Safe, legal abortions are about access

Safe, legal abortions are about access

Recent media attention on abortion rates and decreases has been informative; however, some very important points are missed. The Chicago Abortion Fund has yet to see a decrease for the reasons the media is reporting. In fact, we have seen just the opposite — not only more women calling our hotline for funding assistance but we are servicing many more women. By June 30, 2011, we had served nearly 100 more women than in the previous year.

Access — or lack of it — plays a critical role in whether women can obtain an abortion. The women who don’t go through with their procedures usually don’t have a change of heart as the anti-choice movement would like you to believe. These women either cannot afford the procedure or cannot get to a provider due to location and distance. Lack of access is one of the primary reasons for their change in decision. Yes, of course, some women choose to continue their pregnancies because they want to, but the majority of the women who call our fund have made the difficult decision to terminate their pregnancies and need financial assistance in doing so.

Another key reason in the possible decrease is not due to some “sudden moral change in attitude” but rather the all-out assault by the anti-choice movement on medical providers who do abortions. When medically trained doctors cannot practice, are shamed, targeted or killed because they provide a legal medical procedure then you will see decreases.

Decreasing the number of abortions should be everyone’s goal, yes, but it should be done in positive, affirming and loving ways through comprehensive sex education and access to affordable and quality birth control. Decreasing abortions through shame, criminalization and violence should not be what society is striving for.

Gaylon Alcaraz

Executive Director

Chicago Abortion Fund