by Gloria Moraga – October 7, 2021

Women have a fundamental right to privacy. This fact, guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, is especially correct when we consider health care rights. And of course, when we discuss the most private decision of all. Abortion.

Let me make one thing clear. Listen up! No woman WANTS to have an abortion. 

The decision never comes easily. 

But life is hard. It is challenging. 

Hi, I’m Gloria Moraga; this is One-On-One. We are talking about Communication. Please Subscribe to my Podcast. Please share. For a transcript of this and other podcasts, visit my website, gloriamoraga.com.

This episode of One-On-One is about one of our most fundamental rights. 

I’m talking about Abortion and the right to make our own medical choices without interference from the government. Please, as tricky as it may be, talk about this issue with friends and family. It’s a matter of life and death. 

Birth Control – Health Care – Young and Poor Women

I have been both poor and young. And as women, we know mistakes happen.

A moment of passion. Failed birth control. Poverty. School. Work. Responsibility. And did I mention Youth? 

And there are darker reasons for an abortion. 

Rape, incest, medical reasons. And additional reasons that are too numerous and so vast and various even to mention. 

Here is a shortlist of mistakes we sometimes make that lead to an unwanted pregnancy:

• When you are young, you make mistakes. None of us should have to suffer for them for an entire lifetime. And this is a fact of life: having and caring for and loving children lasts your whole life. Children are exhausting, they are expensive, and you love them with all your heart and soul.
• So why am I writing and talking about Abortion? Because it is vital to stay aware and know what is happening with this primary private health care option?

Women’s Constitutional Right to Privacy Is In Danger – Just the Facts Ma’am

Here are some facts. In case you missed them. Here is what is happening right now in the U.S. 

• 1. On September 2, 2021, The United States Supreme Court voted 5 to 4, refusing to block a Texas law that bans Abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. Critics point out that many women don’t even know they are pregnant at six weeks.
• 2. The High Court now has a conservative majority. This decision could be a warning of what is yet to come.
• 3. On October 2, 2021, thousands of women in every state marched in favor of Women’s Health Care Rights – The right to opt for an abortion if they wish.

• 4. Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that legalized Abortion until approximately 24 weeks of pregnancy. That Landmark case declared that women protected by privacy rights under the 14th Amendment have the right to an abortion.
•  
• 5. On December 1, 2021, The Supreme Court will hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This case from Mississippi bans abortions at 15 weeks. The ruling could be another step toward overturning Roe.
•  
• 6. WE WON’T KNOW HOW THE JUSTICES WILL VOTE ON DOBBS V JACKSON UNTIL SUMMER 2022.

Abortion is a Medical Procedure.

I’m not an expert on Abortion. 

I’m a woman who was pregnant twice. Once happily. Once not. 

It’s nobody’s business what happened with those pregnancies. 

As any good reporter, I’m turning to the experts as I write this. 

Abortion is  As Old as Us

According to historians, Abortion has been around for as long as women and men. 

There are references to Abortion in the bible. 

National Library of Medicine

“Abortion has been practiced since ancient times,” according to a paper published in the National Library of Medicine. 

But according to medical experts, here’s what makes Abortion so different now. Quote:

“Abortion’s legality and availability have been threatened continuously by forces that would denigrate women’s fundamental rights. Currently, while efforts to decrease the need for Abortion through contraception and education continue, access to Abortion remains crucial for the well-being of millions of women.”

I got the following information from an article written by Katie Klabusich, published in “Truthout” in 2016.

4,000 Year’s Old

“Abortion is As Old as pregnancy: 4,000 years of Reproductive Right History.”

Abortion has always existed. The earliest written record of Abortion is more than 4,000 years old. Pregnancy has always been accompanied by the seeking and sharing of methods for ending a pregnancy.

The United States’ history with Abortion is complicated and currently in flux. 

Until 1821, Abortion existed and, like pregnancy and other “women-related” business, was entrusted to midwives and other caregivers.” (end quote)

ABORTION Is Not a POLITICAL Issue

Ha HA – As In “Gotcha!”

If you are reading this, I’m not laughing. 

The Ha-Ha is a GOTCH, HAHA.

Before 1821 the abortion decisions were handled by women and midwives. 

After that time in history, men and lawmakers, and there were no women in the legislature in the early 1800s, so men began to butt in. And tell women what we should or should not do with our bodies.

Anti-Abortion Laws Kill Women

Here are just one of my personal, true abortion stories. (Family Stories)

It’s the 1960s; Abortion is illegal.

When I was a little girl, my Uncle Al pulled up in front of our old house on College Avenue, in Fresno California, got out of the car, and dragged my Aunt onto the front lawn. 

She was crying hysterically. He walked back to the car, and she jumped up and tried to follow him.

He pushed her to the ground. I remember this so clearly. 

When she jumped up, her pants and hair were covered in wet grass. My dad had mowed the lawn, and the grass was still wet on the ground.

She screamed and cried, and Uncle Al reached over and locked the passenger door. Then floored his car, and his tires screeched as he disappeared in the dust.

It’s the 1960s; Abortion is illegal.

My Mom hugged my Aunt and brought her inside to stay with us. 

Late that night, I could hear my Mom and my dad arguing downstairs. 

I crept down the stairs to hear what they were fighting about. 

They weren’t fighting; my Mom was crying and upset. It seems my Aunt was pregnant, and her husband Al did not want her to keep the baby.

 My Mom was crying because my Aunt climbed out of an upstairs bedroom window and jumped.

My Aunt was rushed to the hospital with a broken leg. But her attempt to abort the baby failed. 

Coathangers, Jumping Out of Windows, and Other Horrors

I cannot write any more about the methods women resorted to when Abortion was illegal. 

I’ve been alive long enough to know; the right to choose what we do with our bodies wasn’t handed to us on a silver platter.

Women died and suffered and struggled for years to deal with an unwanted pregnancy, privately, with a doctor’s care. 

Women fought for years for the fundamental right to privacy.

Having a baby or not having a baby is a personal, PRIVATE medical decision. 

It’s nobody else’s business. 

How did we get here? Again? 

The abortion laws in the United States are in flux as I write this. The Biden Administration is taking steps to block the Texas law. We never know what the Supreme Court will rule. I covered the High Court for ten years, and it was always like watching a poker game. You never know who is going to have a wild card up their sleeve. But I’ve been alive when Abortion was illegal, and I lived most of my childbearing years with the Right to Choose.

It’s always better to have a choice, especially when it comes to medical care.

Talk to each other. Even if you feel uncomfortable. Talk about Abortion. This is a Civil Rights Struggle on many levels. Time to Stand Up!

I’m Gloria Moraga. Communicate. Talk to each other. One-On-One.