0l OPINION Friday, September 22, 1989 The Michigan Daily t Wl The Editor's note: The following description is reprinted with permission from The New Our Bodies Ourselves (pp. 293-5). Every woman has the right to make an informed choice about her own body and her own life. To de-mystify the abortion process, and to combat lies told by those who op- pose women's rights, the following con- cise description of the abortion procedure as well as a check list of questions about the procedure are being reprinted. To demonstrate your support for every women's right to control her own body arid her reproductive life, join Sunday's rally at the State Capitol in Lansing. Carpools leave from the Cube, behind the Michigan Union, at 9:30 a.m. Women have always used abortion as a means of fertility control. Unless women ourselves can decide whether and when to have children, we will never be able to control our lives nor participate fully in society. Legal, safe and affordable abor- tions help to give us that control. Women of various ages, races, reli- gions, economic and marital status and sexual preference choose abortions for many reasons, including inadequate birth control methods, information and access. Since no birth control method is 100 per- cent effective, abortion is necessary when contraception fails. We may be pregnant, want a child and not be able to afford it, or decide that even a planned pregnancy is a mistake after our economic or personal circumstances change. We may find out through amniocentesis that our fetus has a serious genetic defect. We may become pregnant against our will because of rape, incest or other kinds of sexual coercion so acts on, common in our society. Little or non-ex- istent sex education leaves young vomen vulnerable to sexual pressures. Deciding whether or not to carry a preg- nancy to term is always a serious choice. Each woman has to decide what she be- lieves is best for herself and the important people in her life, depending on her needs, resources, commitments and hopes. We believe that compulsory pregnancy and forced motherhood are morally wrong... Medical Techniques for Abortion In abortion procedure When you are considering an abortion or choosing where to have an abortion, you have a right and a need to know the proce- dures used at each stage of pregnancy, the risks and possible complications and the cost. In pregnancy, a tiny ball of cells at- taches itself to the lining of the uterus about one week after conception. A mass of tissue called the placenta develops in the uterine lining to nourish the embryo. By the end of the second month, the em- bryo, now called a fetus, is surrounded by a protective fluid-filled sac, the amniotic sac.... In an abortion, the contents of the uterus (embryo, or fetus, placenta and built-up lining of the uterus) are removed. Different methods are used, depending on how large the pregnancy tissue has grown, the training of the person performing the abortion, the approaches favored by the lo- cal medical community and the equipment available.... During an aspiration abortion...the con- tents of the uterus are removed through a strawlike tube that is passed through the cervix into the uterus. The tube, called a cannula, is attached to a source of gentle suction - an electric or mechanical pump or a syringe - which draws out the tissue. Aspiration is now the most common abor- tion technique. Of all the methods it car- ries the least chance of complications and considerably less risk than pregnancy, la- bor and delivery. In fact, it is now the safest of all operations, safer than tonsil- lectomies or circumcisions. It only takes a short time (five to fifteen minutes). Aspiration abortions are now available throughout the U.S., though some women still have to travel many hours to get to an abortion facility.THIS KIND OF ABORTION IS THE SAFEST AND LEAST DISRUPTIVE FOR A WOMAN, BOTH PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY. IT CAN BE DONE ONLY DURING THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF PREGNANCY.... There are several variations of this method. For over a decade women have been working to create the safest, least physically traumatic aspiration techniques. A number of woman-owned and-controlled feminist health centers have trained practi- toners to use minimal dilation and small flexible cannulas, which reduce the chance of tearing or perforating the uterus or cervix. (An eight-millimeter cannula can be used for abortions through eleven to twelve weeks of the last normal menstrual period). Curettage, or scraping the inside of the uterus with a metal loop called a curette, is not routinely necessary. Experiences at these clinics and others show that this ap- proach is more comfortable for women ,than that of most conventionally trained abortionists, who use larger, rigid plastic uterus \ vacurette amniotic s e attaches to vacuum curettage unit vaginal canal peculum" r r ,r, Nina Reimer VACUUM SUCTION ABORTION or metal cannulas (which require more di- lation) and a curette after the suction. What You Need to Know Whether you have to search to find one abortion service or you can choose among, several facilities, ask questions beforehand. Not only must you get an idea of what to expect, but you can also prepare yourself to negotiate for options that may not be part of the standard procedures. I. Cost? Must the fee be paid all at once? Will Medicaid or health insurance cover any of it? Is everything included or may there be additional charges (for example, for a Pap smear or for Rhogam)? 