Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism
CT VIEWPOINTS -- opinions from around Connecticut

A Connecticut father reflects on reproductive choice

  • CT Viewpoints
  • by Josiah H. Brown
  • June 19, 2015
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

I had an abortion.

Well, not exactly.  But in supporting my then-girlfriend in her decision to end her pregnancy – using mifepristone and misoprostol, which make possible a “medical abortion” – I shared responsibility and the relief this option brought us.

We were not naïve teens but rather adults, users of contraception that failed.  At a clinic, after consultation and examination, she received mifeprestone, which the FDA has approved through the first seven weeks of pregnancy.  We spent the weekend in her apartment, where she gave herself misoprostol – inducing miscarriage.

We were fortunate to be where abortion rights and access were safely protected.  Arkansas enacted a law – recently voided by a U.S. appeals court – that would have banned abortion at 12 weeks.  Other states, from North Dakota to Texas, have imposed obstacles on clinics, doctors, and women themselves.

A New York Times editorial observed, “Increasingly onerous restrictions … may actually be causing some women to delay their procedures into the second trimester and beyond…. Making it hard to get an abortion early in a pregnancy — by restricting the use of health insurance for abortion, closing clinics and mandating waiting periods — and then banning the procedure after 20 weeks would essentially prohibit abortion for those with limited resources.”

Men are free-riders, insulated from criticism of abortion.  Men are also among the most vocal critics, denouncing women for controlling their own bodies.

Protesters gather at a facility near my home, sometimes displaying images meant not only to shock passers-by into opposing abortion rights, but to shame women asserting those rights.  Among the protesters, males outnumber females.

Yet men, too, benefit from choice – from women’s ability to decide whether to carry a pregnancy to term.  There can be disagreements between prospective mothers and fathers.  Overall, though, men gain from reproductive choice and should join women in saying so.

As the mantra goes, abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.  Comprehensive services including sex education and contraception are important.

In this regard the U.S. ranks below such countries as the Netherlands, as PBS reports: “Dutch teens are among the top users of the birth control pill…. The teen pregnancy rate  … is one of the lowest in the world, five times lower than the U.S.  Rates of HIV infection and sexually transmitted diseases are also low.”

The Guttmacher Institute indicates “About half of American women will have an unintended pregnancy, and nearly 3 in 10 will have an abortion, by age 45.”

Still, an Associated Press survey found “Nearly everywhere … abortions are down…. Five of the six states with the biggest declines [including Connecticut] … have passed no recent laws to restrict abortion clinics or providers.”  Planned Parenthood attributes the declines “in part to expanded access to long-lasting contraception methods that are now fully covered … under the federal Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion and other initiatives.”  (Even in Connecticut, women may endure deceptive efforts to limit their choices, NARAL found.)

There would be fewer abortions if comprehensive family planning were more widely available.  Fifty years ago, the Griswold v. Connecticut decision advanced privacy and contraception.  Then federal Title X was “designed to provide access to contraceptive services, supplies and information to all who want and need them.”  Nominally, Title X funding is what it was a decade ago; it has dropped 20 percent in real terms.

This both reflects and magnifies inequality.  The Guttmacher Institute notes, “between 1994 and 2008 … unintended pregnancy increased 55 percent among poor women, while decreasing 24 percent among higher-income women…. Overall, the abortion rate decreased 8 percent between 2000 and 2008, but abortion increased 18 percent among poor women, while decreasing 28 percent among higher-income women.”

Abortion involves a typically anguished decision.  Reasonable people can differ about the bioethics of abortion versus bringing an unwanted child into the world.  But compelling women to be mere vessels – demanding that they carry every fetus to term, against their wishes if necessary – is wrong.

In a 1984 speech , Mario Cuomo said: “If we care about women having real choices in their lives and not being driven to abortions by a sense of helplessness and despair … our work has barely begun: the work of creating a society where the right to life doesn’t end at the moment of birth; where an infant isn’t helped into a world that doesn’t care if it’s fed properly, housed decently, educated adequately; where the … child [with disabilities] isn’t condemned to exist rather than empowered to live.”

Twice I’ve attended national marches for women’s lives.  Initially, abortion rights seemed abstract; my hope was to show support in a broader health context.

