What are rights without access?
They are advertised throughout campus in dining halls and in other locations, but who are they and what do they do?
On their websites, they say they provide a medical clinic, post-abortive support services, sexual risk avoidance education and parenting programs. All are good services for women. What about a woman who wishes to terminate their pregnancy?
What about her options?
While some women struggle with their decision to have an abortion, for other women, they know right away – or when they find out they’re pregnant – that this is the decision that is right for them. Both situations are equally valid and neither should be judged.
The problem, however, is that the closest location for women who wants to terminate her pregnancy safely is in Flint. As a reproductive rights activist, I not only fight for legal abortion, but accessible abortion.
For Central Michigan University women, there is no avenue of access.
Almost 90 percent of counties in the United States do not have a medical center that provides abortions, according to an article published in 2009 by The Huffing Post. This leaves millions of women without equal access.
It is also unethical for women in Mount Pleasant to be provided for with only two pregnancy options: Adoption or parenting.
Jan Wilberg was a CMU student in the ’60s before abortion was legal. She published a story on Salon.com in 2012 titled, “My Illegal Abortion”.
“The theory was that by inserting the wire through the cervix, moving it around a bit and then removing it, an infection would result and the pregnancy would be aborted,” she wrote.
Wilberg was a freshman in college when she found out she was pregnant. With no abortion provider in the area, she resorted to unsafe methods of terminating her pregnancy. Fortunately, she suffered no serious injuries or complication, however the lack of abortion access left her scarred.
One-in-three women have an abortion in their lifetime. I believe 100 percent of these women deserve fair access to safe abortions and that includes the students of Central Michigan University.
One can engage in a philosophical debate on whether abortion is moral or ethical, however when Roe v. Wade is the law of the land, abortion became a legal right.
What is a right without access? Nothing.
