The Birth Control MANDATE!!! *@!*$

Obama says religious nonprofits will not be mandated to cover birth control in employee benefits. However insurance companies will be required to offer the services free of charge to any employee who requests them.

Call me crazy but I feel like its a good compromise. Personally I don't agree with religious organizations who don't want to include birth control, however I don't feel like they need to be mandated to provide contraception if its against their religion. However it must be available to those who want it or need it.

It seems to me that it makes since that birth control is a standard service that should be covered. The thought that religious groups don't want to include it in insurance plans is asinine to me. I respect the compromise that Obama seems to have come up with though.

Staying Afloat

I work in an abortion clinic, I'm over worked, underpaid, and generally just sort of trying to stay afloat in a backwater madhouse. I have worked at my job for nearly 2 years and I have not had a raise or any paid time off, yet my responsibilities have quadroopled. I'm tired and burned out. The administration at my job feels the business is struggling so much they just can't afford employee incentives, so instead they have good employees who get burned out in short periods of time and leave.

When I consider trying to write about my job and the experiences I have in providing abortion care I just want to scream and curse out everyone.

The anti-abortion movement is clearly really well organized. They have created websites that list abortion providers names and addresses, they terrorize suppliers, and physicians who have any professional relationships with abortion providers even if they aren't providing. Its really sick. They have successfully infiltrated the department of health and hospitals and thus inhibited women's access to abortion in the state where I live and work. I feel like I'm telling them they are winning because I know some sick radical anti is probably reading this now.

I may work longer hours and feel overwhelmed but women who don't want to be pregnant are still finding ways to terminate even given all the obstacles anti-abortion nuts are trying to create. Clinics are still staying open and finding ways to stay in business. I guess I try to operate with a certain level of faith that because abortion should be available and accessible it will continue to be even if access isn't exactly accessible.

I pray to live in a world where abortion is a medical procedure that someone may opt to have. People will some how finally realize someone else's pregnancy and the outcome of their pregnancy is just none of anyone's damn business.

Thankful

Recently a friend and fellow abortioneer passed away. It was pretty shocking and I'm still wrestling with my own emotions and the after math of what that loss means. In the face of this very unexpected event I can't focus enough to write about any of the 100+ topics that are constantly swimming around in my skull.

I feel like sometimes when it feels like something terrible has happened the best thing to do is to count my blessings and take as many moments as I can to be thankful. I've lost a friend and colleague. When I wake up in the morning its among the first things I think about and many people around me are in a state of shock or mourning.

With Thanksgiving tomorrow its only one more reason to remember what we are thankful for. I am thankful to have "grown up" in abortionland. I'm thankful for lovers and friends who have been so supportive always. I'm thankful for my family, especially my wonderful Godchildren. I am thankful to pursue a career that feels meaningful and stimulating to me. I am thankful for my fellow abortioneers and a forum like this blog. I am thankful for my health. I'm thankful I can help provide much needed health care.

What are you Thankful for?

All Saint's Day

All Saints Day is a Catholic holy day that celebrates Saints both known and unknown. I am no Catholic but for me this day is about celebrating ancestors and those who have come before us. I have many ancestors to celebrate today. I also celebrate many abortioneers, activists, and generally awesome people who have made it possible for the world to be the beautiful place it can be.

I would like to celebrate both of my grandmother's today. My mother's mother was a devout Catholic and a republican. She raised my mother who grew up to be a radical liberal. She swore I would be my mother's antithesis, the conservative daughter she always hoped for. I am not that conservative woman. When faced with an unintended pregnancy as a young Irish Catholic woman in the 1950's she was sent to a maternity home and essentially made to give her son up for adoption. Her spirit lives on in her children and grandchildren and I celebrate the amazing woman she was. I am because she existed.

My mother's step mother was a liberal Unitarian Universalist. She told my mother about abortion as a teenager by explaining to her that she had an abortion. When I heard this story it only verified how amazing my Grandma was. She allowed her daughter to see that abortion was not some vague thing that happened to bad or dumb people. Abortion is something good women and mothers experience. I'm thankful amazing women like my Grandmother paved the way for women to have reproductive choice.

