Youth of Color Think Stupak is the Pitts Too!
by Latoya Peterson
On Wednesday, I went to check out the National Day of Action to Stop Stupak up on Capitol Hill. Running late and plagued by a persistent and annoying rain, I stumbled upon two other pro-choicers (easily identified by their hot pink signage) and ended up tagging along with them. I found myself in the perfect place – the basement of the Church of the Reformation was also the site of a pro-choice youth meet up. Since my goal was to talk to a diverse group of young activists who have picked up the mantle of fighting for reproductive justice, there was no where better – free food brings everyone out. I’m still working on pulling together the videos and text, but here’s the original (read: rough and unedited) cut from a young activist that epitomizes why so many of us are involved in the fight for Reproductive Justice.
Tishana – Pro-Choicers on Stupak from Latoya Peterson on Vimeo.
(Transcript after the jump.)
Transcript
Tishana Trainor, SPARK Reproductive Justice: SPARK Reproductive Justice Now is out of Atlanta, Georgia, and we do work based on reproductive justice across the LGBTQ community and women of color, ableism – you name it, we’re in it!
Latoya: Why [do the effects of] Stupak cut across so many different communities?
Tishana: Stupak is the Pitts, umm -
[Both laugh]
Latoya: That’s totally the unofficial slogan.
Tishana: It really does right now. Like I told another organization, I’ve had an abortion and I’ve also labored, twice. I was at different points in my life at the time. And if I had not been able to make the decision to abort, I would be the mother of five children right now and that doesn’t exactly work. Especially since there are slim to none social resources for women who do decide to labor in Georgia, especially teen mothers. And I was a teen mother at that time I already had my two children, but I needed an abortion. If I didn’t have the right to make that decision, then they wouldn’t have known what to do with me anyway, because I’d probably be homicidal. And that’s just the truth.
You know, when you’re standing between a woman and her child, whether she’s decided to abort that child or have that child, you’re in the way of something that has absolutely nothing to do with you. So just get the f- out of my way, you know? (both laugh) To keep it clean…
Latoya: What do you think people fail to understand about these debates, as polarized as they can get?
Tishana: They seem to think that it’s all about abortion, and it’s not. It’s really just another way for them to – first off, women are paid less in the first place, and to have more of our money coming out of our pockets, just for reproductive services that we may or may not need immediately, or may or may not need anyway, is dead wrong. I mean, we’re already making less money than men are in this country, and to have more money coming out of our pockets, it’s just – it’s backwards. The fact of the matter is if they want more men on their side, they have to come to us to get ‘em. Right? Right. They seem to forget that. You don’t want to piss of your women if you want to keep your men in line. That’s all I’m saying. That’s all I’m saying.
Latoya: If you could say anything to Bob Stupak, the Catholic Church…if you had the power to come and throw one beamed thought into their minds, what would it be?
Tishana: Grow a uterus. That’s it. Grow a uterus and then walk a mile in my shoes.
Latoya: Then come talk to me, right?
Tishana: Right!
More videos to come. I’m still working on editing the voices of those I met, and transcribing those who were not comfortable being on camera. The rough cut of the footage so far is about 20 mins.
Mad love to everyone I met, all the Racialicious fans, and a big special thank you to Allison, Ashley, Samantha, Karen, Victor, Trang, Mackenzie, Katie, Sammy, Norma, and Tishana, who let me capture them on video, and Lyle Crocodile and A.J. who were camera shy, but trusted me enough to let me record them anyway.
Related: Quoted: Kimala Price on Hip-Hop Feminism and Choice
Mod Note: This is a pro-choice space. I respect the rights of others to hold beliefs based on their religions, as long is it does not infringe on my rights. That being said, anti-choice comments will be deleted. – LDP
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Legallylove wrote:
“Grow a uterus” is the best line I’ve heard all day!
Posted 04 Dec 2009 at 1:23 pm ¶
Jen wrote:
as one of the event organizers, I was thrilled to see so many young women, especially young women of color, storming capitol hill to defeat this backwards amendment. THANK YOU for carrying the fight for equality for all women, of all races, creeds, colors, orientations, and income levels, forward. never give up!
Posted 04 Dec 2009 at 3:33 pm ¶
Lola wrote:
it always amazes me that they same people that are anti-abortion do not want social services that would help mothers such as child care, welfare, or universal health care.
Posted 04 Dec 2009 at 4:34 pm ¶
Kavita wrote:
Indeed, Yes. Hearing women like Tishana and you tell it can be enough to get through a day.
Posted 04 Dec 2009 at 6:53 pm ¶
PatrickInBeijing wrote:
Many thanks to all who participated in this most important struggle. I still remember young women of my age who tried to kill themselves rather than being forced to have children they could not deal with (for many reasons).
I still have my old button “Against Abortion, Cut off your D***” (can I say this?)
I would like to suggest that we ask the so called right to lifers if in addition to abortion exceptions for rape and incest, they would support one for women made pregnant by priests and other religious leaders?
Ah, it makes me angry that we still have to fight this fight today.
In the early 70’s it was clear that the anti-abortion movement was against women being in control of their own bodies, still is today, but you can’t get the MSM to frame it fairly.
Anyway, many many thanks to those of you fighting this fight. You give heart and hope to the rest of us.
peace,
Posted 05 Dec 2009 at 8:50 am ¶
Nikki Shonoiki wrote:
I really wanted to go to the rally on Wednesday!!! I’m a leader of Rise Up for Women’s Rights which is a Pro-Choice organization at my University, University of Wisconsin-River Falls. We are also a student chapter of Planned Parenthood and Choice USA, which are two of the organizations that organized the National Day of Action. On my campus we did an event that day to get our students to call into congress about Stupak/Pitts in order to get our Senators to vote against any language similar to the Stupak amendment and to get them to take out the Hatch amendment which would put funding back into Abstinence only education. I’m glad that you decided to go to DC and speak to people who were there, I am looking forward to watching more videos about this subject!!!
