Just the Facts on Abortion, Please

I am staunchly Pro-Choice. There is no wiggle room. There is no convincing me that there is any other side or middle ground that I should see. To me, "choice" entails all of the things that some Antis think is middle ground, such as the freedom to have as many children as you want, and the choice to adopt or give a child up for adoption. Pro-choice does not mean "pro-abort," no matter what anyone tells you, because that is not what "choice" means. It means protecting all the choices a woman has that involve her reproductive organs and freedoms, irrespective of how icky any of those choices make you feel.

I have scant patience for anti-choicers who stretch or misconstrue the truth, misrepresent facts, mislead the public (especially teenagers), or otherwise lie about pro-choice policies or what it is that feminists are fighting for when it comes to reproductive justice. I feel the same way when it comes to the pro-choice side -- which is why I am particularly irked by glaring errors in reporting military policy on abortions by feminist or women's rights blogs. Both Alternet and Jezebel claim the policy bans all abortions in military hospitals overseas, which isn't correct.

If they meant "in Iraq," well, I believe in writing what you mean. There is a difference between "overseas" and "in Iraq." I don't live in Iraq, but I live overseas with the military. I've had an abortion. I had an ectopic pregnancy that threatened my life this past summer, and my doctor wasted no time in writing that in my record. One liver function test later and I was on my way to the labor and delivery ward for my two shots of methotrexate.

Your life has to be at risk to get an abortion, but that is true of any military treatment facility, because TRICARE is somehow funded by a special extension of the Hyde Amendment (but not exactly). You can also get one if you are the victim of rape or incest, but only if you pay for it (thanks, Uncle Sam!). All other times, sorry, you are on your own: there are no "by choice" abortions for military members or their dependents. Feminists and sympathetic writers should be paying attention to what happens when women are overseas and fall outside of those parameters. If they live in a country where a so-called by choice abortion would be inaccessible, such as, oh, say, Iraq, or South Korea, a coat hanger can start to look pretty tempting, unless they are pulling in decent bonus money and have leave to fly elsewhere for the procedure.

As pro-choice advocates, we are constantly under scrutiny and we will only do a disservice to ourselves if we get sloppy with our facts. We need to pay extra careful attention to what we are writing in our blogs and putting under our by-lines in the rush to get a story quickly. I appreciate y'all writing about something concerning the military once in a while, but if you want some help with the fact checking in the future, just drop me a line, mmm'kay?

Photo: ChiBart's photostream on Flickr