At my first job in abortionland I had an amazing supervisor who dedicated her life to making abortion accessible to woman in spite of economic circumstances. She trained other young abortioneers like my self to be compassionate, objective, and strong. She passed away a few years ago of a long term illness. Each day I am thankful I met this woman, her passion and fervor is part of what has sustained me in this work. When I started working for her I was young, lost, and damaged myself. She offered me a since of drive and passion that has stayed with me into my adulthood.

Finally, we must always remember the women who fought for reproductive choice in pre Roe V. Wade days. We must remember provider's who have lost their lives because they were willing to risk their lives to save women's lives. We must remember the women who have lost their lives all over the world because safe abortion was not or is not available.

On this day of All Saint's, known and unknown, I raise up my ancestors and the those people who have acted as saints so women can have safe and accessible reproductive health care.

Sometimes I would rather write about butterflies, rainbows, and unicorns:

I resonate with About A Girl's post from Sunday. I often choose not to be the constant defender of abortion. I live my life, I choose to work in a field that I know has chosen me. I often do have conversations about abortion that offer folks perspective they may not have considered. At the same time, I refuse to take the whole world on in regards to abortion. Sometimes I just can't debate what is not debatable for me.

I have an uncle I have not spoken to since the day I told him where I work. A cousin of mine married a republic who is conservative on many fronts. One day he says to me, "so what did you major in during college?" I told him, "Soicology with a minor in Psych." His response was, "so you really aren't using your degree then?" Of coarse I very quickly told him that there was lots of sociology and psychology involved in my daily work duties. I chose not to tell him I also make more money then him because I have my degree.

I know that so often as abortioneers being the most devout abortionista means defending abortion every day. Personally I choose to defend abortion by helping make sure they are available to women in my community. I cannot take on the whole world on.

I understand that most of us who work professionally are passionate about our work. The work, life, politics, etc balance is tricky and very unique to each individual. I know I am fighting for choice each time I am in the procedure room or each time I assist a woman in accessing abortion care. Each person has to find a way to make their own footprint in the world!

Dreamland

Maybe this happens to every abortioneer. I know a few other abortioneers have shared their dreams about pregnancy and abortion. I had a dream I was 20 weeks and 6 days pregnant. I had no idea I was pregnant until for some random reason I got an ultrasound and I was told I was in the second trimester of a pregnancy.

I was astounded. I'm gay and I have not slept with a man in over 5 years. In my dream I could not comprehend how I ended up pregnant without sleeping with a man. It seemed obvious my very masculine female bodied partner was who impregnated me. It was some form of immaculate conception except in my dream it seemed less immaculate.

I considered abortion, my partner was like, "this is amazing, its my baby of coarse you aren't going to get rid of it." There I was knowing I did not plan this pregnancy and I have always been very clear that any pregnancy will be very planned especially given that accidents are so highly unlikely given my sexuality. In my dream I started searching for a pregnancy test, just like the ones we use at work. I finally found one and only when I saw the positive second line did I believe the ultrasound.

I felt really ambivalent about keeping the pregnancy because I did not plan it and it did not feel like it was the right time. However, I also felt really unsure about having and abortion. Ultimately I very ambivalently decided I would keep the pregnancy. Then I got lost in an unfamiliar city, alone, still trying to figure out how the hell I got pregnant.

I woke up thinking about pregnancy, parenthood, abortion, and babies. I feel really blessed that planning pregnancy is pretty much a must because I'm gay. I fear that when I'm ready it might be hard, or my ovaries will have expired. However, I feel really blessed that I will not face an accident that results in an unplanned pregnancy. In my dream every one around me was like, "this is amazing!" and all I could think was that I did not plan to get pregnant right now!

When faced with something so unintended I felt really unsure of what to do. I know one thing, it was really important to know I had the ability to choose how to handle the very unexpected circumstance.

State Mandated Information

I live in a state where there is a state mandated 24 hour waiting period. In addition to this waiting period abortion clinics are mandated to provide literature that is designed by the state to discourage women from having abortions. We are required to use verbiage that mentions the patients' "unborn child" and we have to give out resources from the state that are supposed to offer options aside from abortion.

