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Kelly Carlin

Reclaiming the Morality of Abortion

For decades, a movement which calls itself “pro-life” has unleashed violence against abortion providers, shamed and humiliated women, and relentlessly restricted access to abortion, especially for poor women. Over 80% of abortion clinics have experienced violence, threats, or harassment; eight doctors and staff have been murdered. Today, 97% of rural counties have no abortion provider. One in four poor women who seeks an abortion cannot afford it and is forced to have a child she does not want. Five states have only one abortion clinic left.” Two women who came out of the “Abortion closet” – Katie Klabusich and Kelly Carlin, join host Dennis Trainor, Jr. to discuss what the world would look like if women were not forced to apologize for abortions.

Coming Out of The Abortion Closet

In the United Sates, one out of every three women has had an abortion. If you are a women living in Texas, and a growing number of states, access to this basis, simple and safe procedure has been severely restricted with the passage of Hundreds of new laws in the last several years that strip a women's right to privacy, limit access to abortion and shame women into thinking that their choice about what to do with their bodies is wrong. It’s been over 40 years since the Supreme Court decided, in Roe v. Wade, that women had a constitutional right to abortion. The legal argument was based around the concept that women had a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, and that right extended to their right to have an abortion. Perhaps no time in the 40 years since Roe v Wade have female reproductive rights been so under attack. From Texas to Alabama to Congressmen saying that women can’t get pregnant when raped because their bodies have a way of shutting that down, men, usually white conservative men with ties to patriarchal religious institutions are working their balls off trying to control women; specifically a woman access to birth control and abortion.

Patriarchy and Religion: Built to Oppress Women

In the United Sates, one out of every three women has had an abortion. If you are a women living in Texas, and a growing number of states, access to this basis, simple and safe procedure has been severely restricted with the passage of Hundreds of new laws in the last several years that strip a women's right to privacy, limit access to abortion and shame women into thinking that their choice about what to do with their bodies is wrong. It’s been over 40 years since the Supreme Court decided, in Roe V Wade, that women had a constitutional right to abortion. The legal argument was based around the concept that women had a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, and that right extended to their right to have an abortion. Perhaps no time in the 40 years since Roe v Wade have female reproductive rights been so under attack. From Texas to Alabama to Congressmen saying that women can’t get pregnant when raped because their bodies have a way of shutting that down, men, usually white conservative men with ties to patriarchal religious institutions are working their balls off trying to control women; specifically a woman access to birth control and abortion

The Catholic War on Women {aTV 005}

DISCUSSED: Abortion, Pope Francis, Patriarchy, Does the choice movement need an “it gets better” campaign to empower women to not hide/ apologize about their abortions?, Roe v. Wade, Clinic defenders, Abortion stories, How the Bible teaches women to abort unwanted pregnancy, Bad Choices, Being a target of a pro-life “wanted” poster, Abortion as a local issue, Single women who love sex and don’t want babies. Kelly Carlin frames her experience of being a woman in the current cultural and political climate in the following way: “The bottom line is, as a woman, I don’t feel safe in the world. I feel like an object. I feel like I could be raped or beaten at any moment. And I feel like I don’t have real control over my destiny and my future. And I have to feel ashamed of my body and who I am. If I could wake up and know that my culture no longer thought those things about me, the world would be such an incredible place because women could actually feel the power they have to help solve the problems that this planet is facing right now.” Katie Klabusich relates her harrowing experience as a target of a “Wanted Poster” campaign from the Pro-Life Action League. “They decided for Lent this year to put together an Internet meme asking people to pray for (three people): me, (and also) an abortion doctor, and a pro-choice journalist. They put the three of us, with our names, cities, where we work, etc., (and published) it in the blog post and told people to ‘pray’ for us.” This was a major concern because, as Katie says,” the anti-choice movement has used wanted posters to kill people. It has lead to assassinations.”

Should Women Apologize for Abortion?

It’s been over 40 years since the Supreme Court decided, in Roe v Wade, that women have a constitutional right to abortion. The legal argument was based around the concept that women had a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, and that right extended to their right to have an abortion. Perhaps no time in the 40 years since Roe v Wade have female reproductive rights been so under attack. From Texas to Alabama to Congressmen saying that women can’t get pregnant when raped because their bodies have a way of shutting that sh*t down, men (usually white conservative men with ties to patriarchal religious institutions) are working their balls off trying to control women; specifically a woman access to birth control and abortion. In the United Sates, one out of every three women has had an abortion. If you are a women living in Texas, and a growing number of states, access to this basic, simple, and safe procedure has been severely restricted with the passage of hundreds of new laws in the last several years that strip a women's right to privacy, limit access to abortion, and shame women into thinking that their choice about what to do with their bodies is wrong.

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