2. Are there age requirements or special consent requirements? Do I have to tell my parents or husband, get their consent and/or bring proof of age? 3. How long should I expect to be at the facility? Will everything be done in one visit? 4. Will childcare be provided for my child(ren)? 5. What do I need to bring with me? 6. Is there anything in my medical history that would interfere with my getting an abortion at that facility? 7. Can I bring someone with me? Can s/he stay with me throughout the counsel- ing and the abortion procedure if that's what I want? 8. Will there be a counselor or nurse with me to provide information and support be- fore, during and after the abortion? 9. Will there be staff people who speak my native language? If not, will the facil- ity provide an interpreter? 6 10. Can the facility accommodate any spe- cial needs I have (for example, wheelchair accessibility)? Ask about anything that concerns you. Often the way the staff answers questions indicates their attitude toward women com- ing for abortions. Trust your feelings about the way you are treated on the phone as well as in person. _-- Edited and managed by students at The University of Mich'qan Why We Can't Wait t 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 By Rosalind Reaves and Kimberly Smith The Baker-Mandela Center for Anti-Racist Education (BMC) is hosting a brown bag discussion on "Access to Higher Education" at 12:00 noon today in Room #3, East Engineering. This is the beginning of a series of brown bags at the Center, please contact 936-1809 for more information on specific topics of discussion. 6 Vol. C, No.12 Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board. All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily. An anti-woman family 1ROPONENTS OF anti-choice contend that the issue of abortion lies not with a woman's body, but with the potential life of the fetus. But feminists know that women's social and political position, as well as their very lives, a4e at stake. The new right's "pro- fhmily" and anti-women politics play tpon real fears and real needs. - Its invocation of an ideal family based on the control of women's sexuality and confinement to traditional rbles may fly in the face of reality, but it strikes a responsive chord when the .4ternative is the insecurity and disintegration of personal life and the irlentless commodification of women's sexuality in the mass media, in advertising, in entertainment, and, for. many women, in actual relationships. The continuing depth of women's qppression is shown by the vicious' imeans used to keep women "in their glace": violence in fact and image, rape, battering, sexual harassment. The anti-women, anti-abortion movement is another form of harassment and compounds the problems women face. Anti-choice legislation continues to affect not only abortion rights specifically, but rights of women to self-determination in a traditional family structure and in the work place. The five anti-choice bills currently before the Michigan legislature further curtail women's right to choose, in areas ranging from funding issues to parental consent. It is important that women link the struggle to maintain safe and legal abortion to an overall assault by the judicial decisions. The rally in Lansing reminds us to focus upon women - and their lives. The debate goes far beyond individual freedoms; it concerns women's fundamental right to control their bodies and their lives. This week Provost Charles Vest an- nounced that this year's minority first year student enrollment has decreased from pre- vious years. He contrasted this statement with a reaffirmation of the Univeristy's commitment to creating a multi-cultural and equitable University environment. Inherent in these two statements is the notion that the University is attempting to improve the dismal representation of peo- ple of color as students and faculty, but the University maintains, we must be pa- tient. This attempt to pacify our anger and quell our frustration brings to mind the eloquent words of Dr. Martin Luther King in 1963 when he explained "Why we can't wait!" "tFor years now I have heard the word 'wait'. It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This wait' has almost always meant "never". We must come to see, with one of our distinguised jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied". Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, 'wait'. But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled police curse, kick and kill your black brothers and sisters; when your see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society...