Once I actually attempted to contact some of the agencies listed as alternative resources and was not surprised to find out that most of the agencies did not answer their phones or they were not able to provide resources that would actually assist a woman in carrying a pregnancy to term. Sometimes when a woman comes in for a pregnancy test and states that she wants to continue her pregnancy I give her the bundle of booklets provided by the state but I also have to tell her the phone numbers and agencies might not be useful. In order to provide them with a resource that could ACTUALLY assist them seeking prenatal care, I usually give them the number to the same community health clinic where I go for medical care.

Its amazing to me that state and federal government has so much emphasis on discouraging women from accessing abortion care. Yet, when I am asked for resources or information on carrying a pregnancy to term I can not depend on the the "resources" provided by any government agency. I depend on my own knowledge of the community I live in and I try to provide the most comprehensive and useful information I can.

Recently, a patient with some pretty severe mental health issues became very upset upon seeing booklets provided by the state. She was sure she wanted to have an abortion but felt extremely emotional about her decision. All I could do was explain to her that we were mandated by the state to give her such material and assure her that no one working in the clinic wanted to give her such skewed information.I wish both state and federal agencies based policy on abortion on actual science rather than subjective standards of morality.

So Maybe You're not an Abortioneer?

We realize that not everyone who reads this blog is an abortioneer in their professional life. Maybe you believe in a woman's right to choose but you have not ever faced an unintended pregnancy or you haven't ever been asked for support from someone else facing an unintended pregnancy. Policy changes can seem pretty outside of the average individuals realm of influence.

This blog from feminists for choice presents 8.5 simple steps one can take to be pro-choice. You don't have to be a lobbyist on the hill, or working in an abortion clinic, or even bringing your best friend or sister to the clinic to be prochoice. Sometimes its as simple as having a conversation or seeking information about health insurance coverage. Happy Reading!

Some Comedy for your Friday!

Three-Week Follow-Up

At the clinic I work at, patients are told to return for a three-week follow-up. I always feel a sense of joy when a patient comes in for her follow-up visit and it’s as though her life has made a 180, a complete turnaround. 

Last week a woman showed up for her follow-up with a big smile on her face and mentioned her boyfriend who had accompanied her to her appointment. She said she and her boyfriend hoped to get more financially stable and then plan to have a kid in the next few years.

This patient had stuck out to me, because she cried through every moment of both her state-mandated counseling appointment and her procedure appointment. I assisted in the room during her procedure and her tears seemed endless.

Call me brash, but I often feel challenged by patients who cry, particularly when their tears seem to be infinite. I am always professional and I try to be supportive and kind. However, I cannot tell a lie: in every capacity I have ever worked in as an abortioneer, I have been challenged by “criers.” I do understand when a woman sheds tears, and I believe women have the right to respond to the choice to have an abortion however they need to. There is a certain harshness in me that is challenged by other people's tears.

I remember being trained at my first job in an abortion clinic. After I took my first phone call, the person training me told me, "Good job, but try to watch how harsh your voice is -- many of the women calling need to hear a supportive voice on the other end of the phone." I'm not sure if it is personality or life experience, but I just don't cry a lot, and when someone else cries I have to make a special effort not to be dismissive, in both my personal and professional life.

The patient who recently showed up to her follow-up appointment beaming had presented this challenge for me. She cried when I told her we did not allow male partners to the back, she cried when she met with the doctor, she cried when she set her appointment. On the day of her abortion she walked in with her boyfriend, sniffling and tearing up. She cried as her boyfriend paid the fee, she cried when I handed her the gown to change into, she cried off and on throughout every moment of both of her appointments.

I know that I treated her just as I treat any other patient and we did the best we could to make her experience as comfortable as possible. And she walked into her follow-up appointment with a smile from ear to ear. She told the receptionist that she was feeling great and she hoped to have a kid with her boyfriend when they were more stable. I was tied up with another patient and didn’t have any interaction with this patient at her follow-up, but I heard the relief and joy in her voice and saw it in her body language.

So often this is the case -- patients come into follow-up appointments with joy and relief written all over their faces. It's part of why I know what I do is sacred.

