Full Stop

[sheshe2]

Anti-Abortion is not the same as Anti-Choice.

When I was young I...Me...Myself would not have had an abortion unless the fetus or myself were in jeopardy. That was my choice as it is for any woman to decide about her own body. Her Choice and Hers Alone.

Our Bodies Ourselves, why is this so difficult to understand.

This book was a primer for many women over the years. This is the first

version I read.

.................................................................



In May of 1969, as the women’s movement was gaining momentum and influence in the Boston area and elsewhere around the country, 12 women ranging in age from 23 to 39 met during a women’s liberation conference at Emmanuel College. In a workshop on “Women and Their Bodies,” they shared information and personal stories and discussed their experiences with doctors.

The discussions were so provocative and fulfilling that they formed the Doctor’s Group, the forerunner to the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective (which later changed to Our Bodies Ourselves), to research and discuss what they were learning about themselves, their bodies, and their health.

They decided to put their knowledge into an accessible format that could be shared and would serve as a model for women who want to learn about themselves, communicate their findings with doctors, and challenge the medical establishment to change and improve the care that women receive.

In 1970, they published a 193-page course booklet on stapled newsprint entitled “Women and Their Bodies” (see above). You can read the full text, which is available as a PDF file.

Our Bodies Ourselves 1971 cover
“Women and Their Bodies” (1971) / Printed by New England Free Press

It was revolutionary for its frank talk about sexuality and abortion, which was then illegal. The cost: 75 cents.

More:http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/history/

......................................

Thanks to all the politicians so concerned about us. Unless you speak out FOR US then your opinion does not matter at all. To be clear, we will not allow anyone to tell us our lives and concerns about our bodies will be considered a secondary concern to the economic well being of a few.

[tammywammy]

2. Your post has absolutely nothing to do with the OP.

[sheshe2]

3. Please send me a PM

curious as to what he said.

Thanks Tammy.

[William769]

4. I am for a woman's right to choose.

No if's and or buts about it.

[sheshe2]

5. William

No doubt in my mind.

As we are with you.

We draw our strength together. Together.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. Pro choice is simply about each woman deciding for herself. Perhaps with

the input of a doctor, a partner, a close friend. But it needs to be *her* choice.

There are some who would never have an abortion absolutely regardless of the circumstances. There are those who would have one in one situation, but not in another. That's their choice.

There are those who would never have a baby, ever. That's their choice.

My own semi-relevant story here: I'm a woman, despite my screen name. When I was pregnant with my second child, at age 38, I declined pre-natal testing for Down Syndrome. I felt that I could handle a child with that condition. My OB and my mother were both somewhat disturbed. But that was my decision. My husband supported me. I do not judge a woman or couple who would abort a fetus with Down. That's their choice.

And for what it's worth, that baby was born quite normal and healthy and now is a smart and productive adult. I know I'd be posting differently had he been born with Down Syndrome. But I expect I'd still be defending that choice. Just as I'd be defending a choice to abort a fetus with Down Syndrome. This is what choice is all about.

[2naSalit]

7. The first time I saw that book

was in the waiting room at a Planned Parenthood clinic, I had plenty of time to read a good bit... I was thrilled to see that there was such a source of this kind of information for us. The one point made in the book, I think it may have been a quote, which has lasted over the decades regarding abortion and pregnancy is:
When a woman wants to have a baby, she is "having a baby", when a woman does not want to have children then pregnancy is a medical condition to be remedied.

I always knew I would never have children and made damned sure that I didn't even come close to it, and I was unbelievably lucky that I didn't. At nineteen and seeking birth control, that statement in that book made so much sense to me. I started life in an America where abortions were illegal and if you got raped it was your fault and if you got pregnant while being raped, it was your fault and the whole community will see to it that you suffer for the rest of your life... I was glad that I was not the only one who felt that way. I am certain it isn't exactly that for every woman but it sure made sense to me.

