Malala Yousufzai has become a household name around the world. The fifteen year old is an activist for girls’ education in an area of Pakistan that has been besieged by the Taliban. We all know about the Taliban. They are the religious fanatics who are considered the enemy of freedom and democracy. Among its many terrorist aims, the Taliban wants to outlaw all rights for women and impose the strict rule of men over every aspect of women’s lives.
Malala has been outspoken for girls and against the Taliban since she was eleven years old. For this she was shot at point blank range by one of them on October 9. The attempt to assassinate her has drawn worldwide protests. Decent minded people agree that what happened to Malala is wrong. We all pray for her full recovery.
What does this have to do with abortion rights in the U.S.?
A New York Times editorial reminds us of what many of us already know.
We do not need to guess about the brutal consequences of overturning Roe. We know from our own country’s pre-Roe history and from the experience around the world. Women desperate to end a pregnancy would find a way to do so… Some women would die.
Anyone who makes it illegal or difficult or impossible for women to find safe, legal abortions is potentially or actually contributing to the deaths of some of those women. Neither the New York Times nor I am being overly dramatic. It’s the truth. We will see a palpable increase in the suffering and death of women and their families if abortion becomes difficult or impossible to obtain. That’s the way it was before Roe, and the way it will be if Roe is overturned. It’s also the way it is in many places around the world. More information is here.
Domestic terrorists have caused the deaths of several physicians and others who serve the reproductive needs of women. These American zealots are similar to the Taliban in that they inhabit a world of fanatical religious belief and behave as self-appointed saviors. Murder is justified in the name of God. Freedom is only what they say it is, and anyone who veers from their view is considered an infidel.
Those who have been murdered here in the U.S. include:
March 10, 1993: Dr. David Gunn in Pensacola, Florida
July 29, 1994: Dr. John Britton and James Barrett, a clinic escort, also in Pensacola
December 30, 1994: Two receptionists, Shannon Lowney and Lee Ann Nichols, in Brookline, Massachusetts
January 29, 1998: Robert Sanderson, an off-duty police officer who worked as a security guard at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama
October 23, 1998: Dr. Barnett Slepian in Amherst, New York
May 31, 2009: Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, Kansas
How do we show those who don’t know or who have forgotten that putting Romney in the white house holds a strong possibility that terrorist activity will increase against women and their health providers, and that some women will die? But not only will some women lose their lives. If the availability of abortion is no longer protected by Roe v. Wade, children will lose their mothers, husbands their wives, boyfriends their girlfriends, brothers their sisters, and mothers and fathers their daughters.
Some of you might say, Well, at least we’re not shooting young girls because they want an education like Malala Yousufzai of Pakistan. Okay, but think about it for a minute. What’s the difference? If you put someone in harm’s way, isn’t that the same thing as doing harm to them? If you threaten their well being, are you not a terrorist? Whether this is done with guns or legislation or court decrees, the effect is the same. Whether we are talking about education or health, the stakes are high and the safety of women and girls is at risk.
The entire conversation about abortion and abortion rights has been skewed by a right to life movement that is that in name only. The term pro life has become an acceptable slogan for beliefs and actions that put the lives of women and their doctors in danger. There are many reasons why we have come to this place in our country. Much of it has to do with religious dogmatism and fanaticism. And, isn’t religious fanaticism the reason the life of a vibrant fifteen year old hangs in the balance?
A global perspective is important. Efforts to remove the stigma of abortion are going on worldwide. Building respect for women is a central part of creating a world that honors women’s needs. Whether we are talking about education or health, the safety of women and girls is at risk globally.
In the next two weeks here in the United States, we have to make sure the right president is elected. It’s the least we can do for Malala and for ourselves.
~~~~~
Here’s a lovely way to take action: sign the Bill of Reproductive Rights. I heard about about this from Women’s Health in Boulder. Speaking of which, Women’s Health will host a gala fundraiser on Thursday, November 1 at the Boulder Theater. I’ll be there with copies of Life Choices for sale. It’ll be a lively and fun evening.
It’s unthinkable that RvW could be overturned–I prefer to think it’s so imbedded into our society that no politician would try to unwind that social fabric. That said, I’m dropping off my ballot in minutes.
Thanks, Marian. It IS unthinkable, and for a long time I’ve been saying that there was no way Roe would be overturned. But I’m not so sure anymore what with the continuous rise of the radical right and their infiltration of the Republican party. This election feels shaky to me even with Obama and the Democrats holding solid to the needs and rights of women. Looking forward to Nov. 7 when hopefully we’ll be able to breathe a collective sigh of relief!
A great update, Linda — and tie-in to abortion rights around the world, especially with the upcoming election here, especially today when US Senate Candidate Murdock declared that God intended for babies to be born from raped women.
Jane
Thanks so much, Jane. We’re all doing what we can to keep these extremists at bay.
Thank you for connecting the dots in an articulate and passionate manner, Linda. I will never forget the birth control conversation I had with my beloved and now long-gone father when I was nineteen. He was an M.D.; a general practitioner whose patients’ weddings and the weddings of his patients’ children and grandchildren we often attended while growing up. he loved his patients and took his Hippocratic Oath seriously.
This conversation was in 1976, only three short years after the Roe v. Wade decision and I was a naive nineteen-year-old. My father insisted on talking about abortion, fearful that the decision would not stand the test of time. He pleaded with me, that should this decision ever be overturned and I ever find myself scared and pregnant, with need of an abortion, that I come to him so he could find someone to help me safely.
He spoke of the women who had died from back alley abortions during the decades of his life that it was illegal. Unspoken but hanging in the air between us was my own sister’s back alley abortion the year before Roe v. Wade and the life-threatening infection which ensued. She had not consulted my father at that time. Sigh. My father understood the importance of women controlling their own reproductive freedom and their own destinies. He would have been a champion of this amazing young Pakistani girl. I miss him terribly and now your voice brings back to life the father that I love and sorely miss. Big smiles and love to you.
Cheri,
How beautiful of you to share this story from your family. Your father was clearly a wonderful and forward thinking man. Malala has such a father as well. Thanks so much.
Thanks for a sobering and useful post, Linda. I’ve published the link widely. My hope is that the stark contrasts now being drawn in this election will train people’s attention once and for all on the truth: anything other than full reproductive freedom for all women regardless of income is barbaric repression unworthy of any civilized society. I am grateful for your clarity and courage in highlighting the urgency of this issue. You are right: American women’s lives are literally at stake, as well as the lives of so many across the planet for whom the U.S. is a beacon of women’s freedom, over the crucial next two weeks. Annie
Thanks, Annie, for your thoughts as well as for circulating my post. I hope all is well with you.
Another great post, Linda, and I want to add how much I learn from the comments your posts engender.
Thanks for being such a great support, Gail. It is much appreciated.