"to go back and get it:"

The night I found out my closest sister was pregnant I was on my way home from a lecture by a Planned Parenthood representative. The lecture was about the lack of access to sexual health services in poor communities and communities of color. I was catching a ride home with someone I knew and my cousin, sister, friend called to say "I have something to tell you.....I'm pregnant" We were both 19 years old. I was in my sophomore year of college. She was living in small town, America just trying to make it.


The abstract concept that people, with out money, living in rural areas, or in urban centers, where billboards say "who's your daddy?" and promote cigarettes and liquor consumption, do not have access to accurate information about sexual health and reproduction became extremely concrete. My closest sister was pregnant. As an abortioneer my first reaction was, "ok, ok you have options" After a few hours talking with her mom and calling me she firmly decided to keep the pregnancy. As an abortioneer I was very supportive of my childhood soul mate choosing motherhood.
If my sister had a ride to the nearest planned parenthood nearly an hour away she might have been on birth control. She may have also chosen not to use birth control. The thing is her lack of access to transportation and money meant she also lacked access to birth control. She didn't have the ability or opportunity to make a choice about what birth control method to use, if any.

During the Planned Parenthood lecture I attended earlier in the evening I also learned that the father of gynecology, J. Marion Sims, developed much of the science of gynecology through experiments on enslaved African women and poor Irish immigrants. He did not use anesthesia on these patients because there was a widespread belief that they were less sensitive to pain than wealthy white women. J. Marion Sims owned slaves and it is documented that he did experimental procedures on women that he "owned". He was well known as a plantation physician and treated numerous enslaved Africans.

I was appalled to find out that gynecology was born out of a racist and classist history. In this country social inequality is built into the most basic fibers. The enslavement of Africans, annihilation of natives, and exploitation of poor people is at the very roots of the development of the good ol' U.S. of A. This country was built by people of color and poor people to serve the needs of wealthier white landowners. The science of gynecology is no exception.

The ability to determine one's life is based on one's access to resources. People who are historically disenfranchised do not have the ability to access necessary resources. Maybe that necessary resource is a ride to planned parenthood for birth control or STD testing. Maybe that resource is a safe abortion, or maybe its a condom or an education.

The history of this country cannot be erased. The West African Adinkra symbol Sankofa means "to go back and get it" and is representative of learning from the past. Racism and classism is not ancient history. Access to resources is one very concrete way the history of racism and classism in this country has translated into today. The ability to control one's body and reproduction is the most basic human right. Women need access to birth control and sexual health care in order to gain this very basic human right.

Your Reguarly Scheduled Blogger:

Had an argument with my partner last night. Woke up late this morning and rushed to work. Please excuse my tardiness, I will try to make it good. Sometimes life gets ahead of the most devout abortioneer. No pun intended.

Man Down- Rihanna

This music video tells the story of a woman's reaction to rape. The video is not directly related to abortion provision; however, as an abortion provider I often come in contact with women who have been raped and may even be ending a pregnancy that is the result of rape.

At the clinic where I work, we do not allow any male partners to the back with patients. Partners and women often get upset about this policy, but I always try to take the time to explain that we do have women in who have been through many different experiences. One of the first posts I ever shared is about my story of sexual assault and supporting women who are pregnant as a result of rape.

Hip-hop and pop music is often violent, and often condones sexual violence and objectification of women's bodies. I thought it was very powerful that Rihanna approached the subject in her music. So many women have been raped or assaulted, and it's something we cannot afford to ignore.

Something from Fox News that isn't blasphemy!

Check out this article about the health benefits of masturbating. Sexual health encompasses so much. Unwanted pregnancies, STDs, contraception, and safety are all really important aspects of sexual well being. As a sex educator I know that sexual health is also about learning to enjoy sex in a safe manner. Its about unlearning that sex is dirty, nasty, shameful, and dangerous. I believe one the most important parts of a healthy sexuality is being able to enjoy your own body.

At work I am a sexual educator. The other day a patient said to me, "I don't know how I get pregnant, he never cum inside of me." I responded by explaining that sometimes there are sperm that come out before the man ejaculates and maybe she should consider condoms or hormonal birth control. Each day I am dispelling myths and teaching women about how sex functions. But masturbation is never a topic of conversation with patients. I wish there were a space for people to get accurate information about masturbation -- the safest form of sex!

