SUPPORT PURVI PATEL’S RIGHT TO CONTROL HER OWN BODY

By Carol Downer

In our rush to support Purvi Patel, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on April 6, 2015 by an Indiana Judge on the charges of child neglect and feticide (inducing her own abortion) by adopting Patel’s claim that she miscarried, we risk implying that if it were a self-induced abortion, we might not support her.

The prosecution introduced evidence that Patel had told a friend about ordering pills to induce an abortion and about taking the medication, and had then texted her to say, “just lost the baby”.

We have seen abortion rights curtailed in recent years.  The desperation of females who have denied a way to solve their problem of unwanted pregnancy and the availability of abortion-inducing pills, and female’s dependence on medical help if complications of miscarriage or induced abortion will continue to produce these horrific outcomes.  We’d better think this through and take a position that doesn’t embroil us in factual evidentiary disputes or place us in the position of accepting the legitimacy of the State punishing a female for trying to control her own body.

Given the evidence that Patel induced an abortion, many of her supporters have shifted to the question of whether the fetus was viable and if so, whether it was a stillborn.  Viability is not determined by whether a particular fetus of a certain age will live, it is determined by the statistical probability that it will live, based on whether any fetuses born at that stage of development who were cared for in a well-equipped neo-natal unit have lived.  Whether the defense’s estimate of the fetus’ age was correct or the prosecutor’s estimate of a later fetal age, the fetus was very premature and its chances of survival under the best conditions were problematic.  

But why are feminists basing our support on whether the fetus was viable?  And, why are we challenging the tests for whether the fetus managed to take a breath?  Don’t we support Patel in her right to rid herself of an unwanted fetus.  It is her body, after all, and when a female is forced to maintain a pregnancy, it is reproductive slavery.  Just because the Supreme Court decided that there was a point during pregnancy when the fetus’ rights trumped the female’s rights, why do we accept that?  Of course, her attorney should and must present every defense, but unless we agree that the State has the right to control our reproductive organs under some circumstances, we must uphold Patel whether she had a miscarriage or expelled a premature fetus.

If the authorities pay attention to our Petitions, it will be because they see how outraged the females of America are at this prosecution and sentence and because they feel compelled to respect the national outcry.  They will not be swayed by the fact that we’ve believed the defense’s version of the facts, or that we’ve presented a legal argument.

As a female and as a feminist, I support Patel unequivocally.  FREE PURVI PATEL!

REPORT: Trip to San Francisco to Protest Against Walk for Life on January 24, 2015

By Carol Downer

Background:  StopPatriarchy.org counter-demonstrated against the Catholic Church’s annual Walk for Life.  As a member of the Advisory Committee and because I love to join in with like-minded people and yell myself hoarse at anti-abortionists, I went.

The Report:  I took the train to Oakland the day before the event and enjoyed the opportunity to look out the window and work on my computer and read.  I stayed at a low-cost motel, and went by BART to meet Pat Maginnis at Powell and Market Street where Stop Patriarchy had set up large signs and banners, wearing T-shirts “Abortion on Demand and Without Apology!”

Many thousands of “good” Catholics marched by.  They had come by bus from all the western states and their priests shepherded them.  Their mood was festive, even though their signs were disgusting.  There were lots and lots of kids, even babies in strollers.  They looked over at us like we were monsters.  The adults mostly ignored us or smiled.  The marchers filled the street, curb to curb, and the march went on for more than an hour.  Most of the Stop Patriarchy protestors marched alongside them, leaving the banners, the bullhorn, a few protestors and Pat and me.

Pat and I went to dinner at a vegetarian restaurant.  Pat recounted some of the arrests of the “Army of Three” for holding classes in self-abortion, which consisted of herself, Lana Phelan and Rowena Gurner.  I wrote a quick summary when I got home.  Pat’s storytelling is very droll.  The self-abortion method was a digital abortion.  Pat, a nurse, had aborted a later pregnancy by inserting a gloved, lubricated finger into her cervix on a daily basis until bleeding started and the fetus was expelled.  So the self-abortion kit consisted of a hairnet (to keep the hair out of your eyes), a glove, lubrication, a nail clipper to cut your nails, a page of instructions and another item we couldn’t remember. 

The next day I drove to Chico to visit my grandchildren, Carmen and Joe, and my 2-year-old great-grandchild, Vanessa.

I stayed with Thora DeLey Cox (a former director of the Feminist Women's Health Center and an author of A New View of a Woman’s Body).  

Thora and Jim Cox, her husband, are doing well, as are her daughters, Vanessa and Rosalind, who are now grown females (note the new terminology).  Thora and I walked in Bidwell Park and discussed the Mexican situation (the killing of 43 students who had expressed opposition to the ruling politician and the drug cartels who totally run Mexico).

I drove back to Oakland.

I met with Sunsara Taylor. 

Stop Patriarchy got good press coverage of their protest.

PAT MAGINNIS’ WORK 

Pat Maginnis is a gifted cartoonist.  She has poked fun at the enemies of women’s reproductive rights, such as the Catholic Church (she is an ex-Catholic).  Also, she has been active in the peace movements, the Occupy Movement and every other progressive movement in the bay area.

Pat’s political strategy is to take her cartoons and her leaflets with her at all times, distributing them to the waitress, to the person sitting next to her on the bus, or to passers-by at demonstrations.  She also speaks out for animals’ rights and childrens’ rights.

I wish we could put together a book of her cartoons, each with a brief paragraph explaining the political situation that provoked the cartoon.  It would be good to have a brief biography in the front.  She has also written some auto-biographical accounts of her childhood in Oklahoma.

