What does Pro-Choice mean to you?

In 1973 Roe v. Wade cemented the stance of the US government as pro-choice in reference to abortion. Abortion is by no means a new phenomenon, it has been around since the Greek and Roman times. However, in the 19^th and most of the 20^th century there were laws against it due to the dangerous techniques of aborting a child and society’s emphasis on “moral values.” In the early 1970s there was a federal suit filed challenging the constitutionality of Texas’ antiabortion laws. The Supreme Court heard the case and ruled that a state had no right to limit a woman’s right to abortion in the early portion of her pregnancy. The early portion of her pregnancy was when there is less of a threat to the mother and the fetus is not yet considered a “person.” Justice Blackmun delivered the majority opinion stating that in the 1^st trimester the state could not intervene in a woman’s abortion, in the 2^nd only certain doctors can perform the procedure in certain instances, and in the 3^rd the state can intervene. Blackmun was known as a conservative judge so this was an unusual decision for him to give. Roe v. Wade was a huge step for the pro- choice movement. However, work still needs to be done. Another case in 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey challenged the laws the state of Pennsylvania had put in place to dissuade women from getting abortion. Planned Parenthood won this case as well. Further cementing the power of Roe.

While the official opinion of the government is pro-choice different women have different conceptions of what pro-choice means. Crews, who runs a website for teenage mothers, was a teenaged mother herself. She attempted to schedule 3 abortions, but backed out each time. She chose to have the child, but then felt extremely forced into giving her son up for adoption. She was seen as an unfit mother and one who could not make and decisions for the baby. She asked her doctor about having a birth at home and was told, “I was a little girl, and delivering babies is a man’s job” (Crews, 147). However, once she had her baby she took charge. She made her choice to keep her son. Due to her experience she began this website as a way to help young mothers whatever their choices were. Thus, even though she did not have an abortion she still believes in having a choice. Crews states, “Whatever our reproductive choices, nobody can ever deny us our right to them. And this is what being pro-choice means to me” (Crews, 149).

In “Abortion, Vacuum Cleaners, and the Power Within” Muscio has a very different experience with abortion and beliefs about pro- choice. Muscio experienced three abortions. Her first two abortions were done at a clinic where a vacuum like machine aborted her child in an extremely traumatizing way. The third time she states, “I had the same choice as before, that glowing, outstanding choice we ladies fight tooth and nail for: the choice to get my insides ruthlessly sucked by some inhuman shit pile” (Muscio, 114). Muscio decided not to get an abortion at an abortion clinic, but to attempt to heal herself from within. While this experience was wonderful for Muscio, she seems to view the entire situation completely unrealistically. She suggests that all abortions should be done among friends in an organic environment. By stating this she completely disregards the women who cannot afford or are too afraid to have abortions at clinics and attempt to do it at home. These women can end up dying from botched at home abortions. Muscio does not seem to have researched her suggested method very thoroughly. Alternative organic abortions currently do not always work; before this can be a viable option much more research has to be done. Muscio was lucky to have these friends; her experience is not necessarily the norm.