People are taught from a very young age that self-pleasure is shameful. Based on my own experience, I believe women are taught to feel like masturbation is an act of desperation. When in actuality a healthy sexuality begins with understanding your own body and sexual responses. Self-pleasure is related to power and liberation. When a woman can please herself and knows that it's healthy to do so, I believe we as women also begin to stop looking to external sources for validation.

Because I'm Blessed

Often times we talk about the challenges we face in our jobs. We shed light on the difficulties we face in the world due to our jobs. Sometimes we write about funding and policy. We write about patients' joy and tears, we write about our own tears. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge some of the things in my life that make me thankful to be an abortioneer:

• I feel needed every time I make an appointment for a woman and/or help her figure out how to make the logistics of state laws and clinic schedules work for her needs.

• I sort of get off on the "shock value" of saying exactly where I work and what I do, especially when the shocked individual is someone who annoys me anyway.

• I'm working in a field where I see room for professional growth and I am learning valuable skills every day.

• I learned to speak spanish with some fluidity through work in abortion care.

• I figured out that I have a strong interest in health sciences, when I spent most of my life scared to attempt any academic coarse in the physical/biological sciences.

• I am more in touch with my own body, sexuality, and health because of the knowledge I have gained working in abortion provision.

• I'm thankful for each and every patient because I am constantly learning life lessons from each of those women.

• I like my job, each day I go to work with out dreading the day ahead of me.
  

I'm sure I could find 100 more blessing that are related to or because of my job. Its so important to count our blessings every day, especially when you live a life that is so scrutinized by so many different people.

What are you thankful for?

Smith Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives passed another bill to ensure tax payer's dollars will not cover the cost of abortion under health care reform. The hyde amendment already prohibits any federal dollars from paying for abortions. This bill takes it a step farther, click here to read a summary of the bill. The Smith Bill would deny tax credits to small business who offer private health insurance that covers abortion. This bill would also stop the annual renewal of the hyde amendment. Finally the bill would permanently deny the District of Columbia from using local dollars to pay for abortion. According to an article in Ms. Magazine the bill also prohibits women in the military from obtaining abortion in military hospitals overseas even if they use their own money to pay for it. The bill also includes a life endangerment and rape exception.

A New York Times editorial stated the presidential administration will veto the bill thus is will not become law. RHrealitycheck.org offers a pretty comprehensive break down of the bill here. The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) put out a toolkit including a sample letter to send to state representatives, urging them to oppose this bill, and explaining how this bill specifically affects access to health care in Latino communities.

I am not much of a policy buff. I spend most of my time in direct service. My job is affected by both state and federal policies on a day-to-day basis. However, I spend little time trying to comprehend the dozens of laws that are considered concerning abortion. I know that most of them are not good and when I think about what bills like the Smith bill mean about access to basic health care I get really angry. It awesome that there are organizations focused on policy such as NLIRH that are creating toolkits like the one mentioned above.

International Abortion Access

We talk a lot about abortion access here in the United States which is limited, and yet much more accessible then most countries across the world. This short documentary looks at access to reproductive health care, family planning, and abortion in Guatemala. When I see the severe lack of access in other parts of the world I feel even more sure that I need to continue to pursue a career in abortion provision. Please check it out!

Right to life Guatemala - Birthrights - Al Jazeera English

Stripped

I went to a strip club this weekend. I don't go to strip clubs often but on occasion, typically at another friend's request I end up in a strip club. I rarely have an amazing time in strip clubs but this weekend was especially disturbing. I walked into an all black strip club located in a a area with a several other multiracial strip clubs and a few predominately white clubs. In the club I entered there were at least 30 women working in a one large room, with one stage. One woman danced on stage while the others lounged or tried to work the audience. I had no money and I was with a group of 4 other people, one of those people and I were the only white people in the bar.

