feminist blogs in english

When I had my abortion, it was covered by my insurance. My current insurance plan, which is different since I work somewhere else now, also covers abortion should I need it. The bureaucracy was a nightmare, but in the end everything worked out ok and it was covered.

If the Stupak Amendment is included in the health care reform bill, I will not have that coverage again. Hopefully I will never need it, but they wouldn't call them "unplanned pregnancies" if we were expecting it to happen. Countless women will lose their abortion coverage, or be prevented from purchasing a plan that covers it in the future. If you don't know much about the Stupak Amendment yet, google it and learn more about it. This is important. And what we do now will determine whether this becomes law or ends up in the trash where it belongs.

Abortion is not the kind of procedure you can save up for- it needs to be done right away. Due to the deep stigma in our society surrounding abortion, this is not the kind of thing many women would be able to ask family or friends to chip in for. This is a procedure that needs to be covered by health insurance. Anti-Choice activists are always looking for ways they can create barriers to care that limit women's access to reproductive health services they think we shouldn't have. The Stupak Amendment would be like plopping down a huge wall around the clinics where we need to go to for care- some will be able to climb it, but many more won't. The burden's of these barriers fall most heavily on those who already don't have much: women living in poverty, the uninsured, homeless women, etc. While some women can pay out of pocket for abortion, many cannot. No woman should be forced to bear a child simply because she is poor. Everyone deserves choice regardless of the amount in their bank account. Healthcare reform should fix that problem, not exacerbate it.

Please get involved. Defend yourself. Protect the people you love, and the countless women who need your voice now.

... But am glad people are still finding it and appreciating it!

Another woman is blogging about her upcoming abortion, which I hope you will check out and give her your support. "I'm really having an abortion?"

Since I last posted, I've broken up with the fellow who knocked me up last year, for reasons I won't get into. Let it suffice to say that I'm so glad we don't have a child together and that I can cut ties.

I've also started grad school, learned to wake board, gone to countless dance parties, swam all summer long, and am venturing into a new romance with lovely fellow. He is smart and kind and makes me smile... a lot. Yea, I'm pretty smitten. :D

Life is good.

Every once in a while I think about how different my life would have been if I didn't have access to a safe legal abortion, and I feel overwhelmed with gratitude to everyone out there who has fought for women's rights and freedom of choice. You all rock. Thanks.

Celebrate National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers!
Crossposted From Planned Parenthood


Whew! It's been quite a week for Planned Parenthood and women's health, and I realize we've been asking a lot of you lately. It almost feels like our work is never done, and I want you to know that your support and actions are absolutely invaluable to defending choice and making sure women's health remains a priority to our leaders.

A key component of women's health and reproductive freedom is the right to choose safe and legal abortion — a right that I, for one, am incredibly thankful to have. But this right means nothing if there's nobody to provide it. Along with the activists, the legal warriors, and all of us who vote, march, and fight to keep abortion legal, abortion providers themselves play a crucial role in protecting women's reproductive freedom.

March 10 is the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers. It's a time to reflect on the courage and compassion of abortion providers, as well as thank them for their service and attempt to turn what can be a hostile climate into a positive one. March 10 is also the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. David Gunn, the first abortion provider to be murdered by an anti-choice extremist. It is a stark reminder of the unique and dangerous risks abortion providers are willing to face to make sure women have a choice.

Today, the number of abortion providers is shamefully inadequate. More than 85 percent of counties in the United States lack an abortion provider. In rural areas, it's 97 percent. A world without trained abortion providers is a world where safe abortion does not exist. Please join us in honoring those in the trenches: the doctors, nurses, and various medical staff who provide abortions — the very people who make choice possible.

Leave your note of thanks and encouragement to the nation's abortion providers on our discussion board, and we'll deliver them: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=8934429638&topic=7907 You can also change your status update to say \"is thankful for choice and the abortion providers who make it possible: http://tinyurl.com/ch9gdf\" or \"is celebrating National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers: http://tinyurl.com/ch9gdf\" to raise awareness of the importance of safe and legal abortion and the heroic women and men who provide it.

