In its 1972 debut issue, Ms. Magazine ran a bold petition in which 53 well-known U.S. women declared that they had undergone abortions—despite state laws rendering the procedure illegal. These women were following the example of a 1971 manifesto signed by 343 prominent French women, who also had declared they had abortions.
Even then, to many it seemed absurd that the government could deny a woman sovereignty over her own body. It is even more absurd in 2006 to learn that an abortion ban has passed into law in South Dakota, although it has been stayed until an initiative to remove the ban is voted on this November. Whatever happens in South Dakota, 17 other states now have trigger laws or pre-Roe v. Wade laws that could automatically ban abortion if the Supreme Court were to reverse Roe. A myriad of restrictions already limit access to abortion in the U.S. for poor women, young women and women in the military.
We know it is time again for women of conscience to stand up and speak truth to power.
At the time of the original Ms. petition, illegal abortions were causing untold suffering in the United States, especially for poor women who had to resort to unsafe self-induced or back-alley abortions. Today, in the developing nations, approximately 70,000 women and girls die each year from botched and unsafe abortions. Another 500,000 needless maternal deaths occur. Most of this suffering and loss could be prevented. U.S. international family-planning policies contribute to the death toll: first, by conditioning U.S. aid March Protestors on a global gag rule that prevents medical workers from even giving out information on abortion (let alone providing the service); second, by withholding or providing inadequate funds; and finally, by funding “abstinence-only” rather than comprehensive sex education.
We are now starting a new petition, beginning with the names of some of the original 1972 signers. They signed to save lives and to spare other women the pain of socially imposed guilt.” Their purpose was “to repeal archaic and inhuman laws.” They recognized that because of the “social stigma still wrongly attached to abortion” many would not be able to sign publicly. But they invited all women to sign—“to help eliminate the stigma.”
Ms. Reader Stories
Ms. has been simply flooded with letters to the editor about our “We Had Abortions” petition. Women across the country are telling Ms. their stories, and we will be posting some of those stories here later this week. Send your story to letterstotheeditor@msmagazine.com. And, check back to see the latest reader stories and news about the Ms. petition!
We recognize that, still, not every woman will be able to sign—33 years after Roe— even though abortion is a very common, necessary and important procedure for millions of women in the U.S. But if a multitude of women step forward publicly, and more and more continue to join us, we will transform the public debate.
We know that women who have had abortions have spoken out many times during the last 33 years, and millions of women and men have marched in countless rallies and demonstrations. It is time to speak out again—in even larger numbers—and to make politicians face their neighbors, influential members of the community and, yes, their own family members who have had abortions. We cannot, must not, lose the right to safe and accessible abortion or access to birth control—for U.S. women and the women of the world. Just as in 1972, Ms. will send the signed petitions to the White House, members of Congress and state legislators. We will also post the petition online. And we ask signers to make a contribution so Ms. can promote the petition and provide needed funds to fight abortion bans and support targeted abortion providers, such as the sole remaining women’s clinic in Mississippi.
Your name and your voice will make a difference.
Sign the petition
Contribute to spread the word
Ms. in the News
Watch a CNN segment on the Ms. “We Had Abortions” petition.
Read the Associated Press article on the Ms. Petition.
What the Blogs Are Saying
The Ms. “We Had Abortions” petition has received tremendous coverage by our friends in the feminist and progressive blogosphere. Here is a sampling of these posts.
Women Protest for Reproductive RightsHuffingtonPost.com’s Becoming Fearless: In a post entitled “Fearless on Abortion,” author Angela Bonavoglia recounts her similar effort to destigmatize abortion in her book The Choices We Made: 25 Women and Men Speak Out About Abortion . Bonavoglia quotes actress Anne Archer in her book as saying”It is only through the personal stories of women who have had abortions that we will come to understand what the human experience is.”
Feministing: Jessica Valenti writes that it’s “kind of sad that we’re in such bad shape that another petition is needed so many years later” after the first petition in 1972 in the debut issue of Ms.
Salon.com’s Broadsheet came to Ms.’ defense when AOL News misleading referred to the “We Had Abortions” petition as naming women who had abortions, though in fact the women who signed the petition named themselves, and many wanted to tell their stories.
Daily Kos diarist Rogneid urged readers to sign the Ms. Petition, saying, “Let our signatures be our voice and our hope that we can keep abortion safe and legal.”
Reproductive Rights Blog wrote that it’s astounding “how many people feel like they’re all alone in the abortion thing. I repeat constantly that almost 1/2 of American women will have an abortion at some point in their lives.”
World estimations of the number of terminations carried out each year is somewhere between 20 and 88 million.
3,500 per day / 1.3 million per year in America alone.
50% of that 1.3 million claimed failed birth control was to blame.
A further 48% had failed to use any birth control at all.
And 2% had medical reasons.
That means a stagering 98% may have been avoided had an effective birth control been used.