I felt guilty for being in that space without money to give the women dancing. I had not planned to end up in a strip club. The women were not turning me on, really I had no desire to tip them beyond a sense of obligation because I was in the bar. Tipping is the point of being in a strip bar. I grew very uncomfortable, here I was with over 2 dozen black women working their bodies because that is how they make money. It would be very rude to go into a restaurant, sit down, and proceed not to order anything. In fact I would be asked to leave. As a white person I knew I took up space that no one else in the bar took up. Lots of people were tipping the women a dollar here or there, way less than any of the women's worth. When I say I took up space that no one else did its for me to explain. White people are privileged in this country. So there is an assumption that I have access to resources such as money. I don't think any one should go to a strip club unless they are ready to tip the dancers. Due to systemic racism, as I white person I most likely have access to certain resources that a black woman may not have access to. Thus making it even more important that as a white person in an all black strip bar I go ready to tip.

There were dozens of black men in the bar who were not tipping. For me, this did not justify my inability to tip. I did not want to do what those men were doing and I have no idea if the same men who were not tipping the woman on stage had at least paid for a "lap dance" in the back. My discomfort was about my relationship to that space. It felt reminiscent of a slave auction block, and yet I did not even have money to justify my voyeurism or participation. I did not want to participate in that kind of exploitation of black women's bodies. I am not against strip bars, sometimes I even have a good time. I think the thing that bothered me most is that I had no money to tip and the people I was with had very limited money to tip. Essentially the money my friends had was not enough to justify a group of 5 people inhabiting that space. Strippers don't strip for fun generally, they strip to earn $$$.

I voiced my discomfort to my friends, including the other white person. I was not heard by my friends and we stayed for a while before we left. I woke up thinking well if nothing else at least I have something to blog about. I definitely felt disappointed my friends are OK with being in that space with little money to compensate the women for their work. I was in a group of both people of color and white people, as well as straight people and queer people. So for each of us the space we take up in this particular situation varies and I cannot speak to whether they should have been in that space or not but I knew that personally I did not have any reason to be there without money. Had I been in a group of people who had big $ and could "make it rain", maybe the dynamic would have changed. For me it was not right to be in this strip club with a group of people who had little to no money to tip the dancers.

Someone I know is making a documentary about black strippers in gay communities who strip for gay people. Once she said part of what her documentary looks at is "how work shapes identity". I think about this statement partly because she was referring to how work as a stripper and entertainer helped shape the identity of the people she followed in her documentary. For me working in abortion has shaped my identity. I did not know I had so much feminism hiding in me until this weekend. I identify as a feminist but I have never had this kind of anger arise as a result of the objectification of women's bodies, at least not that I could really identify in real time.

I can not disconnect my work in an abortion clinic from experiences like this one. I kept on thinking of the stripper I got into a conversation with at work a few weeks ago. I kept hoping none of these women would end up in the clinic and remember my face because I watched and did not tip. My work has informed my identity as a feminist and anti-racist woman.

Which Way Home

I stumbled upon another really good documentary through netflix. Which Way Home is about children from Central America who travel as migrants with hopes of crossing the Mexico-U.S. border. So what does that have to do with abortion? Not much directly. I watched the documentary and it was a very emotional subject and it was really hard to watch children take on such a long and painful journey. At the end I cried, only for a moment, but I cried. I cried for the women I have met who have taken a similar journey as the children in this film. I also cried for the women who have left children in their countries of origin in hopes of providing for those children through work in the United States.

At work we serve many women who have reached the United States as undocumented people. I have listened to women tell their stories of walking for days, bus rides, and train rides. I have spoken to women who have been raped by coyotes and are pregnant and it could be the result of a couple different rapes. One of the children who is followed in the documentary tells his story of hiding in the boxcar of a train and watching a mother and daughter get raped by 15 men. These stories are horrifying and real.

My spanish is mas o menos at best and often times I can only pick up on a few words or a sentence. I have brought clothes to women who have showed up in the clinic in need of an abortion and often I've wondered how they are surviving the United States. Sometimes my coworker who is a native spanish speaker fills me in on a woman's story, I am a peripheral support person for spanish speaking women in the clinic where I work.

