Be a part of the political solution

All of a sudden there were a whole bunch of women telling the truth about abortion. Finally! Finally! We were saying yeah, we did it, we had it, and we want our rights. We want to have legal free abortion.” –Irene Peslikis 

(Source: Ninia Baehr, Abortion Without Apology: A Radical History for the 1990s. South End Press, 1999).

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March 21, 1969, New York City: Four years before Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion across the nation, 12 women told an audience of over 300 people, including journalists, about their abortions.  

“The first one that I had – I also had two – he was giving me pills to take. And I didn't know what they were. I remember thinking to myself – I knew that the doctor was crazy. I mean, he was crazy. There was no doubt… I said to myself, “I don't care what these pills are.” You know? I thought, “I know I don't know what these pills are, and I know this doctor's crazy, but I don't care because I'm not gonna be pregnant and have a kid.” I thought to myself, “I could die from these pills, but I don't care.”  — a woman talks about her illegal abortion at the 1969 Redstockings Abortion speakout, transcript courtesy of Redstockings Women’s Liberation Archives, www.redstockings.org

“I stand here tonight, heart pounding, my hands sweating because it wasn't 'til after my abortion I found out that that happened to other people. When I had it … I thought I was the lowest of the low. That I couldn't get any lower and that I was the worst human being in the world. To find out that my mother, that my cousins, that people I was close to, had abortions, helped me more than most of the therapy that I had to go through. I'm sure there're women sitting out here right now who are feeling the same thing that I'm feeling. So stand up, do something!” – a woman talks about her $700 illegal abortion at the 1969 Redstockings Abortion speakout, transcript courtesy of Redstockings Women’s Liberation Archives, www.redstockings.org

By publicly breaking the silence around a subject thought too personal and too shameful to speak about even in private to other women, the speakout illustrated what would become core ideas of the women’s liberation movement—consciousness raising and the personal is political. Carol Hanisch, an early women’s  liberation founder and theoretician, would go on to write a paper of the same name explaining the concept. “…personal problems are political problems. There are no personal solutions at this time. There is only collective action for a collective solution…I’ve been forced to take off the rose colored glasses and face the awful truth about how grim my life really is as a woman.” –Carol Hansich  The Personal is Political, 1969 (courtesy Redstockings Women’s Liberation Archives, www.redstockings.org)

The speakout showed that far from being a personal problem, the problem of illegal abortion was a political problem shared by many women, and would therefore require a political solution. Be a part of the solution– Fund the feminist fight: charity.gofundme.com/nwl-fundraiser

Check back later today for more testimony from the 1969 speakout!