Bill Clinton once said that abortions should be available , safe and RARE. He is a very wise man.
I’d like to see an ultrasound in every clinnic to provide a more informed choice before going through with something they may regret.
I’d also like to see birth control made available to all who can’t afford it.
ausblog,
you need to consider a few things:
1) for over 2/3 of the pregnancy the foetus is nothing more than a parasite on its mother – totally incapable of independent existence.
2) a collection of cells does not constitute a life – only a potential one. Life = viable.
3) abortion is rarely regretted. Why? Because children remain dependent for many years. You have to want them to be around.
4) if abortion is safe, there is no reason for it to be rare. It is, after all, just another method of birth control.
Something for Pro-choicers and Pro-lifers to concider…..
I am a 98% pro-lifer, 2% Pro-choicer, who has no religious convictions at all . I didn’t need the fear of god or anything else to come to my decision, just a good sense of what is right and wrong.
You see we were all once a fetus. Is it beyond the realm of possibilities that when your mother first learned she was carrying you, she may have considered her options? What if she had decided to terminate? Would that have been OK?
You would not exist, if you have children they would not exist, and your (husband or wife) would be married to someone else. You would have been deprived of all your experiences and memories. In this day and age with terminations being so readily available and so many being carried out, if you make it to full term
you can consider yourself lucky. Lucky you had a mother that made the choice of life for you. Don’t you think they all deserve the same basic human right, LIFE?
I’m all for contraception, prevention is certainly better than termination.
Did you know you can get an implant that is safe, 99.9% effective, and lasts for three years? Just think girls not even a show for three years, wouldn’t that be great? I think too many people rely too heavily on the last option (abortion), I think if abortions weren’t so readily available people would manage their reproductive system far better resulting in a fraction of the number of unwanted pregnancies.
World wide there are over 50 MILLION aborted pregnancies each year. In America 3,500 terminations carried out every day, that’s over 1.3 million every year, 50% of all cases claimed that birth control had been used, 48% admitted they took no precaution, and 2% had a medical reason. That’s a staggering 98% that may have been prevented had an effective birth control been used. Don’t get me wrong, I suspect the percentages in Australia would be much the same.
Just a lot of unnecessary killing.
At the point of conception is when life began for you. This was the start of your existence. Your own personal big bang. Three weeks after conception heart started to beat. First brain waves recorded at six weeks after conception. Seen sucking thumb at seven weeks after conception.
I am convinced that in the not too distant future, people will look back at many of the practices of today with disbelief and horror.
Want to know how to find humanity-?
True humanity can only be achieved, by concidering others/ caring about others, as much as, if not more than yourself.
Bill Clinton once said that abortions should be available , safe and RARE. He is a very wise man.
I’d like to see an ultrasound in every clinnic to provide a more informed choice,
before going through with something they may regret.
I’d also like to see effective birth control made available to all who can’t afford it.
Have you seen ( HOT OFF THE SHOW! Throw-away babies )
a blog by Sharon Hughes?
If you think the point of conception is NOT when life begins, and all you have is a clump of cells and not a living human being.
Then at least concider this -
Soon after you were conceived you were no more than a clump of cells.
This clump of cells was you at your earliest stage, you had plenty of growing to do but this clump of cells was you none the less. Think about it.
Aren’t you glad you were left unhindered to develope further.
Safe inside your mother’s womb until you were born.
@ausblog
The idea that I wouldn’t exist if my mother had decided to have an abortion doesn’t fill me with nearly as much trepidation as you seem to think it will.
As Melanie said, it’s just another form of birth control. If my dad had worn a condom, I wouldn’t have been conceived. So what?
Your belief that people who know that abortion is a woman’s right are so selfish that their minds can be changed if they only stop to think “Ooooh, if my mum had had an abortion I wouldn’t be alive” is laughable. And sad.
It’s her body. It’s her right. End of story.
I agree with aus blog. I was one of the 50% of women in his stats provided. Prevention is far better than cure. I beleive that had I been better informed in my teenage years (sex education), perhaps I could have avoided the pregnancy with both natural methods and a condom to be even safer. Science has come along way in better understanding how the female cycle works as well as medical “solutions” such as abortions. Why aren’t we teaching young girls the science involved with their bodies in order to prevent the need for the abortions. It would probably do good to teach boys too so that they are more aware of their partners cycle and when the risk is higher of getting pregnant so they can use a condom if they don’t want to become a daddy (this would also help prevent a woman “trapping them”. Come on people, knowledge is a powerful tool to take better control of our own lives. To be able to teach our teenagers to be more responsible for their actions they need this knowledge or science of the human body. I am 30 now and married last year. My husband and I are now trying to concieve our first child. Believe me, we are both learning things about our own bodies and each others’ right now that we should have known about a long time ago!
It is fact and it is natural, why is it something we feel shouldn’t be discussed?