One person's story about abortion bans turning her into a Democrat
In South Carolina, which recently banned abortion at six weeks of pregnancy, Jill Hartle, a 36-year-old hairdresser, had only ever voted Republican. She called herself “pro-choice,” she said, but did not think about how that collided with her party’s opposition to abortion, even though she considered herself an informed voter, and her family talked politics regularly.
She became pregnant shortly before the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. At 18 weeks, anatomy scans determined that her fetus had a heart defect that kills most infants within the first two weeks of life, a defect that Ms. Hartle knew well because it had killed her best friend’s child.
At the time, her state’s legislature was preparing to pass its six-week abortion ban. Ms. Hartle and her husband ended up traveling out of state for an abortion.
After she recovered, she started a foundation to fight against what she calls the “catastrophic turnover” of Roe and to help other women find abortions. She began testifying against proposed bans and campaigning for Democratic candidates.
“I want to tell people it’s OK to vote against party lines,” she said.
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Sure, for 50 years Republican pro-choice women didn't have to worry about supporting a pro-life party. Now, abortion politics matters.
But Ms. Hartle need not have started her own foundation to help women find abortions. Such groups already existed, even when abortions were legal throughout the US, because even before it was difficult and expensive to find an abortion. I've been giving money to such groups for a few years now.
Well, I welcome Ms. Hartle to the real world in which the patriarchy has been trying to block women from getting abortions for decades. I was listening to a history podcast episode about how abortion first became politicized when the medical profession began to organize and lobby legislatures for licensing requirements during the 19th Century. Previously, women generally handled matters relating to pregnancy and childbirth themselves, and men stayed out of it. That's where the term "midwife" comes from -- women who were experts in helping other women to give birth.
Then along came the male-dominated medical profession, and men wanted to supervise the medicalization of pregnancy and birthing. Under their new professional code of ethics, medical doctors believed in "First Do No Harm," and abortion was viewed as "harm" to the fetus, so the medical profession lobbied to place restrictions on abortion.
What had been a quiet women-facilitated practice, became a public male-dominated practice.
A century later, a liberal Supreme Court decided that women should have some say in the course of their own pregnancies. But then 50 years later, a conservative Supreme Court has sent us back to the time of public policy control over pregnancies.
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Women, y'all still have the right to vote in the US. It would be great if you'd use it to further the liberation of women from the patriarchy. Stop voting for pro-life Republicans. Vote only for women candidates? I'm thinking of pledging to vote only for women in every election until women achieve true equality (boycott an election if only men are on the ballot?). Only attending a religious or spiritual service if a woman is leading it. Only buying a product if a woman is CEO. Only watching a film if a woman directed it. Only listen to a band if it has women in it.
On the other hand, there are plenty of conservative women in positions of power, so ... would this really make a difference ... something to think about.
How do we best support feminism in the real world?
She became pregnant shortly before the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. At 18 weeks, anatomy scans determined that her fetus had a heart defect that kills most infants within the first two weeks of life, a defect that Ms. Hartle knew well because it had killed her best friend’s child.
At the time, her state’s legislature was preparing to pass its six-week abortion ban. Ms. Hartle and her husband ended up traveling out of state for an abortion.
After she recovered, she started a foundation to fight against what she calls the “catastrophic turnover” of Roe and to help other women find abortions. She began testifying against proposed bans and campaigning for Democratic candidates.
“I want to tell people it’s OK to vote against party lines,” she said.
-----
Sure, for 50 years Republican pro-choice women didn't have to worry about supporting a pro-life party. Now, abortion politics matters.
But Ms. Hartle need not have started her own foundation to help women find abortions. Such groups already existed, even when abortions were legal throughout the US, because even before it was difficult and expensive to find an abortion. I've been giving money to such groups for a few years now.
Well, I welcome Ms. Hartle to the real world in which the patriarchy has been trying to block women from getting abortions for decades. I was listening to a history podcast episode about how abortion first became politicized when the medical profession began to organize and lobby legislatures for licensing requirements during the 19th Century. Previously, women generally handled matters relating to pregnancy and childbirth themselves, and men stayed out of it. That's where the term "midwife" comes from -- women who were experts in helping other women to give birth.
Then along came the male-dominated medical profession, and men wanted to supervise the medicalization of pregnancy and birthing. Under their new professional code of ethics, medical doctors believed in "First Do No Harm," and abortion was viewed as "harm" to the fetus, so the medical profession lobbied to place restrictions on abortion.
What had been a quiet women-facilitated practice, became a public male-dominated practice.
A century later, a liberal Supreme Court decided that women should have some say in the course of their own pregnancies. But then 50 years later, a conservative Supreme Court has sent us back to the time of public policy control over pregnancies.
-----
Women, y'all still have the right to vote in the US. It would be great if you'd use it to further the liberation of women from the patriarchy. Stop voting for pro-life Republicans. Vote only for women candidates? I'm thinking of pledging to vote only for women in every election until women achieve true equality (boycott an election if only men are on the ballot?). Only attending a religious or spiritual service if a woman is leading it. Only buying a product if a woman is CEO. Only watching a film if a woman directed it. Only listen to a band if it has women in it.
On the other hand, there are plenty of conservative women in positions of power, so ... would this really make a difference ... something to think about.
How do we best support feminism in the real world?