Leading Post: Abortion and Motherhood

In the piece "How It All Began: I Have Had an Abortion," the anonymous author describes the women's liberation movement in Europe (France and German) where women's called for the "decriminalization of abortion." Through 343 French women's decision to publicly announce in a newspaper that they have had an abortion, these courageous women's action, have inspired many other women in German and in North America to join the fight. Although this movement did encounter women who were afraid and did not think the movement will be beneficial, the ultimate goal hoped to achieve abortion right for all women and the through public awareness, it hoped to remove the taboo associated with abortion--hoping to make abortion more acceptable and less down down upon in society. The methods of sparking change: "...to break the law in their own country or travel aboard" (368).

Judith Arcana's "Abortion Is a Motherhood Issue" further support an pro-choice agenda. At first I was confused whether Arcana supported pro-life or pro-choice. However, after reading it another time, her vivid imagery of her body and her personal experiences further strengthen her argument--or her credibility. In the beginning, she use language that indicated the right to one', specifically a woman's, body. Sentences such as "Motherhood has left its mark on my cervix, just as it has on the rest of me" and the different stages of her cervix (youthful, cauliflower, etc.) implies the argument that most pro-choice supporters state: a woman should have control and the right to do what she wants with her body. Another argument, I found compelling is that when talking about abortion it should also be in conversation with motherhood issues (such as contraception, miscarriage, adoption, sterilization, and reproductive biotechnology); this argument further strengthen the pro-choice agenda. Through her experience of having children, an abortion, preforming abortion, and sterilization, Arcana develops her credibility that suggest that women should acknowledge, pride, and take responsibility of their choice (especially to abort) rather than to feel ashamed or guilty because the anti-abortion movement have created such atmosphere for those who abort.

On that note, as I read both of these articles, I thought about how abortion in a sense is privileged--abortion is racialized and classified.

This billboard appeared in Atlanta (2010)

This billboard appeared in New York City--SoHo (2011)

This billboard appeared in Chicago (2011)

These anti-abortion billboards all convey the message that abortion is most common among the African American community. The locations in which these billboards appeared also suggest that African American in urban cities are more inclined to having abortions. Even though if statistics does show that abortion is more common among urban cities African American, how effective are these anti-abortion billboards or are they simply racist? 

Thinking on an international level, I thought about how common abortion happens (reported and in secret) in developing countries like India and China. However, these abortions are more gendered based; selective abortion is extremely common in developing countries where baby boys are more valued that baby girls. From personal experience (being born as the third baby girl to my parents) I decided to do a research paper about this phenomenon when I was a senior in high school. The Chinese cultural values, economic needs, and the One-Child policy have greatly exacerbated selective abortion or to what is now known as gendercide. And the consequences of such practice is greatly skewing the ratio of boy to girls in China thus leading to marriage difficulties,  economic problems, and other issues. 

Read the article in The Economist to learn more about gendercide in China

Thinking both locally and internationally on the reasons why women have abortions, I am conflicted on to what extend should abortion be legal and as part of women's rights? Is there a greater problem that needs to be address in order to address the racalization and classification of abortion?