Posted 05 Dec 2009 at 3:53 pm ¶
khinky wrote:
I can’t believe that this conversation is still going on! Thank you to everyone fighting the good fight. I hope that in my future children’s time this issue will have been put to rest. (Except, that’s what my mother said.)
Posted 05 Dec 2009 at 6:43 pm ¶
mieko wrote:
As a (formerly) regular church-attending Catholic, a lot of the arguments I’ve heard against choice stem from the debate of where life begins. I do not doubt these people to be well meaning, but while I understand their concerns I fear for the women who are forced to seek dangerous alternatives to doctor-performed abortions, hurting both themselves AND the fetuses pro-lifers strive to protect. That is why I am pro-choice.
Secondly, taking away low-cost options puts an unfair burden on those with lower-incomes. Upper-class people have unwanted pregnancies as well, it should be unfair to punish only those who cannot afford it.
Thirdly, I agree with Tishana Trainor. I hadn’t thought about the abortion debate in those terms before.
FYI: I am stoutly pro birth-control and other safer-sex practices, as are 78%of my fellow Catholics.
Posted 05 Dec 2009 at 11:47 pm ¶
Super Amanda wrote:
You all are the new Wonder Women.
Thanks you.
Posted 06 Dec 2009 at 4:30 am ¶
Joelfrominwood wrote:
Thanks for posting this, it does my heart good to see that this is being addressed this way. I hope those congresswomen who have promised not to vote for health care if Stupak is included go ahead and kill that sucker if it stays. I also hope the CBC, Progressive Caucus, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus join in.
Posted 06 Dec 2009 at 12:57 pm ¶
Tishana wrote:
Posted 07 Dec 2009 at 1:39 pm ¶
Tara wrote:
WOW. A teen mother who eventually decided to use abortion as a form of birth control because despite repeated pregnancies she took no proactive steps to preventing further pregnancies that she did not want. This is NOT the kind of person you want to make the public face of your argument; in fact this will do more for those that oppose abortion. I can hear the cries of “personal responsibility” already. Seriously, you want to put sympathetic people as the face of your cause, this is not one of them.
Mod Note - Why are you assuming that she wasn’t using any other form of birth control? Particularly a method that could have potentially failed? (For example, many people do not know that oral contraceptives, like the pill, are less effective if you weigh over 200 pounds.) And who is sympathetic? You can trot out all the women who are exceptions you want to, but a great many women are making this choice based on their personal circumstances – which the opposition always boils down to “well, you should have thought about that before you had sex.” The right to choose should not be dependent on how other people judge your morality or decisions. – LDP
Posted 07 Dec 2009 at 2:33 pm ¶
Tara wrote:
The likelihood of any reasonable form of contraceptive three times is remote and even then you would think that she would not stick with a method that had proven ineffective for others. It is this kind of person that the right trots out along with people like Sherri Shepherd and the “addicted to abortions” women whenever the abortion debate comes up and I simply feel that they are not in any way helpful. The simply serve to enforce the vile stereotypes that makes it harder to convince people of the necessity of access and imply that abortion is a product of simply careless people who use it as their primary method of birth control.
Posted 07 Dec 2009 at 3:43 pm ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
@Tara -
Okay, you tell me what type of women should represent the movement.
Who is innocent?
A college student who wants to further her education? Or was she just being selfish and loose with her birth control?
A fifteen year old who messed around with her boyfriend without condoms? Oh wait, that’s irresponsible too.
A mother with three kids who did not get an IUD? Oh wait – she should have known she’d get pregnant again without birth control.
Who is this mythical good girl who had an abortion that is beyond reproach? Marie Claire had an article on late-term abortions with women who had air tight arguments. One woman’s child had stopped developing brain mass – the child was effectively dead in the womb. She shared her story, of how hard it was for her – and still got hate mail, for daring to not wait out god’s plan for the child?
Who is the representative woman for abortion? And how close is she to our lived realities?
Posted 07 Dec 2009 at 3:56 pm ¶
Sheelzebub wrote:
Um, Tara, you know those refusal–I’m sorry–*conscience* clauses WRT birth control? You know those provisions that can keep reliable birth control from being covered by insurance companies? Those sorts of things have quite an effect on access to birth control.
And not for nothing, but it would be really refreshing to see people stop stressing out about the private choices individuals make. I don’t like the choice for people to get certain types of cosmetic surgeries, but I’m not out there railing against people who do it and backing measures to prevent it. Someone getting botox? Doesn’t affect my life, though I suppose I could feel smug and superior if I were to obsess about the private lives of strangers who made choices I don’t choose for myself.
Mod note – I approved your comment, overall, because it raises a good point. But your final sentence was inappropriate and, thus, cut. A second instance, however, in another comment and the entire thing will be deleted. – AG
Posted 07 Dec 2009 at 6:05 pm ¶
mieko wrote:
If we are going to get anywhere in the pro-life, pro-choice debate both sides need to better listen to each other. I keep hearing that “pro-lifers are anti women’s-lib” and “pro-choice has no qualms about killing babies.” Both sides must look at what exactly the other side’s concerns are if any headway is to be made.
Posted 08 Dec 2009 at 2:02 pm ¶