What happens when pro-choice women are frustrated with the pro-choice movement?

Posted by Amie Newman at 9:28 AM on April 12, 2007.

Guest post by Amie Newman, associate editor for RH Reality Check.

Women's abortion experiences. There are statistics and there are stories. Numbers are solid, final and finite. One million women will have an abortion in the United States this year; thirty-five percent of women in this country will have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old. For every number in black and white, however, there is a story in grey. There is always the woman, of course. And there is always an abortion. Sometimes there is a fetus, sometimes it is called a baby, sometimes "my baby." Maybe there is a partner. There is sadness for some, guilt for others. Relief overwhelms many. There is always, however, a story. A growing and vocal movement of women creating public forums to communicate their personal abortion experiences and stories is encouraging; from films like The Abortion Diaries to Speak Out: I Had An Abortion and web sites like Imnotsorry.net.

Our Truths-Nuestras Verdades, the new abortion zine published by Exhale, is one such project that aims to transform the societal dialogue around abortion by creating a (bilingual) space for women to share their stories (full disclosure: I was on the original Board of Directors for the zine).

As Aspen Baker, executive director of Exhale and editor of Our Truths puts it:

In the pages of Our Truths-Nuestras Verdades, women are the truthtellers. They are their own witnesses, their own advocates. It is their voices that will bust myths, challenge stereotypes, and confront judgment. They will help pave a new road toward a social climate free from abortion stigma and overflowing with our truths.

Emily Louise Barcklow, a former abortion clinic staffer and current graduate student living in Mexico, originally started Our Truths-Nuestras Verdades, the first and only bilingual -- Spanish and English -- abortion zine published in the United States, in response to her feelings of disconnect with the larger pro-choice movement. Specifically, Barcklow felt frustrated with the pro-choice movement's ...

... treatment of abortion as primarily a political issue that did not allow space for and discussion of women's varied abortion experiences. Women's nuanced feelings pre and post-abortion were not just seen as irrelevant to the progression of the pro-choice movement's agenda but potentially harmful to it. In addition, the voices of those most marginalized -- and thus least likely to receive support -- were rarely heard: young women and women of color.

It takes an act of tremendous courage to stand up to a movement with which you feel otherwise closely aligned and declare your dissatisfaction. Emily did just that. Along with Pat Beninato from Imnotsorry.net, Jennifer Baumgardner, producer of Speak Out: I Had An Abortion, and the thousands of women who have thus far shared their stories on various web sites, in documentaries, in books and magazines. Thousands of women's voices and words telling their stories have broken the movement wide open, making it deeper and more "real" for the women it represents.

Similarly, Exhale, the nonprofit organization that took over the production and distribution of Our Truths-Nuestras Verdades this year, "creates a social climate where each person's unique experience with abortion is supported, respected and free from stigma." Exhale recently launched their "inaugural issue" of Our Truths-Nuestras Verdades with a focus on "feelings about the fetus." The issue includes letters written from women to their fetuses, an interview conducted by a group of pre-teens with Frances Kissling in which she explores her thoughts on fetal life and a ritual for saying goodbye after an abortion. Topics not likely to make it into many other publications -- progressive, pro-choice or otherwise. We have a long way to go until women are able to articulate their abortion experiences in public free from judgment or bias. Our Truths-Nuestras Verdades gives us a glimpse into a world where women's multi-layered emotions and experiences of abortion are respected, where women speak up truthfully, without shame, individually and collectively. As Marcy Bloom writes in the I Had An Abortion book produced by Aradia Women's Health Center, "If we cannot talk about our lives, our choices and our bodies without fear, then we cannot say that we truly own our lives."

Tagged as: abortion, reproductive rights, zines, pro-choice movement

Amie Newman is an associate editor for RH Reality Check.