I am so thankful for abortion providers and the risks they take, the hardships they endure, and the harassment they face in order to allow me and all women to have reproductive freedom. Please join me in thanking them — and once again, thank YOU for all your support.

Kendall at Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Another voice breaks the silence:

1 out of 3 ... is ME
"One out of three women in the United States has an abortion by the age of 45. Still the experience remains shrouded in silence, and for some women, shame. This is a pro-choice abortion blog based on my personal experience."

"I'm a forty year old feminist who works to little every day to change the world."

The author of 1 in 3 is having a second trimester abortion at 15 weeks, and is one of the few, if not only woman talking about her personal experience with this. Less than 5% of abortions take place at her gestational point.

I applaud her bravery and wish her health and happiness. Her procedure is tomorrow, so please join me in sending her your support and good wishes.

I got my period in mid January, about 5 weeks after my abortion. It was a normal period.

I still haven't sorted out the insurance mess, which is partially because I'm lazy and partially because it is so confusing and bureaucratic. Planned Parenthood sent me an invoice a few weeks ago, even though according to my insurance company they owe me money and not vice-versa. Still working on that one! Advice welcome!!

All is generally going well for me, and I really appreciate the support of my friends, my boss, and my partner through all of this.

It sometimes makes me sad that some people I care about would consider my decision immoral or think that women like me should not be allowed to make our own choices about our bodies. But I have no regrets. It upsets me to realize that some women are surrounded by only people who would judge them for making such a decision and don't have anyone to talk to about it. Considering that this is a procedure that nearly one in three women have, it should be easy to find someone to talk to. But stigma creates a silencing barrier.

One group that is trying to fight this stigma is women on waves, an awesome non-profit that you should check out. Here is a place where you can read about many women's abortion experiences. Some of them are even brave enough to share their face. I'm not that brave- sorry folks.

Please know that I will continue to check my email address associated with this blog even if I do not keep posting regularly. Please feel free to contact me with questions or to vent about your experience. abortionblogger@gmail.com

This is a great story about one woman's discovery about why reproductive freedom is so important:

http://abortionclinicdays.blogs.com/abortionclinicdays/2008/12/after-today-only-more-light-.html

It's great to see someone feel empowered and strong in a difficult situation.

Ok, I finally figured it out. Planned Parenthood sent them a bill for $1,000+, and my insurance company analysed it and decided that based on the agreements they have for huge discounts to insurance companies, that the bill should have been about $275, and that much money was applied to my deductible. Since I payed $525, they have to pay me back for the difference. But if I cant get that money back, I will still only have $275 applied to my deductible. They made this as unclear as possible in the weird letter they wrote me. I will be doubly screwed if I can't get that money back and end up needing to spend my entire deductible.

An important thing to note here (that probably the whole world except me knew) is that the insurance system is based on these huge discounts for insurance companies and people with insurance. In other words, if I didnt have insurance... I would have paid quite a bit more for the same service. Basically, uninsured people are being totally fucked over- their medical care prices are absurdly high compared to other people's. Even a place like Planned Parenthood that does sliding scale based on income, has to accept lower payments from the insurance companies and insured then from their poorest uninsured clients. Ok, I'm not actually sure what their lowest sliding scale rate is for abortion, but I think I heard $300 once. I am not sure. But I bet it is not less than, say, $250.

This is not really about abortion, it was exactly the same situation for my co-worker's daughter who was getting her appendix removed. The hospital could only get a little over half the money they would have been able to bill if she were uninsured. So, with insurance it was a $4,000 procedure counting co-payments and what the insurance company paid. If she were uninsured, it would have been a $7,000 procedure. Now that's what I call fair. Thanks, capitalism!

So I talked to my insurance company, and they said lots of things in insurance language that made no sense.

The gist of it (I think) was that the amount planned parenthood quoted me for the cost of the abortion was probably discounted based on my income(since they are a non-profit and do that kind of thing), but since I had insurance my insurance was charged the full cost (which was indeed over $1,000).