- then you will un- derstand why we find it dificult to wait." Martin Luther King, Jr. Why We Can't Wait. (New York: Mentor Books, 1963), p. 81. In 1989, this story still rings true. Perhaps it is easy for privileged adminis- trators to make rhetorical promises and suggest that we wait to see them come true. But when denial of access to higher education sentences our Black, Latino and Asian brothers and sisters to a life of min- imum wage slavery; when we see our bril- liant brothers and sisters of color cleaning toilets at this University rather than at- tending classes; when Black working class families struggle to pay state taxes only to see their sons and daughters being denied access to institutions such as the University of Michigan; when more money is spent to imprison Black men and women than to educate them; when drugs are more accessible to Black and Latino youth than higher education; when our lives continue to be determined by tests that have predetermined that we are inferior; when we see the access which was denied to our parents, denied to our brothers and sisters-then you understand why we find it difficult to wait. Each year that this and other universities accept a few but deny admission to the majority of people of color and poor youth, it acts to maintain and perpetuate the racist and elitist nature of this society. Although we realize that change does not come all at once, we also recognize that change at this University is going in the wrong direction. Access to education is the topic of discussion at the brown bag at the BMC today, please join us. Rosalind Reaves is an LS&A Senior; Kim Smith is a second-year medical student. Middle East Middle of the Road to Peace 6 By Tony Silber What happened to the old middle east problems, the old conflicts and wars, the old partisanships? What happened to Israel, that tiny Jewish state, taking on the hostile Arab continent surrounding it? What happened to the view of Israel as the righteous underdog, friend to the "good" nations of the world. What happened to the view of the Palestinians as ruthless terrorists, born with an anti-Israeli savagery? These are all myths of the past. The middle east conflict has changed dramatically in the last several years. Since the optimistic, yet idealistic days of the Camp David Peace Accords over ten years ago when Israel and Egypt found peace within their long past of hostility, Israel has made several foreign policy deci- sions (and internal policy decisions) which have not been looked upon favorably by all those old "good" friends Israel used to have around the world. Israel is not the nation it was ten years ago. It has tried to grow up. Still a rela- tively young county (41 years old), Israel has tried to assert itself ideologically in a eliminate the military and terrorist poten- tial of the P.L.O. But in the long run, the ramifications of this invasion and the mil- itary occupation that ensued were quite un- favorable to Israel. The P.L.O., its mili- tary capabilities wiped out, finally figured out that politics was the way to hurt Israel. The organization has since become an extremely powerful lobby tool for Palestinian interests, especially for those in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestinian uprising, or Intifadah, which began in December, 1987 was an- other crucial development. This grass roots uprising against the Israeli military began a two-pronged attack against Israel. In the streets, violent resistance against Israeli tactics has won international public support. On another front, P.L.O. chairman Yasser Arafat has gone before the world to renounce terrorism and recognize the State of Israel for the first time. This two-pronged resistance/political pressure campaign used by the Palestinians has been somewhat success- ful. International support for the proposal: To grant free elections in the ter- ritories under a ten point plan with both sides having to budge a little from their hard line positions. Both sides have met the plan with interest and skepticism. The Israeli cabinet went so far as to send Defense Minister Rabin to Cairo to dis- cuss the plan with Mubarek, a surprising move on their part. Skeptics will say what they will, but the plan is a step in the right direction. If this leads to the proposed Israeli- Palestinian peace talks moderated by Egypt, then the "wheels of peace" may be in motion as Rabin describes it. The vio- lence must end in the territories. The Israelis must put down their guns and the Palestinians must put down their rocks. If peace is ever to occur in the middle east, both the Israelis and the Palestinians must give a little to get a little. Neither side's extremist demands are going to be met tomorrow. They are both too stubborn and idealistic for that. Israel should negotiate land for peace and the Palestinians should come up with some sort of formal government structure which is trnlv reconized as renresentative V&A It - 11 r4.-lA