Discovering N.O.W. Anew

Was it only 25 years ago that I went to my last N.OW. meeting in Baltimore?  How time--and feminism--fly.  Every now and then, I think about adding the F-word to my "Categories" list over on the right.  Nah.  Everything about this blog-- marriage, art-making, knitting, children--even composting--everything's part of my particular feminist life.

With some trepidation, I went to New York City's NOW  chapter to hear "Inside the Anti-Abortion Movement."   First surprise:  young women at the door smiling.  The NOW known to me in the late 20th century did not do this.  Very serious, suspicious of women unknown to them.

But it seems to be a new day in this chapter--very youthful, encouraging to all us older feminists.  Surprising decor as one enters.  Enlarge this photo of Jean Bucaria, Deputy Director of the chapter for my second surprise--two glass bowls filled with subway-themed NYC condoms.  First time I'd seen them outside a bar!

Eleanor Bader was the presenter.  A teacher and reporter, she quietly attended the recent, 3-day National Right to Life convention in Kansas City.  What I learned from her excellent talk:  I know nothing about the anti-choice movement.

She described a seismic shift in attendees from the convention she visited in 1992--participants more professional, unlike grassroots church women of the past-- 55 per cent women, the rest were men.  Polished speakers included a young female doctor from West Virginia who had urged boycotts against companies providing services for a Planned Parenthood conference there.    Though her efforts caused a fair amount of chaos, there was also a backlash that brought increased donations to West Virginia PP.  Have you read about this in mainstream media?

Have you read about the teen summer camps around the country where young women and men receive training in how to lobby for the right to life cause, are flooded with the incorrect "truth" that abortions cause breast cancer.  Then there are the "Lost Fatherhood" workshops.  Men who encouraged partners to have abortions in the past and have now found religion can "testify" to their mistake, mourn their decision, express their grief--for the loss of a child they might have fathered. 

Eleanor Bader's article on this appears in the coming September issue of The Progressive Magazine.  In the meantime, I suggest you read what she wrote two years ago on the Christian right wing's abstinence-only education activity.  It has helped me to catch up on the expanding developments by various groups.   In 2001, she co-authored Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism.If you are a member of an organization that invites speakers on important issues of the day, Eleanor, who lives in Brooklyn, would be a good choice.  Jean at the NOW office can tell you how to contact her. 

What is the provenance of the image in the upper right corner?  Vintage second wave women's movement paper, a 3 by 4-inch brochure that a small group of us produced in 1977 for Baltimore Now's Health Task Force.  The questions still seem current--

o What is  average length of time Dr. __ spends with each patient for a routine visit? 

o What is the reason for this prescription (explanation of how oral contraceptives work; cause and treatment of vaginal discharge)?

o What role do emotions play in a woman's choice about birth control? abortion?

Out of this grew a ten-minute video, "Between A Woman & Her Doctor."  Another story, for another post on my life in feminism,  my wish for a future better for my children and grandchildren.  Isn't that what we all want--whatever our moment in the life cycle? 

Comments

[Rhea]

Glad to hear you ventured over to NOW. I have been active for many years in feminism (not so active as I was right now, as I have other things I'm doing) but I support NOW with a membership.

[vuee]

There is some very bad science and scientific interpretation in the "abstinence only" corner, as well as other corners. The bad science won't affect just the medical abortion field but nearly all aspects of women's health, as you point out (breast cancer).

Millard Fillmore's Bathtub has looked at some of these bad science/ bad religion/ bad teaching stuff.
http://timpanogos.wordpress.com/

[Ann]

Thank you for this. In Tennessee the anti-choice faction is so pervasive, reactionary, and uneducated that I forget there are parts of the country in which it is strategically organized and well-prepared (even if highly misinformed). Just as I used to see all Christians as knee-jerk, lock-step fundamentalists, I tend to see the anti-choice wing the same way, and needed the reminder. Actually, I recently talked to a political and social conservative who was advocating compulsory "therapeutic" [sic] abortions for pregnant teens. I couldn't believe my ears, and had to ask her several times if that's what she really meant (she confirmed it). Go figure! And I'm glad NOW's developed enough that they can be more relaxed and comfortable "in their own skin" than they could when I was campus president in the mid-70s!

[claude]

Thank you for this post Naomi. Very interesting indeed.