I am one of those people who baffle pro-choice purists. On one end of the ideological spectrum, I grew up in small-town Iowa. I was raised in a conservative religious tradition that considers abortion a sin. Still, birth control was OK if it prevented conception rather than destroying a fertilized ovum. I think this is what allows me to understand better why people can be vehemently pro-life.
On the other end, I grew up reading my mom’s copy of Good Housekeeping magazine, which ran a column by Dr. Joyce Brothers, described by the New York Times and Elle magazine as the “mother of mass-media psychology” due to “her advice on topics including love, sex, and relationships … since the 1950s.”
Thanks to the public library, I learned about Planned Parenthood by reading Judy Blume’s book Forever, which, according to the American Library Association, was the seventh most frequently challenged book between 1990 and 2000.
I watched sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, whenever she appeared on The Tonight Show or Late Night with David Letterman. I was thrilled to see her live and in person at Drake University during homecoming week during my first year of undergrad.
Although my major was international relations, I realized somewhere around my junior year that we had enough problems right here in the good ol’ USA and that perhaps my attention would be better spent domestically. Shortly after I graduated from college, I went to work for a family planning organization. I got paid to talk about sex and birth control – a dream job for the girl who stayed home and read about sex in the encyclopedia while the rest of the family traveled to the county seat to buy groceries!
One day while I was working at a clinic that provided abortion care, a patient suffered a complication. One of the nurses asked me to meet the ambulance outside and direct them to the side entrance. It was the end of my shift, so once the ambulance drove away, I walked to my car and burst into tears, initially wondering about the organization I was working for. No sooner than those words formed in my head, I realized that had the patient not been able to access abortion care at a family planning clinic, she may have been sent home in a cab to fend for herself. The need for safe, legal, high-quality reproductive health care was no longer hypothetical for me – it was an absolute necessity.
It may have been former U.S. Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum (now Baker), a Republican from Kansas, who launched my policy career. She was a speaker at a fundraiser for the family planning organization I worked for. Her speech that evening was great – I agreed with her on almost everything she said … until she admitted that there was one area where she and the audience were likely to disagree – parental notification. While certainly disappointed, I was not surprised. So during the Q&A session, I asked her how she thought it was possible to legislate family communication. She could not formulate an answer.
Fast forward 30+ years. I long to work with Republicans whose thoughts on reproductive health care (among other topics) are closely aligned with mine! Please think of the policy hurdles we could resolve.
Has Kansas, the land of Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker, demonstrated that perhaps Americans are more in sync than current political wisdom has recently indicated? Last month, Kansas voters overwhelmingly voted “No” on a constitutional amendment that would have removed abortion rights protections from the state constitution.
There are other indications that our country is indeed solidly pro-choice, even if our elected officials and the U.S. Supreme Court are not:
- In a New York State special election for a vacated, battle-ground congressional district, the perceived underdog Democrat Pat Ryan won by being unabashedly “pro-choice and pro-freedom.”
- Alaskan Democrat Mary Peltola, who was outspent 4:1 by Trump, won her race while advocating to preserve abortion rights.
Are these wins simply anomalies? Or are American voters ready and willing to vote for choice and freedom?
Polling by NARAL Pro-Choice America indicates most voters believe individuals, not politicians, should make their own decisions, including those about abortion. When I read the statement, “No matter where a person lives, what they look like or do, every person’s life has its unique circumstances. People, not politicians, should be able to make their own decisions, including when it comes to abortion,”
- Seventy-two percent of all respondents strongly agreed or somewhat agreed.
- Among conflicted supporters of abortion, 77 percent strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with the statement.
- Even 32 percent of abortion opponents strongly agreed or somewhat agreed.
These are nationwide numbers, so what about other rural states – can we expect results similar to what happened in Kansas? Research by Grow Progress in Iowa indicates that it’s hard to move the needle on this issue because people are so deeply rooted in their stance, but there were a couple of tactics that changed opinions:
“It’s none of their business. Trust women, trans and gay people. Hands off our bodies, our contraceptives, and our soulmates.
- Seeing an image that included this message + learning that Iowa Governor Reynolds supports the overturning of Roe v. Wade decreased the governor’s job approval by seven points.
- The same message + learning about Senator Chuck Grassley’s selectivity in scheduling Supreme Court Justice hearings decreased his ballot attractiveness with rural residents by 11 points.
“Vote, Roe. Could you support those who support our freedoms? Don’t let abortion become a crime in Iowa.”
- Seeing an image that included this message + learning about Governor Reynolds’ stance on abortion decreased her job approval by six points.
Research indicates that even for a polarizing issue like abortion, most of the country is pretty well aligned. Voters have made their opinions known at the ballot box. It seems the time is right to speak candidly about the importance of the freedom to access the full spectrum of reproductive health care – including abortion.