Also- this thing they sent me that looks like a bill is not. It is telling me how much I should have owed to Planned Parenthood after my insurance paid their portion, which was $254.13. But, I paid $525. So Planned Parenthood owes me the difference and my insurance company could care less because it isn't their money that is in question. It's mine. So I have to sort it out myself. I've tried calling the billing phone number at planned parenthood for a while, and it reminds me of this other time I was trying to reach them on the phone....

Ussually I would go to my parents to help me figure out this sort of insurance stuff, or to the person in my office who deals with insurance stuff. But my parents are prochoice politically but not personally, and I have no idea what my co-worker thinks on the topic and don't want deal with pity or condemnation in the workplace. It just wouldnt be pleasant.

So I'm done trying to deal with this for today. I guess I will try again tomorrow.

I came across this blog entry about detecting pseudo-science, and thought "What a handy-dandy thing for women and girls trying to learn the facts about abortion!"

This list seems more geared towards avoiding being sold miracle cures, but I still think a lot of this is relevant for identifying the propoganda of the prolife movement and their bajillions of pseudoscience-based lies. Get the full story here or just read the summary I took from that blog.

I thought about inserting a comment or email I have recieved from a pseudo-science flinging prolifer for each of these points, to demonstrate how they use each of these forms of deception, but don't want to make this post too long. The rest of this post is copied and pasted from the Defaithed blog.

Red flags warning of pseudoscience

1. Appeal to Authority
Celebrity endorsements, lab coats, fancy degrees or certifications... all distractions that point to the impressiveness of the claimant, not the truth of the claim.

2. Ancient Wisdom
Commonly seen attached to "alternative" medical therapies, and a pet peeve of mine – lots of "ancient wisdom" will get you killed! As Brian points out: all that matters is not the age of the "wisdom", but simply this: Does it work?

3. Confirmation Bias
The tendency to remember events that coincide with beliefs, and ignore or forget those that don't. Confirmation bias is one of the worst sloppy-thinking offenders, in my opinion - and one of the hardest for us to overcome.

4. Confusion of Correlation with Causation
Another common sticking point for many people. Brian's example: You'll find correlation between rice consumption and black hair, but not causation.

5. Red Herrings
Irrelevant information that distracts without addressing facts.

6. Proof by Verbosity
Information overload to create the appearance of comprehensiveness and thorough research. It's quantity over quality.

7. Mystical Energy
"Chi", "negative energy", "positive energy"... Brian suggests that you replace any mention of "energy" with the word's actual meaning - "measurable work capability" - and ask whether the claim still makes sense.

8. Suppressed by Authorities
Conspiracy! Beware! Yet... Why would pharmaceutical giants suppress miracle cures... or automakers squelch super-efficient engines... instead of embracing and profiting wildly from those discoveries?

9. All Natural
Yes, a pseudoscience health supplement may be "all natural"... but so are poison oak, scorpion venom, lead, mercury, bubonic plague, black holes... Natural doesn't mean safe!

10. Ideological Support
Causes that use courts, marches, campaigns, and so on to push a belief may be fueled more by indeology than by science.

Make pseudoscience detectors part of your toolkit

The above is hardly a complete list, as Brian takes pain to point out. But I'm going to memorize the list and, as he suggests, watch how often they turn up in daily life. Sounds like a great toolkit for tackling nonsense head-on!

Incidentally, I highly recommend the Skeptoid podcast. Each episode plays like a mystery story, with a detective digging up the facts to lay some case of the unexplained to rest. Give it a listen!

My appointment was at 11, which is apparently around when the clinic escorts and protesters pack up their bags and go home.

There were a few lingering protesters chitchatting with eachother but not really bothering anyone (or at least not bothering me). I was a little more intimidated about having to go past protesters since I was going by myself this time and I didnt see any of my orange-vested friends, but it wasn't really a problem.

The clinic escort volunteers were inside, also chitchatting, and packing up their little orange vests for next time.

