AAS (a returning MMW guest contributor!)
The June 26, 2006 edition of The New Yorker had a very interesting piece on the current battle surrounding South Dakota’s attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade through the House Bill (HB1215: Abortion - Crimes and Offenses).

The bill basically states that abortions, even in the case of rape and incest, will be treated as a criminal offence against the woman who seeks the abortion as well as the clinician who provides it. The article was written by Cynthia Gorney and titled “Reversing Roe”.

Reading through the article I was quickly reminded that any policy affecting sexual and reproductive health is intertwined with race.

For those of us working in expanding access to reproductive health services, we have data (US Census data that shows high teenage pregnancy aka Hot Spots correlate to conservative and poor areas) that tells us that in a poor and staunchly conservative state like South Dakota, the population most affected by such drastic changes would mostly likely be poor and minority women

(Side note: If you have a chance, please see the Last Abortion Clinic a PBS documentary which chronicles the situation in Mississipi).

I should also say that Native American women who have access to their clinics are the only minority women who will not be affected if the law is made to stand (Just one of the very few good things about the creation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and their Health System).

Now things get a little more interesting (as it always does) when it comes to the possibility of sex between races.

Gorney writes “One petition volunteer told me, that a man marched up to her on the post-office steps and said heartily, as he signed [the petition to bring to the ballot an initiative to rescind HB 1215] “Good for you for doing this. I hope Bill Napoli has a daughter who gets raped by a nigger.”

The statement left me wondering how many white women in the past and the present felt they had to have an abortion because they feared what having mixed children would do their lives? How many people support Roe v. Wade as a result of this racist/bigoted perspective?

Note from CVK: You can read a Q&A with Cynthia Gorney about her article on The New Yorker web site.