[radical noodle]

8. I have always been pro-choice

and never saw the wisdom in thinking I might be able to decide what another woman should do. I DID believe I would never personally consider an abortion... until I thought I was pregnant at a terrible time in my life. Then I realized that no one can ever be 100% sure what they would do if faced with the decision.

[Wounded Bear]

9. Always been pro-choice, always will be...

plus, I fundamentally hate anybody forcing their dogma on others. I've heard some "pro-lifers" claim that their ideology is non-religious. Doubtful IMHO, but even so it is still forcing others to follow a questionable moral reasoning they don't personally believe in.

Economically, it makes more sense to be pro-life anyway. I find far more distress and heartbreak on the forced birth side.

Forced birthers can pound sand for all I care.

[nolabear]

10. Wow. That book pretty much taught me all I knew about being a woman.

Since my mother died when I was very young and the family just did not take sex education beyond "Don't," it was vital in helping me know anything about the female body.

We can't ever, ever, EVER abandon girls like that again.

[sheshe2]

11. Agree,

I love you nolabear.

Our Bodies Ourselves.

[nolabear]

13. Why thanks, Sister. We have to love more than ever these days. If not us, who?

[Silver Gaia]

12. YES. I agree with all you said.

I still have that book -- the original. It was a life-changer. I gave it to my own daughter to read when she was in her teens. It now sits on one of my many bookshelves.

[sheshe2]

18. Glad you passed it down to your daughter, Silver.

It really should be required reading for girls and women alike.

[LexVegas]

14. rec. nt

[Gothmog]

15. K&R

[Demsrule86]

16. Women have the right to control their own bodies... I nearly died at the hands of a pro-life doctor

in Georgia...was left infertile. Under current law in many states including Georgia and Ohio where I live now, I would have died. Abortion rights are absolutely essential for women's health care.

[sheshe2]

17. So sorry to hear that, Demsrule.

Absolutely our right and our choice.

[Demsrule86]

19. It was a horrible experience...never let people tell you bleeding out doesn't hurt!

The doctor who did this got my name wrong when he came by on rounds...I ordered him out of the room.

[sheshe2]

20. Dear God!

[Demsrule86]

23. Massive transfusions and three weeks in the hospital ...then a aids test for many years.

I was left to bleed alone on a gurney in the ER while my 'doctor' who principles would not allow him to give me a D&C until the hormone levels dropped which takes a while often waited for blood test results...hubs got to the hospital in the nick of time he had been traveling...and fired the doctor...I was unconscious by then. After that I became a pro-choice warrior...miscarriage can look much like an abortion...and our current laws have already caused women to die.

[sheshe2]

24. You really should post this as an OP.

[Demsrule86]

25. Especially now...

I should.

[sheshe2]

29. If you post please send me a link.

Thanks

[gratuitous]

21. A man's brief note

Thank you for this thread, and the informative responses.

[sheshe2]

22. Thank you, gratuitous

[NastyRiffraff]

26. Absolutely. Thanks, sheshe

Many women who would never have an abortion support the free choice to do so. I had a legal abortion (years ago) and my Catholic friend drove me to the clinic and back, and stayed with me a day or so to make sure I was okay. I know she didn't like my choice, but completely supported my right to make it.

sheshe

[sheshe2]

27. Women stand together, NR.

Most of us anyway because it is the right thing to do.

Our Right. Our Choice. Our Voice.

[George II]

28. I've said this a million times over the years - I'm PRO-choice and at the same time ANTI-abortion.

I wouldn't want anyone I'm associated with to have an abortion, but that would be HER choice, not the choice of a bunch of old white guys in Washington.

[ProfessorGAC]

30. My Wife Still Has That Book In The Bookcase Upstairs

I had to read it for a class when i was in college as well.

That class was something they may not do today. The men had to read that book and the women had to read Atlas Shrugged. Not sure that's a completely polar exchange, but an interesting choice. I honestly don't remember any of the guys having issues with that book, and we're talking all guys born in the mid=50's. I might be forgetting the dudes who did make it an issue, but we all had to report out on it and i don't remember any negative "reviews".

I can see how that book would have had a major impact on women at that point in time.