When I signed in I tried to get help with the insurance issue:

"Yea, you guys sent a $1,000+ bill to my insurance company even though I already payed for the abortion when I was here (and it was $525, not $1000+). Why? Can you un-do that?" but they pretty quickly let me know that this wasn't their problem, and gave me the number to the billing office. I'll tackle that problem later because I have a cold, and am just not feeling up for it.

They called my name after a while, I peed in a cup, they pricked my finger to do some blood test, took my temperature and bloodpressure.

I was really hoping I would get to keep my pants on for the whole appointment, but no, I had to get an ultrasound. Continuing the trend of stressing me out with ultrasounds, the lady who did the ultrasound had this conversation with me:

"Do you have ovarian cysts or something?" she says with furrowed brow.

"Um, I don't know. I don't know what that means."

"Well, there is something on your ultrasound. It isnt a pregnancy, but there is something there. You may need to talk to your regular gynecologist about this."

Ooooooookay. Then I was sent to the recovery room, which is the waiting room with the reclining chairs and heat pads for everyone. Very nice place, but one girl was puking every now and then into a red biohazard bag.

I was there for about an hour, and then they sent me and the 3 other women who didnt need the fancy chairs and heating pads back to the regular waiting room which was jam packed. I waited there for another hour.

An older woman was there with her daughter (I think), and was talking loudly about the importance of choice (amongst other things). She said when she was a teenager, she had friends getting abortions in back alleys and she was always scared for them, knowing what a huge risk it was. "Women have to have a choice, and I'm so glad it's safe now for women to make choices." I wanted to talk to her more and hear her stories, but I was feeling a little shy.

While I sat in the waiting room, I couldn't help but wonder what the hell was on my ultrasound. My "not-pregnancy". I texted my boyfriend about it, and he texted back, "what could it be? Is it a tumor?" I tried not to worry, because I have no idea what sorts of things can be floating around in or on wombs, and maybe there are some perfectly harmless things. But generally, I was pretty stressed out about it.

Eventually my name was called (it had been about 2 hours since my ultrasound). Me and one other young woman were called back, and waited in the room where my blood was taken earlier.

"Is this your follow up?" She asked, and I said yes. "Which kind did you have?"

"The medical kind" I said.

She said, "me too. Was it really bad?"

"No," I said, "not too bad."

"Oh, mine was kinda bad."

"Did it hurt a lot?" I asked.

"Yea, I mean, it wasn't sooo bad, but for the first few hours-"

The nurse came in and interrupted her, and took me back to an exam room. I wanted to hear what this young woman had to say because I have no one else to compare abortion pill stories with at this point, and I bet she has no-one either. Typing into the void is somewhat helpful, but what I really want is to be able to talk. And I also really want to listen. I just want women to be able to talk to eachother, but I know for most of us we have to keep our lips sealed to protect us from other people's judgement. So chances for conversations like the one we almost had are rare, and I was genuinely sad to lose the chance to continue talking.

The doctor came in and asked how it went, I said fine, and asked what was on my ultrasound. "Oh, nothing" he said.

"Nothing? She said there was something there." The "she" I was referring to was in the room but said nothing. I don't know what her background is- if she is a nurse or what.

"It looks fine to me. Sometimes they just look like that. What kind of birth control do you use or do you want to start using?" (Wait, look like what? huh?)

"I want the NuvaRing," I said, instead of pushing for a better explanation of my ultrasound.

"Ok," he said. Shook my hand, and left.

A little while later I was given my prescription.

I thought about my 2 minute doctor appointment that I had waited several hours for, and was generally dissatisfied. I had been given too much time to worry about my "not pregnancy" to just accept that all was fine. And I was still supremely cranky about the insurance mess up, and the combination made me feel generally distrustful of the clinic. So I asked for a copy of the ultrasound, filled out the necessary paperwork to get copies released to me, and left.

I am not 100% sure what to do with the ultrasound photos. I think I will bring them to a different gyno when I go to get a papsmear, and just ask them to take a look and tell me what they think. I would normally go to planned parenthood for gyno appointments, but I wonder if I should find a different place to get my 2nd opinion.

So that's it for now. Thanks for reading.