Abortion, Right and Wrong By Rachel Richardson Smith

Since I wrote and posted  NARAL Takes The Coward's Approach on Amendment 69* I've continued thinking about the bigger question of a woman's sovereignty over her own body and legislative bans on abortion funding.  Obviously I think those bans are very wrong.  But there are the deeper questions that need to be faced and discussed.  Back in about 1994 I read an essay that to this day remains the most insightful review of the topic I've read.  I believe it ought be perquisite reading for all who speak out on abortion one way or the other.  Originally published in Newsweek, March 25, 1985, it has been republished and even studied in writing classes.

NARAL did have valid points that must be addressed.  My only argument with NARAL is that they've chosen to run from the problem rather than showing a willingness to confront it and fix it.  I don't think that's acceptable.  I share the following essay because it adds depth to this discussion.

* also see: Passing Amendment 69 - Why the Fear? Embrace the Challenge!

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Abortion, Right and Wrong

By Rachel Richardson Smith

I cannot bring myself to say I am in favor of abortion. I don’t want anyone to have one. I want people to use contraceptives and for those contraceptives to be foolproof. I want people to be responsible for their actions, mature in their decisions. I want children to be loved, wanted, well cared for.

I cannot bring myself to say I am against choice. I want women who are young, poor, single or all three to be able to direct the course of their lives. I want women who have had all the children they want or can afford or their in bad marriages or destructive relationships to avoid being trapped by pregnancy.

So these days when thousands rally in opposition to legalized abortion, when facilities providing abortions are bombed, when the president speaks glowingly of the growing momentum behind the anti-abortion movement, I find myself increasingly alienated from those pro-life groups.

At the same time, I am overwhelmed with mail from pro-choice groups. They, too, are mobilizing their forces, growing articulate in support of their cause, and they want my support. I am not sure I can give it.

I find myself in the awkward position of being both anti-abortion and pro-choice. Neither group seems to be completely right—or wrong. It is not that I think abortion is wrong for me but acceptable for someone else. The question is far more complex than that.

NARAL Takes The Coward's Approach on Amendment 69.

{edited 10/9/16 evening}
Excuse the aggressive title, but I wanted to get your attention.  This is an open letter to NARAL ProChoice Colorado and anyone else with fears concerning the potential of Amendment 69 and ColoradoCare resulting in the banning of funding for abortions and limited woman's reproductive health care rights.  This fear is disputed by ColoradoCare legal experts. 

I also want to share an under-appreciated aspect of the ProLife/ProChoice argument.  

This is followed by ColoradoCare’s response to ProChoice fears and quotes from an article by John Frank of the Denver Post.  I hope some find it useful.  Feel free to copy and improve.

{Also see: Passing Amendment 69 - Why the Fear? Embrace the Challenge! }

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The “Right To Life" movement doesn't represent all of our society.  It doesn't even represent the majority.  It does represent a self-certain faith-based hostility towards a woman's reproductive rights.  It has been successful in forcing their will onto our laws.  

The lawyers of ColoradoCare have explained their legal argument that passing Amendment 69 will supersede the 1984 Article V, section 50 provision that stipulates the ban on public funds.

If it goes to court?  So be it.  The lawyers can get at it and address the legal arguments and this time resoundingly reject the validity of the 1984 ban, thus resolving the issue.

Consider for a moment, a fetus in a woman is a potential human.  It is a life form that has many challenges and hurdles to overcome before it can take on the mantle of human being.  {Do you know that nature, or God, allows a big percentage of conceptions to result in spontaneous abortions as it is.  So, who’s to say? }

What we should say, acknowledge and demand is the recognition that the mother is supremely her own life and body!  She is the host to that potential human being.  She possesses an awareness and love for that little life developing inside of her beyond what any outsider can appreciate.

There are times when a pregnancy will do fundamental harm to a woman’s life and wellbeing.  She, NOT outsiders with an ideological ax to grind, along with her loved ones and caregivers are best suited to evaluate the situation and support the woman in making the appropriate choices no matter how heartbreaking.  It is not society’s concern beyond allowing the woman to do the best she can, given her circumstances.

A woman has a right to self-defense and these bans on abortion are an affront to that right of self-defense, a fundamental American Right.  

ProgressNow Colorado should reconsider their opposition to Amendment 69 (Senator Aguilar)

In keeping with my mission to collect relevant information that can help folks make an informed decision on how to vote for Amendment 69 I want to share this article by Senator Irene Aguilar, one of its architects.  It was written in response to ProgressNow’s rejection of Amendment 69 due to fears of it’s impact on reproductive rights in Colorado. (PS my title, her op-ed)

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Senator Irene Aguilar, MD: “ColoradoCare is real progress, right now”

Posted by Owen Perkins | Aug 19, 2016 

http://www.coloradocare.org/posts/senator-irene-aguilar-md-coloradocare-real-progress-right-now/

by Senator Irene Aguilar

Earlier this week, ProgressNow, a nonprofit that claims to support progressive issues, came out against ColoradoCare/Amendment 69. With this decision, the organization abandoned the people of Colorado and joined forces with status quo establishment politicians and profit- driven private insurers who make it their business to deny care to those who need it most. ProgressNow abandoned legendary progressive voices like Noam Chomsky, who endorsed ColoradoCare in July, and joined forces with corporate insurance lobbyists and Big Pharma, who are spending millions of dollars to spread fear and lies about universal health care.

By opposing ColoradoCare, ProgressNow showed it is not looking for real progress, and certainly not now. But real progress is exactly what the people of Colorado need. Right now.

Our current health care system is broken. Corporate insurers care about their wealth, not our health. One million (one out of five) Coloradans are underinsured. 350,000 Coloradans have no insurance. 535 Coloradans die each year because we cannot afford the care we need. The sick, poor, and elderly, terms that apply to most of us at some point, are often stuck with inadequate care and costly medical bills.

Meanwhile, profits under the corporate system are skyrocketing. Corporate insurance rates for next year are forecast to rise sharply — by as much as 40 percent for one insurer — and there’s no end in sight. Aetna’s 2nd quarter profits were up 8.5 percent from last year. They made a profit of $783.3 million, and CEO Mark Bertolini took home $27.9 million. Still, Aetna was “losing money” with the sick, those who actually need coverage, and so it is pulling out of the Affordable Care Act exchanges in 11 states to focus on more lucrative markets.

Having worked as a primary care physician at Denver Health for 18 years, I have witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of the inability to afford basic health care. In 2007,