Photo by @Phabstudio
I know, I know, for many, once you start talking about reproductive rights or reproductive health it becomes a snooze-fest. Some how we distance ourselves to believe that it does not impact us, is only a woman’s issue, or simply not a big deal. Nothing could be further from the truth, and with Title X changes, it’s time to take notice.
“the majority of people in the U.S believe that reproductive health of which abortion is a part of, is a conversation and decision that should be had between a woman and her doctor.”
Film festivals like the Reproductive Rights Film Festival and films like Reversing Roe are a reminders of just how much of an impact reproductive rights have one every one of us.
If you weren’t able to attend, All The F.U.Q.s is here with a quick takeaways and how we can all help to keep politics out of our pants.
*It should be noted that this is not meant to be a device right up, but to add more to the general conversation no matter what side you personally fall.*
Reversing Roe Sum Up
Available on Netflix for your viewing pleasure, Reversing Roe , blows up a lot of the myths around the start of the reproductive health campaign, the political players, and just its impact on all of our futures.
Roe v Wade was not the first or the last case around reproductive rights to make it to the Supreme Court, but it was one of the most impactful.
“what’s happening?”
Reversing Roe dives into the history before and since this landmark decision. According to the film and so many polls that have been taken over the decades, the majority of people in the U.S believe that reproductive health of which abortion is a part of, is a conversation and decision that should be had between a woman and her doctor.
So what’s happening?
Reversing Roe shows the rhetoric of anti-abortion groups like Operation Rescue and strategies such as TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) which is likely new for many of us.
It also highlights the lengths that women like Senator Wendy Davis had to take in an attempt to oppose bills to block women’s right to self-determination.
Myths and Terms Shared in Reversing Roe
Abortion - a safe out patient procedure to deliberately terminate pregnancy. Most abortions had are a family decision. As of 2014, 59% of patients that had an abortion had already experienced one birth and are mothers.
Clergy Consultation Service - a group of ministers that assisted women in locating sympathetic medical practitioners to assist them in terminating pregnancies prior to the procedure being legal.
Partial-Birth Abortion - a political term later signed into law by President Bush in 2003. This ban prohibits a specific form of late termination of pregnancy.
Operation Rescue - Anti-Abortion group supporting TRAP strategies
Therapeutic Abortion - the ending of a pregnancy on purpose
Jane Roe - Norma McCorvey’s alias in the impactful case Roe v Wade. She later went on to lament her place in history and joined the pro-life movement
California Therapeutic Abortion Act - 1967 legislation move in California to permit abortions until the 21st week
Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP)- Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers
Planned Parenthood - Family planning and reproductive health provider. All though Planned Parenthood did not originally begin in support of abortion care, it did move and officially come out in support of it.
the f.u.q.s
Reproductive rights and health are a part of family planning. This effects men, women, and families.
The real discussion does not need to be pro-life or not. It is the discussion of the right for self-determination and who owns the language around abortion
Religious persons have not and do not always fallen on the side of “pro-life”.
The ruling in Roe v Wade is hanging by a thread, as it dependent on the decision of our 8 Supreme Court justices.
Let us know what you think! Do you think this should be a political matter?
