Abortion is a
Woman’s Right!
But where do we
stand today?
Barbara Shank and Milton Saier
The #1 environmental problem facing
us is human overpopulation.
We are not living sustainably.
In order to allow continuance of human
civilization, we must decrease our numbers.
This must be accomplished humanely.
The best solution is prevention of
unplanned/unwanted births.
When it comes to abortion, there
are three important moral question:
1, What will most effectively alleviate
human suffering and preserve essential
resources on our planet?
2, Will women ever be fully emancipated
human beings in control of their lives and
reproduction?
3, Will they always be forced to submit to
patriarchal male authority and breed
against their wills?
LET’S LOOK AT
THE BIOLOGY
An embryo is not even a fetus!
First Week – blastocyst
implants about day 7.
Embryonic development
5 weeks
7 weeks
61% of abortions occur before 9 weeks.
Fetal development
10 week
12 week
89% of abortions are within the first
trimester.
A fetus is not a baby
It is a clump of cells with only the potential to
become a human being. It is not a separate
life from the life of the woman in whose
uterus it resides.
It cannot survive on its own. It gets oxygen
and nutrients from the woman’s blood and
excretes waste through the woman.
And this is true until it is born (“breaths its first
breath”) to become a baby. It is no more an
independent human being than any other
organ or part of a woman’s body.
Second Trimester
14 week fetus
20 week fetus
A fetus cannot survive outside of the
uterus until 21 weeks – and then only with
a great deal of technological support.
Every picture you see of a fetus
leaves out the woman who is
carrying it.
The changes that
are taking place
only occur because
the woman’s
physiology is
making these
changes happen.
2004 from www.guttmacher.com
Why do women
get late term
abortions?
Difficulty getting an abortion
87% of all U.S. counties do not have abortion providers.
Most women needing 2nd and 3rd trimester abortions live in
these rural areas.
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
19
78
19
80
19
82
19
84
19
86
19
88
19
90
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
0%
Unserved
counties
Women
in
unserved
counties
The number of hospitals providing
abortion services has greatly
diminished since 1980.
Number of Providers
1600
1400
1200
Abortion
clinic
1000
800
Other clinic
600
Hospital
400
Physicians'
office
200
0
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
Source: Finer and Henshaw, 2003
Number of trained Doctors has
decreased:
Nationally:
1982 2,908 doctors
2005 1,787 doctors
State examples:
Mississippi 1 clinic
Kansas
2 clinics
57% of all ob/gyns who perform abortion are 50
years of age or older.
Another reason women have difficulty
getting abortions are restrictive laws.
Example: Mississippi has one abortion clinic
in Jackson, Mississippi. A state law (1992)
requires a woman to receive in person
information about the fetus and
“alternatives” to abortion and then wait at
least 24 hours before getting an abortion.
When this law was passed late term
abortions increased by 53%.
Fake clinics
“THE PILL” first
became available in
1960
Roe vs Wade passed
in 1973
The pill + legal abortion
= Reproductive
Freedom
Reproductive freedom
for women came in
response to the
movements of the
60’s.
It is long past due that
rational women, not
swayed by mythology and
mysticism, re-seize the
moral high ground and the
initiative on this issue.
What is the so-called moral high
ground of the anti-abortionists?
They say they are saving
babies…
But what is this really about?
American Life League
Mission Statement: “A.L.L. denies
the moral acceptability of artificial
birth control and encourages each
individual to trust in God, to
surrender to His will, and be predisposed to welcoming children.”
Pro-life Encyclopedia
“Contraception cannot be separated from abortion. In
fact, anyone who debates the topic of abortion will
inevitably be drawn to the topic of artificial
contraception over and over again, especially in the
post-Roe era of pro-life activism…How does
contraception lead to abortion? Quite simply, they are
virtually indistinguishable in the psychological,
physical and legal sense…those individuals who use
artificial contraception take the critical step of
separating sex from procreation. Contraception not
abortion was the first step down the slippery slope.”
The Army of God (AOG)
Advocates the murder
of abortion providers.
The manual contains
not only strong antiabortion sentiments but
also anti-government
and anti-gay/lesbian
language.
Murder is justified in
the name of God.
Is this what it is to be
Christian?
