I recently had the honor of speaking at a Pro Choice rally with Planned Parenthood on my experience advocating in the anti-abuse space and how that has informed my advocacy for reproductive rights. I said this in the speech and i believe it beats repeating: No survivor should ever be forced to have their abuser’s child. My speech is above, and here is the transcript:
I am passionate about Issue One because I have been advocating in the sexual assault and domestic violence space for a decade. And what I learned from working in the abuse space is that anti-choice abortion restrictions have direct consequences for people who have gone through the hell of domestic violence and sexual abuse. We all know that government has already passed an abortion ban here in Ohio – a ban without exceptions for abuse, incest, and rape. And if Issue 1 fails, there is nothing stopping anti-abortion politicians from taking away the rights of survivors.
I advocated for survivors who had been raped; who were in an abusive relationship and desperately wanted to cut ties with their abusive partner; and who had been a victim of reproductive coercion. Every year, millions of women are victims of domestic violence. More than two-thirds of women in physically abusive relationships are also sexually assaulted by their intimate partner. It is not surprising then that almost half of pregnant women who had also survived abuse reported that their pregnancy was unintended. Teenagers are especially vulnerable. Girls who are victims of dating violence are 6 times more likely than non-abused girls to become pregnant. No survivor should ever be forced to have their abuser’s child.
As an advocate I witnessed firsthand how liberating it was for survivors to be given that choice to take back control of their bodies after their bodies had been seized from them. A recent study found that abused women unable to get an abortion were more likely to stay in a relationship with a violent partner. On the other hand, women who were able to get an abortion were more likely to liberate themselves and their children from an abusive partner.
Pregnancy is a dangerous time for a woman. Almost twenty percent will be a victim of relationship violence during pregnancy, which increases a woman’s risk for miscarriage. Issue 1 will give every individual the right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, and that includes miscarriage care, contraception, fertility treatment, as well as abortion.
Ultimately, I believe that the efforts to restrict abortion access shares much in common with abuse. Both are rooted in a need to assert power and control over others. It is time to put power back into the hands of the people. Here is a message that we want everyone, especially anti-choice politicians, to hear, so share this widely on social media: We are all here to vote YES for Issue One because we believe in freedom – freedom from abuse and violence, freedom from forced birth, and freedom from government control.
Listen Girlfriends! 