I have spoken to Latina women who are pregnant as a result of consensual sex and would rather have a baby then an abortion, but often times she cannot imagine supporting a child in the United States on her meager pay because she is sending money home to take care of the children she had to leave with family in her country of origin. Most recently I had to help a spanish speaking woman fill out here chart. I don't claim to be fluent but I have learned to ask most of the questions in spanish involved in filling out the first part of a patient's chart. I recently had a conversation that really changed my perspective. It went like this:

Me: Tiene hijos? (Do you have children?)
Patient: Si
Me: Cuantos? (How many?)
Patient: Tres
Me: Cuando nacimiento? (When birth?)- for lack of better words
Patient: *look of confusion*
Me: El cumpleanos de sus hijos? (Birthdays of your children?)
Patient: no recuerdo.

At this point I had to get some help from my coworker, the native Spanish speaker. I personally did not comprehend that some woman's experience is not conducive to remembering dates like when they gave birth. This conversation was an eye opener for me. I never considered the emotional distance some women must have to maintain when they have left children they love because it seems like the best way to care for them.

Every one in this country, with the exception of Native Americans, is the descendant an immigrant in some form or fashion. I don't understand the need to criminalize Latino people who want to come here. I don't understand who gets to decide which immigrants have a right to be here and which don't. The United States of America is a land of immigrants.

You can go here to watch clips of the documentary if you don't have netflix.

UNBORN IN THE USA: Inside the War on Abortion

Land of the free: until you're faced with an unwanted pregnancy...

Lately I have found myself fascinated with people who are against abortion, particularly those people who are anti-abortion activists. My fascination grew as I began to collect the brochures discarded in our waiting room by women who were there to have an abortion. The pamphlets are handed out by anti-choice street "counselors." These pamphlets are an extreme embellishment of possible complications involved in abortion procedures and include dramatic photos of mothers and children, images of fetuses throughout pregnancy, and describe the procedure using words that create images of dismembered babies and knife like objects inserted into a woman's vagina. They are such an embellishment on the truth that I think it's safe to say these kind of pamphlets are lies!

I recently stumbled upon a documentary called UNBORN IN THE USA: Inside the War on Abortion. This documentary included interviews with dozens of pro-life activists and sheds light on the anti-abortion movement throughout the country. The documentary explored training institutes for college-aged students such as the Focus Institute where young people receive intensive instruction on how to "minister" to pro-choice people and women to encourage them to join anti-abortion forces. The students at this institute practice role playing in order to gain skills about how to approach pro-choice people. The tactics are pretty sick, including giant gruesome pictures of dismembered fetuses as a conversation starter. I have said it before and I will say it again we need a training institute for pro-choice, pro-women, pro-family warriors! The longer I work in this field the more I think we need practical training for doctors, medical assistants, nurses, ultrasound technicians, and counselors. Thankfully there are organizations like Medical Students For Choice. We need pro-choice people trained to provide the services necessary in abortion provision.

One of the most sickening things said in the whole documentary was during one of these training sessions. The facilitator addresses how to deal with the "concern" of rape. One of the questions the students are encouraged to ask women who have been raped is if the child should pay for the crimes of their father. As someone who has been raped before and who has helped many women who were pregnant as a result of rape seek abortions I cannot even comprehend how this seems plausible to anyone, anti-abortion or not. No person's experience of rape can be minimized to a "concern," and surely most sane people would not agree with the notion that a woman should carry a pregnancy that is a result of rape so that the "child" does not pay for its father's crimes.

Another key tool developed by the anti-abortion right are Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPC). Staff from a CPC located next door to Dr. Tiller's clinic was interviewed. This clinic offered multi-dimensional ultrasounds and was identified by the staff as a tool to help women choose motherhood. A Time Article from August 2010 estimates that there are over 4,000 CPCs in the U.S. and nearly five times as many CPC's as there are abortion clinics. These clinics purposefully choose location close enough to abortion clinics that they can easily be confused for the abortion clinic. I have spoken to dozens of women who have stumbled into these kind of centers. They are a waste of time, money, and energy. Maybe we could turn these centers into day care centers where women can bring there children during the multiple appointments that are often required to obtain an abortion.

Overall I found this documentary extremely informative; it shed light on the weapons used to fight against abortion. I hope to see the day that pro-choice people are fighting back even harder. The documentary is definitely worth checking out -- know thy enemy!