Laurie McConnell has assisted Pat to have a website, which is excellent.  Pat has a circle of friends also who stop in from time to time or go with her to events.  But Pat lives on a fixed income, and without support, even a relatively modest project such as a cartoon booklet can’t happen. Laurie has offered to help put the book together, but she would need some assistance to reimburse her for travel (she lives in Redding, CA which is a few hours’ drive from Oakland, CA) and some compensation for her time.   

Any ideas?  I would love to hear from anyone who can get this project together, or at least  connect me up with someone who could do a kickstarter campaign or some other fund-raising event. 

With Pat’s permission, I’m putting in my favorite cartoon (although she has many that ran a close second).

TruthOut publishes "Reproductive Sovereignty or Bust!" by Carol Downer

Post by Women's Health in Women's Hands.

NOW IS THE TIME: A Statement of Support for the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride: Ground Zero Texas

[Re-post from stoppatriarchy.org]

by Carol Downer

I totally support the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride that will take place through Texas this August and possibly through September, and I hope that everyone who values women’s reproductive freedom will support this beginning of a new chapter of the Battle for Women’s Reproductive Rights.

I was there in the mid-1960’s, when abortion was still illegal in much of the United States and women were forced to travel to states and cities where abortion, legal or illegal, was available, or to subject themselves to procedures done by unknown abortionists. I was one of them. I had taken no action to stand up for my reproductive rights, and I didn’t know anyone else who had.

We’re in that same position today. There is a splash of newspaper coverage when one more defeat of the so-called “pro-choice” movement takes place in the courts or the legislatures, or when clinics in Texas close, but mostly life goes on as though nothing significant is happening. Perhaps we send in a few dollars to Planned Parenthood, which has positioned itself as the champion of women’s rights, although that championing is strictly limited to lady-like tactics, not grass-roots organizing.

But, something significant is happening.

Suddenly, ridiculous regulations that have been proposed in State legislatures for the last 40 years and quickly quashed, have now gained traction. The Supreme Court has even refused to stay the Texas law that requires a clinic to have a doctor on staff at a hospital within 30 miles. In general, hospitals have not wanted to touch abortion with a 10-foot pole, ever. That’s why abortions are provided in clinics. There are extremely few complications from abortion that require hospitalization, and when they do, hospitals have staffs who are equipped to deal with them and are already required by law to do so. Forty years of providing legal abortion shows that this regulation is bogus, but it is being treated as legitimate by legislators and jurists.

If the U.S. Supreme Court finds that these regulations are constitutional, it is just a matter of months or a couple of years, for State legislators around the country to emulate Texas and Mississippi. Clinics will scramble to somehow get a doctor on staff if they can. Perhaps those abortion doctors who presently have staff privileges will lose them. Clinics will close. We will find ourselves in a patchwork situation of abortion access similar to pre-Roe v. Wade.

You may think, “Well, that’s when women will wake up. We’ll take to the streets.” Or, you may think, “Well, thousands of abortion clinic workers know how to perform abortions safely. Clandestine clinics will come into existence.” Or, you may think, “Well, there will be an underground supply of abortion pills.” If you’re really dreaming, you’ll think, “Heck, women did it themselves before Roe v. Wade. They’ll do it again, and the law will collapse of its own weight.”

None of these solutions is going to occur, at least without the dedication and organization of those activists who will make them occur.

Why? Because, history shows that Richard Wright, who wrote “Native Son” was right when he said, “Oppression oppresses.” As the new status quo is established, people will be even less optimistic, less willing to take a chance.

Most people in the late 60’s and early 70’s took no active interest in abortion, beyond inviting a NOW speaker to come talk about abortion. Public opinion polls showed, as they consistently show today, that a small percentage of people are very concerned about the issue, either pro or con. The majority of people are in the middle. Most of these people are uncomfortable with abortion. Many believe it to be immoral, and would never have an abortion or want their loved one to have one. And, many believe that abortion should be regulated or limited in some fashion. However, all but those at the extreme anti-abortion end of the continuum, do not want abortion to be illegal.

I believe that the Freedom Ride will awaken those at our end of the continuum who care passionately about women having reproductive freedom. It will form networks, draw attention, support abortion providers, raise consciousness, inspire the future Lana Clarke Phelans and Pat Maginnises. It will be raucous but non-violent; it will be confrontational and enlightening.

Social change in regards to women’s reproductive rights is not measured by the changes in the law. For example, the Comstock Law, which forbade the mailing of information on birth control, stayed on the books until the 70’s, but it was not enforced. The Freedom Ride will build on the fact that most people are with us. “Abortion should not be illegal!” will resonate with almost everyone. “Abortion On Demand and Without Apology!” will thrill some and start many others thinking about this in a new way. Openly talking about it will keep the dialogue going and reduce the shame. These changes cannot be accomplished on the internet. The internet can coordinate activities and make us aware of each other; the websites where women can talk about their abortions or those that raise money to help women get abortions perform a valuable service, but daughters talking to their moms, and speakouts and demonstrations is what’s going to change the climate around abortion. Social change is not going to come by getting on or watching the Anderson Cooper 360 or Wolf Blitzer’s Situation Room. These programs follow the changes in public opinion; they articulate them.

No one can predict how far-reaching the impact from the Freedom Ride will be. For sure, it will break down isolation and it will bring grass-roots voices to the debate. It certainly will nourish the spirits of those who go on the ride and those who benefit from its actions and programs. It may inspire other projects, other Rides. It could even awaken the potential leaders of mass movements, or even it may itself lead a mass movement.

NOW IS THE TIME

Carol Downer is a feminist, lawyer, and co-founder of the Feminist Women’s Health Center in Los Angeles which started providing abortions in 1971