Abortion Betty Friedan, National Organization for Women, in a speech in 1969 about the call for the repeal of laws criminalizing abortion, said: “…there is no freedom, no equality, no full human dignity and personhood possible for women until we assert and demand the control over our own bodies, over our own reproductive process (18).” When it came to the debate about abortion feminist changed the face of it forever. Because of their active involvement in the push for the legalization of abortion, it showed how women have more control of their own bodies. They felt devalued and disempowered and that with the legalization would be the first step in the emancipation of women (Cook, 18). Women deserve the right to control what happens to their
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One of the largest forms of self abortion in the 1970s was the use of coat hangers. One story that has been told was about a sixteen year old girl who took home a pregnancy test. After she took the test she interpreted the results as a positive reading, once she assumed she was pregnant, she inserted a coat hanger through her cervix. She became seriously ill with a pelvic infection and was rushed to the hospital because of it. Once in the emergency room the doctors were able to find out that the young girl was not actually pregnant. Because of the severity of the situation to this young girl she was forced to go to such extreme measures to stop the pregnancy (Grimes). Some of the things women would do to end the pregnancy was to not only stick coat hangers to tear the fetus out of them, but they would also shoot themselves in the stomach or hit themselves to kill the child inside of them (Grimes). Women would also drink bleach, overdoes on aspirin, take Misoprostol, and over take oral contraceptives (Grimes). Without the access to legal and affordable abortion care, some women would abort the fetus themselves. This proved that when women are presented with an unwanted or threatening pregnancy, they are completely desperate and will try anything to save themselves from that
One of the largest forms of self abortion in the 1970s was the use of coat hangers. One story that has been told was about a sixteen year old girl who took home a pregnancy test. After she took the test she interpreted the results as a positive reading, once she assumed she was pregnant, she inserted a coat hanger through her cervix. She became seriously ill with a pelvic infection and was rushed to the hospital because of it. Once in the emergency room the doctors were able to find out that the young girl was not actually pregnant. Because of the severity of the situation to this young girl she was forced to go to such extreme measures to stop the pregnancy (Grimes). Some of the things women would do to end the pregnancy was to not only stick coat hangers to tear the fetus out of them, but they would also shoot themselves in the stomach or hit themselves to kill the child inside of them (Grimes). Women would also drink bleach, overdoes on aspirin, take Misoprostol, and over take oral contraceptives (Grimes). Without the access to legal and affordable abortion care, some women would abort the fetus themselves. This proved that when women are presented with an unwanted or threatening pregnancy, they are completely desperate and will try anything to save themselves from that