Since posting my story about being 1 in 3 yesterday, I have received about 30 private messages of support, and even more public support for being so open and honest about my experience.
In the past 24 hours, five friends have confided in me about their own experience with abortion. One stranger even took the time to contact me through email and share her experience with me, explaining that I have given her validation for her feelings and that my story truly helped her.
My 1 in 3 blog post has climbed to over 600 views; my post I Stand with Planned Parenthood has just passed 200. Knowing that my words have reached so many people - some even in other countries! - gives me hope for change and continued progress in women's reproductive rights and freedoms.
However, today I want to speak about the laws circling this matter, and the barriers women face. This discussion is about so much more than just me and my story; it's about all women and their right to safe and legal procedures.
Since 2011, state legislatures have passed 288 laws to restrict abortion - nearly as many as the 15 years prior (1995-2010), which had 292 new restrictions. This alone shows us that not only have we continually made it more difficult for women to obtain the procedure safely and legally, but we are at a crucial point where we must fight back and speak up before we regress to a time prior to Roe v. Wade.
With the current total of 1074 state restrictions nationwide (and many more in the works now, such as the Indiana Heartbeat Bill), the laws enacted from the past five years alone make up 27%. Of that 27% (288 laws), our lovely conservative state of Indiana makes up nearly 10%, while a combination of nine other states (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas) cover another 50% alone, each state having 10 or more new restrictions.
I'm throwing a lot of numbers and statistics at you, so let me give you a cheat sheet version of this:
While we move forward in time, we are moving backward in women's reproductive rights.
Why is it that each time we take a step forward in human rights and social justice, it is followed by even more obstacles and hoops to jump through for us to put our rights into practice?
1973 was an important year for women. We made a difference that year, and took a big stride forward in women's health. Do we really want to keep on with this continuous regression in 2016, and end up back in 1972?
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Statistics obtained from www.guttmacher.org.
