Arcana: Abortion is a Motherhood Issue
In this passage, Judith Arcana describes eloquently the "relationship between abortion and mothering." She is speaking from a heartfelt and knowledgeable place. A mother, and previous abortion clinic worker, Arcana understands the subtleties and difficulties regarding motherhood and abortion. She almost immediately says that motherhood has left not only a change in her life and heart, but also her body (something which i think can be easily overlooked when discussing the issues surrounding birth and motherhood).
I also thought it was interesting when she pointe out bluntly that abortion, along with other methods of contraception, and/or miscarriages are also usually left out of the mothering conversation. She highlights how this avoidance can be used strategically to further one's personal or political beliefs by saying, "Sometimes the separation is deliberately ... used by people in favor of legal abortion to fend off attacks from anti-abortion people, who make the same separation in some ways ... and do so out of their own strategic choices as well as their ignorance or close-mindedness."
I thought it was an interesting, and successful, approach to talk about abortion as any other part of mothering. To choose to abort is the same as to send a child to private school or enroll him/her in piano lessons. Arcana asserts that like other motherhood choices, choosing to carry or abort a fetus is an issue that all mothers must face. By thinking of it like this, i think women will be compelled to see it as a way women are looking out for the child. If aborting is the best, and most responsible, choice (for both mother and baby) then there is really no way anyone should object to obtaining services. She says, "... choosing to abort our babies is a dreadful responsibility. We have accepted that responsibility - many of us have even accepted eternal damnation - because we believe that the choice we are making is the best one for ourselves and our babies."
She closes her article by imploring women to talk about their abortions. By doing so, she hopes that the air of secrecy and/or shame can be eliminated. I think this is an important message and i agree with her that sharing experiences is the key to getting past stereotypes and misconceptions.
Anonymous: "How it All Began: I Have had an Abortion"
This reading was a brief, yet powerful, message to not only the people of Germany, but also to the rest of the world. When this was written, the early 1980s, abortion was still a hot-button issue. Nations were beginning to alter their existing legislation to allow abortions. Germany was one of the states which had firm anti-abortion clauses in its legislature. Article 218 was strongly opposed by many women who eventually were able to join together to get it overturned. This anonymous author points to the daring and critical support of men to make this a successful venture. After calling together and meeting at the First Woman's Congress in Frankfurt, 450 women spoke together on behalf of the "rights of their bellies."
This author also points out a theme which i have also noticed in other readings. She discusses how the supporters of this movement needed to find support for their cause. To do so, they traveled around "knocking on doors" hoping to find receptive audiences at the other side. The disturbing theme which i noticed is that after reaching out to women labor unions and other organizations, the women were unable to join together. Like i mentioned in class, it is interesting and frightening to realize that women wouldnt join together on these issues. Instead, they were more likely to align themselves with people of their same class, ethnicity, or occupation rather than their sex.
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