“They’ll rape you on the table!”
“You’ll die!”
“They’ll rip your baby apart!”
“Have you seen Silent Scream?”
“You don’t know what happens in there!”
“You don’t know what happens in there!”
And who’s fault is that?
Look, I’m gonna propose something pretty fucking radical today, so strap in.
Abortion procedures ought to be part of comprehensive sex-ed. In schools. Why? Because protesters and anti-abortion activists thrive on our collective ignorance. Think about it. Could you, right now, without Google, explain a 1st trimester clinical abortion?
Go on, I’ll wait (no cheating, clinic workers!)
How about a medication abortion?
Fess up, for a second, you probably conjured up a brief image of what I’ve been calling “fetal snuff porn”, the graphic pictures protesters love to smear all over the damn place. I know, before I educated myself (as an activist AND as an Abortion Doula to be), I sure did.
This is why we need people telling their stories, their videos, showing up close and personal what actually happens. And I think we should have this knowledge right along with “this is how to make a baby” and “this is how to prevent making a baby” – because it counts as “prevention”. Arming our young people and ourselves with facts is one of the ways we’re going to defeat the current attacks on reproductive justice. Let’s support these brave folks who have put their peace of mind on the line (because holy crap have Emily Letts received attacks and self-righteous condemnation from pro-lifers AND mealy mouthed pro-choicers*) in order to give us facts. Let us embrace every story that comes forth.
Embrace this knowledge.
*Oh yeah, if your ‘pro-choice’ has conditions as to when it’s “okay” to have an abortion, AND you try to shame someone who doesn’t meet those conditions, YOU ARE NOT VERY ‘PRO-CHOICE’.
