[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] AWARE Minutes-10-10-04

[jencart]

Well said, Jen T.  It's also a racial issue, because more white women world wide have access to ALL kinds of reproductive choices than do women of color.... And of course it's a gender issue too, as men don't get pregnant....

Jenifer C.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Jen T. writes --
I know I don't usually respond to things on the peace-discuss list, but I feel I need to reply.

>From my understanding they are specifically working on increasing access to emergency contraception (ie. the morning after pill-- called Plan B). This pill prevents pregnancy when taken within a certain time limit. It DOES NOT however terminate a pregnancy if that has already occurred, ie. the morning-after-pill is different from RU-486. For more info, see below.

Another way to look at this issue is that regardless of your personal opinion on contraceptives (or even specifically abortion) is that this is a n
issue over a women's right to choose (and not your right to choose for her) .

When you look at it through that lense, it cannot be compared to the US government's "casual" look at the value of human life. You cannot even compare the women's right to choose to the government's reckless policies o f
war. To do so is an insult to every women!!

I think this is an issue, like any progressive issues, for our community to stand behind and support. It would be a shame for a group like AWARE to not endorse this event because it sends a message to others that AWARE does not value a women's right to choose. Even though AWARE is an anti-war group, this does not mean that emergency contraception is not relevant to AWARE's work. 

Jen Tayabji
IDF Executive Director
**

For more info on the differences between Plan B and RU-486 (medical abortion).

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/library/birthcontrol/ecandma.html

The Difference Between Emergency Contraception and Medical Abortion

There is considerable public confusion about the difference between emergency contraception and medical abortion because of misinformation disseminated by anti-choice groups. Emergency contraception helps prevent pregnancy; medical abortion terminates pregnancy. According to general medical definitions of pregnancy that have been endorsed by many organizations including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the United States Department of Health and Human Services ,
pregnancy begins when a pre-embryo completes implantation into the lining o f
the uterus (ACOG, 1998; DHHS, 1978; Hughes, 1972; ³Make the DistinctionŠ² 2001). Methods of contraception, including emergency contraception, prevent pregnancy by inhibiting ovulation, fertilization and/or implantation (ACOG, 1998). Medical abortion terminates a pregnancy without surgery. By helping women to prevent unplanned pregnancies after unprotected intercourse, emergency contraception has the great potential to decrease the rate of abortion. By helping women terminate unwanted pregnancies up to 63 days after their last menstruation, medical abortion is a safe and effective option.



On 10/12/04 1:56 PM, "Morton K. Brussel" <brussel at uiuc.edu> wrote:

> I hesitate to tread here.
> 
> There will always be "some" who believe ("understand"?) anything; that
> seems to be in the nature of "faith". "Human life" is turning out to be
> a very slippery concept.  However, since this issue is for "some"
> controversial (For how many on the left I don't know.), perhaps Carl is
> right that, tactically, AWARE should not endorse this effort. All those
> who would wish to support the effort, and most of us may be in that
> camp, can do so on an individual basis.
> 
> mkb
> 
> 
> On Oct 11, 2004, at 9:38 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote: