our reason for denying the rape victim an abortion is not based on insensitivity but rather on compassion…”
“While Planned Parenthood does not openly admit to its systemic prejudice against the poor and non-white minorities, it admits that its "core clients" are "young women, low-income women, and women of color."”
“Now a recent, unimpeachable study of pregnancy-associated deaths in Finland has shown that the risk of dying within a year after an abortion is several times higher than the risk of dying after miscarriage or childbirth…The (study) also found that…the risk of dying from homicide for post-abortive women was more than four times greater than the risk of homicide among the general population…Unfortunately, there is often no clear way of determining when there is any causal connection between a death and a previous pregnancy, birth, miscarriage, or abortion.”
“According to the Centers for Disease Control, the percentage of abortions on Hispanic women nearly doubled from 1990 to 1996. This surely reflects Planned Parenthood's increasing effort to target this ethnic minority.”
Far too much is made of a mother's obligations to her children and far too little of a child's love for her mother. If fetuses could love, I think they would be as passionate in defense of their mothers as born children become.
The majority of women in prison are mothers of minor children, and women are the fastest-growing prison population in the country. We need to recognize and treat with compassion the humanity of these mothers.
Religious fundamentalists' fear isn't that feminism will lead all women to reject motherhood, but rather that in the capacity for choice, women challenge the notions that rationalize male domination embedded in traditional meanings of motherhood.
After more than a hundred years of legally allowing women access to a therapeutic abortion, in October 2006 the Nicaraguan National Assembly banned this procedure in all circumstances. Now women's health groups are working to mitigate the damage.
If we changed society's attitudes and policies around mothering and child care, we could give a gift not just to our own moms but to all mothers this Mother's Day.
In her new book, Opting In, feminist activist and author Amy Richards explores feminist mothering. Laura Barcella talked to her in San Francisco about her newest "baby."
Feel like you're not the man you thought you could be? Your local megachurch has a solution: every woman deprived of her reproductive rights, every gay person deprived of the right to marry suddenly makes you look manly by comparison.
In India, there are laws to prevent dowry, domestic violence, sexual harassment and child marriage. But in the country's social context, these laws aren't very effective.
Just thirty-five Senators in office are strongly pro-choice. But this November, when a third of the Senate seats will be up for grabs, voters have a chance to increase that score.
Legislation and advocacy work have often blurred or denied any difference between trafficking and sex work. That has always made things worse rather than better for those involved.
RH Reality Check celebrates our second anniversary with a new look and new features to make the reader experience better. Thanks for helping create this fast growing online community devoted to global understanding of sexual and reproductive health issues.