By 2004, the issue was personal.  I had benefited from a woman’s freedom to choose.  We hadn’t been forced into a long-term relationship to which neither of us had committed, to raise a child for whom we weren’t prepared.

My girlfriend and I shed tears years ago.  Ours was an emotional decision but right for us.

Now, she and I are happily married to other people.  We are also both parents, delighting in our children and more ready for the responsibilities parenthood presents every day.

Josiah H. Brown lives with his wife and their two children in New Haven.  He has twice participated in national marches for women’s lives, including the April 25, 2004 march, in Washington, D.C.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Right to counsel is just as much a racial justice issue as a housing policy issue
by Pearson Caldwell

Despite the state and federal moratoriums on eviction, nearly 3,000 Connecticut families have faced eviction in the past 10 months. Over half of these families were Black or Latinx, even though these groups combined comprise less than a quarter of the overall population. The stop-gap measures pursued by the state are not enough. Connecticut needs a statewide right to counsel for tenants facing eviction to address the burning housing and racial justice crisis across the state.

We need justice, not politics
by Richard J. Colangelo Jr. and 13 State's Attorneys

The administration of justice should not be political. Prosecutors must be guided by the evidence in a case and the applicable law, not by partisan, political considerations. Political pressure should never sway a prosecutor’s decision-making.

Assisted suicide lobby spreads falsehoods to promote systemic ableism
by Stephen Mendelsohn

Proponents of assisted suicide repeatedly spread falsehoods to promote their lethal and ableist agenda.  The February 8 op-ed, “Aid in dying is not assisted suicide” is no exception. Suicide is defined as the act of taking one’s life intentionally.  The person who intentionally ingests a prescribed lethal overdose more closely fits the dictionary definition of suicide than the despondent person who jumps off a bridge.  The desire for suicide is a cry for help, even when redefined as a “medical treatment option.”

TCI will create a fourth gasoline tax
by Christian A. Herb

The Transportation Climate Initiative, or TCI, calls for a proposed emissions fee on gasoline to help battle climate change. On the surface, supporters say it is a small price to pay to help save the planet; and if you truly believe that this is the case, then you should consider voting for it. Despite the administration’s efforts to go out of their way to not call TCI a tax, the simple truth is that it will only create additional financial hardships on lower- and middle-income families struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic.

Let’s keep telehealth when the pandemic ends
by Steven Madonick, MD

Telehealth may lead to positive, even transformational changes in psychiatric care, and Connecticut needs to keep it after the pandemic. Connecticut needs to pass the necessary laws to continue telehealth and telephonic care.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Right to counsel is just as much a racial justice issue as a housing policy issue
by Pearson Caldwell

Despite the state and federal moratoriums on eviction, nearly 3,000 Connecticut families have faced eviction in the past 10 months. Over half of these families were Black or Latinx, even though these groups combined comprise less than a quarter of the overall population. The stop-gap measures pursued by the state are not enough. Connecticut needs a statewide right to counsel for tenants facing eviction to address the burning housing and racial justice crisis across the state.

Opinion We need justice, not politics
by Richard J. Colangelo Jr. and 13 State's Attorneys

The administration of justice should not be political. Prosecutors must be guided by the evidence in a case and the applicable law, not by partisan, political considerations. Political pressure should never sway a prosecutor’s decision-making.

Opinion Assisted suicide lobby spreads falsehoods to promote systemic ableism
by Stephen Mendelsohn

Proponents of assisted suicide repeatedly spread falsehoods to promote their lethal and ableist agenda.  The February 8 op-ed, “Aid in dying is not assisted suicide” is no exception. Suicide is defined as the act of taking one’s life intentionally.  The person who intentionally ingests a prescribed lethal overdose more closely fits the dictionary definition of suicide than the despondent person who jumps off a bridge.  The desire for suicide is a cry for help, even when redefined as a “medical treatment option.”

Opinion TCI will create a fourth gasoline tax
by Christian A. Herb

The Transportation Climate Initiative, or TCI, calls for a proposed emissions fee on gasoline to help battle climate change. On the surface, supporters say it is a small price to pay to help save the planet; and if you truly believe that this is the case, then you should consider voting for it. Despite the administration’s efforts to go out of their way to not call TCI a tax, the simple truth is that it will only create additional financial hardships on lower- and middle-income families struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO