Introduction

1. Defending a Choice for Women: A Feminist Video EthnographyBeverly Yuen Thompson, Ph.D.Florida International University

2. Introduction • Involvement with Miami clinic access project (MCAP) • Historic abortion restrictions • Contemporary abortion issues • The pro-life movement • The pro-choice movement • Clinic defense • Defending a choice for women: A feminist video ethnography • Reproductive rights classroom education

3. Miami Clinic Access Project (MCAP) • A Choice for Women clinic • Priests for Life and local Catholic churches, majority Spanish speakers • MCAP older, white activists and WS students • Women’s studies program has connection to MCAP • Every Saturday 6-11a.m. for six months of fieldwork and interviews • Intro to WS student involvement

4. Miami Clinic Access Project (MCAP): Video Clip 0:30 min.

5. Historic Abortion Restrictions • From female midwives to the American Medical Association (AMA) • New laws based on British common law, banning abortion after quickening • 1821-first abortion law in Connecticut; by 1890, every state had regulations

6. Historic Eugenics Programs • Between 1900-1960, for African American and Native American women, they faced forced sterilization (45k-60k) (CA accounts for 1/3) • Buck v. Bell, Supreme Court decision in Virginia that upheld involuntary sterilization (1927) • Margaret Sanger’s Birth Control Federation had “Negro Project” (1939), promoted eugenics practices

7. Abortion and Contraception legalized • 1960 FDA approved the pill • 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut- married couples have access to pill • 1967 President Johnson approves $20m contraceptive programs • 1973 Roe v. Wade-legalize abortion through privacy • 1973-1977-gov’t pays for 1/3 of all abortions (294,600 in 1977) • 1977 Hyde Amendment denies use of Medicaid for abortion (1977, fewer than 2,500 abortions covered)

8. Contemporary Abortion Issues:Legal but restricted • Between 1.3 & 1.5m abortions performed • 14% of US counties have an abortion provider • 24 hour waiting period • Parental consent • Informed of abortion impact, fetal development • Required sonograms • Only 12% of obgyn medical programs require abortion training • 2/3 of providers over age 65

9. Abstinence Only Education • Government spends over $1 billion over last decade • Global gag rule • Under Governor Bush, Texas had most stringent abstinence only education, and also was #1 in teenage birthrate (2000) • Abstinence only education proven to be notoriously ineffective

10. The Pro-Life Movement • Religious movement against pre-marital sex, abortion, contraception, and sex education • Political movement fighting on grassroots-national-international fronts • At clinics: “rescues” and “sidewalk counseling” • Movement has had violent extremists that conduct damage to clinics and the murder of seven individuals

11. The Pro-Life Movement: Video Clip • Although “pro-life” they are still pro-war and pro-death penalty and do not support social programs that assist women and children 1:21 min.

12. The Pro-Choice Movement • Feminist movement to defend women’s right to control their bodies • Defending abortion/contraception rights and protecting women’s health and access • Defending clinics as escorts

13. Defending a Choice for Women • 23 minute documentary useful for community and classroom organizing • Provides a visual reference of the situation • Chapters: • Pro-life movement • Clinic defense • Catholics on all sides • Women’s testimonies • Student education

14. Conclusion: Reproductive Rights Classroom Education Video • For Intro to Women’s Studies, the student attend a feminist event and write a short paper about it. Many chose to visit and write about the clinic defense. 1:03 min.