Dr. David Gunn
shot in front of
abortion clinic
Michael Griffin
First to murder an
abortion doctor on
March 10, 1993
On July 29, 1994
murdered
Dr. Britton and
Bodyguard
Paul Hill
“American Hero”
Saved “innocent babies
from being murdered by
babykilling abortionist”
John Salvi III
December 30, 1994
Followed in Paul Hill’s
foot steps by:
Murdering Shannon
Lowney and Lee Ann
Nichols.
Killed
Robert Sanderson
and injured
Emily Lyons
Eric Rudolph
Bombed abortion clinic
on
January 29, 1998
James Kopp
On October 23, 1998
Dr. Bernard Slepian
Was shot in his
home in New York.
Dr. Tiller was
murdered on
May 31, 2009 by
Scott Roeder
A thousand people attended Dr.
Tiller’s funeral
Legislation making a fetus,
an embryo, and even a fertilized egg
a person.
Fetal
homocide
laws –
34 states
Supreme Court Appointments
Roberts' confirmation as
chief justice 2005.
Samuel Alito was
confirmed to the
Supreme Court, 2006.
Both are
Opposed
to Roe vs Wade.
Bush signs the “Partial Birth
Abortion” Act in 2003
Unborn
Victims of
Violence
Act 2004
Laci Conner Law
“When a crime of violence against a
pregnant woman kills or injures her unborn
child, there are two victims.”
George W. Bush
Health Insurance for the Fetus –
not the pregnant woman
1-30-02 – State Children’s Health
Insurance Program – SCHIP
States can classify a fertilized egg as an
“unborn child” eligible for coverage
under the SCHIP, rather than allowing
coverage of pregnant women under
the program.
Woman charged with murder for
refusing c-section
Melissa Rowland, aged 28, was
charged with murder in Salt Lake
City, Utah, following a stillbirth.
Prosecutors accused her of
"depraved indifference to human
life" after she allegedly failed to
undergo a caesarean section when
pregnant with twins.
Wrongful death
Illinois Judge Rules That a Couple Can
File Wrongful Death Suit Over an
Accidentally Discarded Embryo
Feb 2005
Todd Parrish and
Alison Miller
Laws on birth control
Laws have been passed in
South Dakota, Arkansas,
Mississippi and elsewhere
that legally allow pharmacists
to refuse to fill birth control
prescriptions.
What does Obama say about
abortion?
Obama has said:
- “Abortion is never good.”
- He made the point of distinguishing
himself from those “who suggest that
this (abortion) is simply an issue
about women’s freedom and that
there’s no other considerations.”
The movement to forcibly deny women
the right to abortion and birth control
is a movement to enslave women.
With its aims, its methods, and its
morality, there can be no
compromise.
‘Common ground’ can only exist if
one side capitulates to the other.
The Pro-Choice Movement
Did not stand with the abortion providers.
The Feminist Majority did not attend Dr. Tiller’s
funeral.
S. Dakota ban – they didn’t condemn it, but said it
went too far by failing to make exception for rape,
incest and life of woman.
Planned Parenthood, and the Feminine Majority
cancelled a “Day of Action”.
The current situation is
NOT good.
Recent Gallop poll indicated 51% in US identify
as “pro-life vs 42% as pro-choice, an attitude
resulting from lies and propaganda by right wing
extremists.
22% think abortion should be outlawed in all
cases.
23% think abortion should be allowed in all
cases.
“The real problem is that for
decades the lunatic Christian
fascists have consistently
mobilized while the pro-choice
‘movement’ has remained
largely passive and
straitjacketed in the Democratic
Party’s dynamic of
capitulation.”Barbara Shank
What ‘common ground’
can there be with a
movement whose aim is to
enslave women to
reproduction and force
them to bear children
against their wills?
The morality we need:
Break down all barriers to women being full
participants in every sphere of society to
the full liberation of women as a part of
liberating all of humanity.
There is a need for voices of clarity and
conscience who make clear that women
are not simply incubators!
It is time for women who have had
abortions to speak out defiantly –
to lift the shame and
to challenge the stigma.
We need to RE polarize
It is time to go back into the streets.
We need to seize back the moral
high-ground
Abortion must be available on
demand and without apology.
Women are human beings
capable of participating fully
and equally in every sphere of
society.
This can not be said of a
fertilized egg, an embyo or a
fetus!
“Changing all this, and
fully liberating women as
part of emancipating
humanity as a whole,
will ultimately require a
major social revolution.”
Barbara Shank