What would make you leave the country you call home? When does your sense of right and wrong override your desire for comfort and familiarity? I draw the line at abortion. If it becomes illegal again, I’m out of here.
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In some ways Jane was alarmingly informal, from the limited medical training to the hush-hush shuffling between venues to the striped sheets on the beds, but they used sterilized equipment and administered drugs with medical precision. Just as important, they provided extensive counseling before a pregnancy was terminated, and performed abortions with kindness and sympathy. Plus, no one was turned away because of age or lack of money. Many women who received abortions through Jane returned as volunteers.
I didn’t really understand the history of Roe v. Wade until a recent New Yorker article by Jeffrey Toobin put it into perspective. Basically here’s what happened: A 22-year-old carny got preggers for the third time, freaked out about having to put yet another baby up for adoption, and lied and said she was raped because she thought it might make it easier to obtain an abortion, which was illegal in Texas. She filed suit against Henry Wade, the Dallas County District Attorney, in 1970 as “Jane Roe” and the case made its way to the Supreme Court. (Thirty years later, after finding Jesus, “Jane Roe,” aka Norma McCorvey, petitioned the Supreme Court to overrule the decision, arguing it was based on misinformation about the effects of abortion on a woman’s health.)
I’m pro-choice but not pro-Roe. The shakiness of the decision makes it impossible to focus on anything else when choosing new Supreme Court justices, and it’s a convenient bit of sleight-of-hand right-wingers use to quietly pass scary legislation like the Patriot Act (which Congress renewed this month, making most of its provisions permanent) while we’ve all got our eyes on abortion rights. It reminds me of this one crack whore who six years ago approached my boyfriend in broad daylight and started rubbing his crotch with one hand while trying to pick his pocket with the other.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/Andrea Bauer.
