Abortion. It's been talked about since Republicans decided that God only cares about fetuses rather than African Americas being murdered by their own government; it has divided the country through a religious lens, and it has created a massive amount of tension within legislature as the left begs "yes" and the right screams "no." From radical (and I do stress radical) conservatives murdering Doctor George Tiller in the name of the pro-life movement (irony?), to women being denied the right to own their body, abortion has caused quite the political divide. For all we know about abortion and its history, we, surprisingly, know very little. Because once upon a time, abortion was illegal...and the small resistance that attempted to give women sovereignty over their bodies story went untold. We know Roe v. Wade and we know that Florida has billboards every half mile reminding women that their body doesn't actually belong to them. Yet, what we don't know, is the story of the Jane Collective
The Jane Collective, officially known as the Abortion Counseling Service of Women's Liberation, was an underground traveling abortion clinic that operated in the United States between 1969 and 1973 (Oxford Reference 2012). The Collective aimed to aid women in need of abortion services or counseling and to locate a provider that could perform a highly illegal and controversial task. Upon starting the initiative, the Collective found that the number of women requesting aid not only overwhelmed illegally practicing doctors, but necessitated more *ahem man power. From this point onward, uncertified and utterly untrained women began doing their own research in hopes of performing first trimester abortions. If this sounds like a horror story, it's because it is one. Not only were women literally sneaking into basements and attics to perform abortions, but the government ran "for the people, by the people," watched as Her citizens died.
The Jane Collective is often an untaught and unacknowledged part of United States history. I get it...it's ugly and frankly, disturbing. What's more disturbing still is that less than 40 years ago, women were denied basic rights to their bodies. Although we certainly never hope to relive the days of roving medical practices, we should garner a few thing from the anti-abortion era.
The first is that women have a right to their body. The Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution states that the country cannot adopt a national or supreme religion. This was done to prevent the very circumstances that lead to America's inception in the first place. So, legally, your antiquated religious views on the pro-life/pro-choice movement can have nothing to do with actual policy making. In other words, if religion is the only reason for protesting abortion law, then your stance becomes utterly irrelevant. The fact of the matter is that women's bodies have been policed since the beginning of time and it is up to no one, but the woman in seek of service, as to what happens to her body.
Yet another element instilled and breathed by the Jane Collective is that women are remarkable creatures. Not only do we have the power to create life, but are capable of immense passion, courage, perseverance, and most importantly, love. I am constantly in awe of the women who defy societal norms and instead choose to walk in their unique beauty; women who listen with the intensity of silence born without ever knowing sound, women whose mouths mold movement, women whose very steps up heave pavement paved with the bones of voice never heard, women whose plain gaze holds powers to entrance but whose minds are the sexiest part about them. They are daughters of witches that men forgot to burn.
All that comprises and all that is femininity has been under attack and hated by those who fear it since sex became a currency. Abortion, believe it or not, is yet another form of regulating a body and a soul that needs no regulation. I understand the moral and ethical principles closely associated with the topic...but I will never understand middle-aged white men trying to tell me they do. They can't.
Regardless of your opinion or stance, abortion stands for something bigger than a woman planning her future. It is yet another way that femininity has been enslaved to patriarchal society. Instead of protesting streets with signs that denote someone has to be the "lesser," why can't we come together in support of what femininity is? If the world never treats anyone with love, we cannot expect anyone to love back. Abortion will always be debated; however, I hope to live in a world where basic human rights are not.
