From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: Abortion Rights Are Not Enough!
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 22:48:05 GMT

/** gen.women: 384.0 **/
** Topic: Abortion Rights Are Not Enough! **
** Written  3:14 pm  Apr  7, 1992 by dsa in cdp:gen.women **
ABORTION RIGHTS ARE NOT ENOUGH!  Fight for Reproductive Freedom is
available in bulk from Democratic Socialists of America, 15 Dutch
Street, Suite 500, New York, NY 10038
 
     Safe and legal abortion has always been a primary demand of
the movement for women's equality and reproductive rights. Now,
more than ever, we have to fight to protect those rights. However,
we must also have a broader vision of reproductive freedom that not
only demands safe, legal, and accessible abortion, but
comprehensive sex education, access to contraception and
reproductive technologies, freedom from forced sterilization,
national health care, affordable child care, alternative parenting
options, and decent jobs that pay a living wage and allow for
maternity and paternity leave, or compensation for childrearing.
Without all of these, no woman can fully exercise her right to
choose to have a child or to not have a child.
 
Socialist Feminism
     Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has long been a part of
the struggle to insure that every woman is guaranteed reproductive
freedom, regardless of race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation,
ability, or age. Socialists bring to the broader movement for
reproductive rights an emphasis on the social and economic context
that defines a woman's ability to exercise those rights. Clearly,
for choice to be meaningful, the debate and activism around
reproductive rights must address the social and economic conditions
of women. A socialist vision of reproductive freedom offers
individuals real choices regarding sexuality, fertility, and
reproduction.
 
Safe & Legal Abortion
     Abortion is an option that women must be allowed to choose
based on their own life situation and their religious or moral
beliefs. Historically, women have sought abortions as an
alternative to unwanted pregnancy, regardless of abortion's legal
status. Rather than substantially decreasing the number of
abortions, recriminalization would primarily increase the physical
risk, the financial cost, and the emotional toll women are forced
to endure.
 
Sex Education
     To make informed decisions about sexual activity and
fertility, young people must learn about their bodies and
reproductive systems.  Currently, only twelve states and the
District of Columbia require sex education courses to be taught
from kindergarten through high school. DSA demands that sex
education and AIDS awareness be taught in schools and that condoms
and other contraceptive devices be made available to young people
through a school-based program of reproductive health services.
 
Contraceptives
     For a woman to have true control over her fertility, she must
have a variety of contraceptive choices that are safe, affordable
and accessible regardless of her income or age. Research and
marketing of contraceptive and reproductive technologies cannot
remain solely in the hands of corporations. Corporate control has
allowed for both the marketing of such hazardous devices as the
Dalkon Shield and the silicone breast implant, and the blockage of
potentially effective abortifacients such as RU486.
 
End To Sterilization Abuse
     In this country, sterilization has been used as a form of
coercive population control, primarily performed on Mexican,
Chicana, African American, Puerto Rican and Native American women,
as well as women in prison, women on public assistance, and women
with perceived mental incapacities. Between 1907 and 1945, 45,000
women were legally sterilized without consent in American
hospitals. More recently, low-income women, especially women of
color, have been encouraged to undergo sterilization without a
complete understanding of its ramifications. And at least one woman
has been forced by a judge to use the Norplant birth control
device. This racist and classist practice is unacceptable.
Sterilization should be an option for men and women with a variety
of choices, not a punishment or a forced procedure.
 
National Health Care
     Currently 38 million Americans are without medical insurance
and another 40 to 60 million are underinsured. A broad-based
movement for  health care reform is getting stronger everyday. DSA
is a part of that movement and supports a single-payer,
Canadian-style health insurance system that would guarantee health
care for all with no co-payments or deductibles, and doctor choice.
Any health care reform proposal must provide care that is reponsive
to women's needs, and treats reproductive health as an integral
part of a comprehensive system. This includes access to abortion,
contraceptives, and pre- and post-natal maternal care. The only way
to guarantee access to abortion for all women is with a federal
mandate such as the Freeom of Choice Act, and a single-payer health
care system, as proposed by the Russo and Wellstone bills.
     
Affordable Child Care
     Working mothers, regardless of income, face long waiting lists
and see a sizeable portion of their income allocated to rising
child care costs. Some states deny public assistance to women with
children who refuse to work in federally-approved jobs or attend
high school -- even though they will not be receiving adequate
support for child care costs. Quality, afforable child care must
become a right.
       
Livable Wages
     The right to a livable income and a safe work environment are
integral to a woman's complete reproductive freedom. Women must
receive equal pay for equal work and have access to high paying
jobs. Women must have the right to work while pregnant and there
must be an adequate amount of parental leave with the assurance of
job security. Trade unions are important institutions in which
women organize for occupational rights. DSA supports labor law
reform to make it easier for workers to organize unions and we
applaud the efforts of trade unions to organize workers in
traditionally female occupations. 
 
Parenting Options
     Acceptance of "non-traditional" lifestyles and methods of
childrearing are crucial to assuring the broadest spectrum of
reproductive options. Alternatives include single parents, working
parents, interracial couples, gay and lesbian couples, and couples
delaying or refraining from parenting altogether. Society must
recognize these practices and provide these people with the same
support services it would for the traditionally defined family.
 
** End of text from cdp:gen.women **

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