Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada- calling on women who have had an abortion to tell their story
Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada
Vancouver, BC
www.arcc-cdac.ca
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Hello pro-choicers,
We are writing to you because we are looking for people to participate in an ongoing project about abortion.
Recently the Globe and Mail published an article about abortion and inaccessibility - namely 6 week waiting times for abortions
in Ottawa (due to lack of funding for nurses, docs and operating
rooms).
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/freeheadlines/LAC/2007100
1/LABORTION01/health/Health
It’s the usual story….we have the right to make the choice to have an abortion but if there is no access (whether it be because
of funding, geographical location, wait times, etc), then it is not much of a choice.
However, a few things at the end of the article were striking - "the
Canadian public doesn’t think much about abortion any more"
and that "women who need abortions are reluctant to speak out
publicly, and few people are willing to stand up for a silent, stigmatized
constituency".
Well, we don’t believe that people aren’t standing up for abortion rights
and that women won’t continue to stand up. As a friend so
aptly put it "If you’re needing one and can’t get one, you
sure think about it. If you need one and got one, you sure think about it.
If you know someone who got one, you think about it. If you
wonder what the hell you’ll do if your period is 3 days late, you think
about it".
It seems pretty obvious that there is still an important
need for women’s voices to be heard and their stories to be told.
Aside from being angry, we really want to start telling
those stories and allowing those voices to be heard - through portraiture,
through storytelling, through multimedia, through film. So, we are
asking for volunteers, women who have had abortions, to consider
telling their stories, and why they think it is important to share these
stories, as part of this project.
It might be a bit of a scary prospect, having your portrait taken as someone who has had an abortion. But, if we could start putting strong, brave, empowered faces and voices forward, it might draw more attention to the issue. We think it’s important that Canada starts to see that it is people just like you and me who have abortions and are pro choice.
So our questions to you: Would you be willing to have your portrait taken/tell your story? Do you know anyone else that would? Get in touch. Ask questions. Share ideas. We want to meet you and photograph you and tell your story. arts4choice@gmail.com Thanks, Kathryn Palmateer and Martha Solomon
Ed. - Almost every woman I know has either thought about having an abortion or had one. The scariest abortion stories come from women friends five years older than me who had to go to New York City to get an abortion - alone, not knowing what to expect.
Viva Morgentaler - I love this man!
