A few months ago, I attended my 50th high school reunion. As I gathered with old friends, we reminisced about our high school experiences and compared them to the experiences of our children and grandchildren. One of our discussions was about sex education and reproductive freedom.
In our high school days, sex education was limited to about one week in in a one semester health class when we were 15. I don’t know what the boys studied, but the girls curriculum was mostly creepy black and white movies that were designed to scare us into avoiding sex.
One day, one of the girls in the class asked about birth control.
Our teacher, a woman in her mid-twenties, told us “Girls, I want to tell you about birth control, but state law prohibits me from doing so. PLEASE, PLEASE find a trusted woman to ask about birth control. If you can’t talk to your mother about it, find an aunt, a neighbor lady, the mom of one of your girlfriends.”
At the 50th reunion party, a woman approached me and said, “I’m a member of this class, but I graduated later.” When she gave me her name, a little lightbulb went off in my head: She was one of the girls who went away. In that era, girls who got pregnant were often sent away, cut off from all contact with family and friends, and forced to give their babies up for adoption. To learn more about that, I recommend reading a recent book titled “The Girls Who Went Away” by Ann Fessler. Among other things, the book helps explain why adoption is not a magic answer for all unplanned pregnancies.
Shortly after we graduated from high school in 1972, reproductive freedom changed significantly. Birth control became accessible to single women, and girls and women began to have a range of choices to manage their reproductive freedom. The women of our generation and our daughters’ generations gained greater freedom to pursue higher education and careers, because we could make choices about if and when to have children.
But now, 50 years later, we seem to be losing ground on this critical freedom. The overturning of Roe v Wade has triggered a number of vaguely worded, drastically restrictive state laws which put women’s lives in danger and create terrible ethical dilemmas for medical professionals. Laws designed to protect religious freedom may limit reasonable access to birth control. In some states, public school systems that teach sex education are now required to teach “abstinence only” in a style reminiscent of my experiences 50 years ago.
Reproductive freedom requires access to safe, effective and affordable birth control. It also includes the right for individuals to be able to obtain a safe and legal abortion if needed. These issues are critically important for men as well as women, and while it affects all of us, laws that limit reproductive knowledge and freedom have a more drastic affect on people in lower socioeconomic groups.
One of my current roles in the Macomb community is to serve as the President of the League of Women Voters of McDonough County. In concluding this editorial, I want to wholeheartedly endorse the official statement of the National League of Women Voters on reproductive freedom, which includes these words:
“The League of Women Voters believes every US resident should have access to affordable, quality health care, including birth control and the privacy to make reproductive choices. As an ally of reproductive rights organizations, we know that safe access to health care, including abortion, is essential to our democracy.
Democracy depends on equal rights for all people. Losing our right to reproductive choice opens the door to the loss of other freedoms like marriage equality, contraception, and the right to engage in private, consensual intimacy…
The League of Women Voters stands in solidarity with women and individuals who may become pregnant in the fight to protect reproductive freedom.”
Thank you.
Jane Coplan is President of the League of Women Voters of McDonough County.
The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Western Illinois University or Tri States Public Radio.
Diverse viewpoints are welcomed and encouraged.