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Ain't I A Woman? newspapers, June 1970-July 1971

1970-07-24 "Ain't I a Woman?" Page 12

The new abortion law in New York has no residency requirement, allows abortion up to the 24th week of pregnancy and after the 24th week "under a reasonable belief that such act is necessary to preserve (the mother's) life."
   Hospital preparations have been inadequate, personnel and equipment lacking in many hospitals, and city health code requirements make it unlikely that many clinics or doctors’ offices will be used for abortions in New York City.
   The Medical Society of the State of New York has recommended a doctor’s fee of $100 to $150 for the 10-30 minute out-patient abortion. Many doctors will charge more, hospital and laboratory fees are additional.
   Like everything else in the health system, abortion reform favors the rich. The woman who can pay up to $800 for an abortion now can get it legally. ($350 for the hospital room, tests, and operating room fees $250 for the physician and $120 for the anesthesiologist— or $750 in one reported case already.)
   Covert guidelines imposed by hospitals (limiting the number of abortions to one week in one case) add to the problem of access to abortions.
   The Women’s Project is working against that part of the new state law which forbids hospitals to train paramedical specialists to perform abortions. The Project provides doctor and referral services, housing and other aid to women from out of town. Later they may be performing pregnancy tests at a cost, if any, of $1.75. The Project has some doctors who will perform abortions for a fee of $50, but a suitable office or clinic must be found.
   Support for the Women’s Abortion Project would aid women from out of town. Phone (212) 691-1860; 36 W 22 St., New York, N.Y. 10010.
   Clergy and Lay Advocates for Hospital Abortion Performance is an organization taking complaints from women who have trouble getting an abortion. It will record “how and why the system breaks down.” (212) 477-0034.
   Planned Parenthood provides doctor and hospital referral service: (212) 777-4504 or 777-2015.
   The Abortion Counseling Information and Referral Service, a commercial agency, guarantees a hospital bed and (an available board-certified gynecologist on a specified date.” It claims to charge no fee to a poor New Yorker and up to $800 depending on the case, the institution and the patient’s ability to pay for others: 160 W. 86th St., New York City. (A commercial agency? Somebody better check this out.)
   The WLF Medical Cell will try to find out how these services are working. If you know, let us know.  
    
   Our Ad Policy
   The Woman as consumer is one of the most evil of the sexual stereotypes laid upon woman. Most advertisement plays upon this stereotype, reinforcing it at the same time. The old cry of “Buy, Buy, Buy” must be replaced by advertisement that limits itself to a simple statement of what is offered to the public. We join other women’s liberation publications in accepting only non--exploitative advertisements.
   Ads are limited to a maximum length of 2”. Each ad costs $5.00 each time it is run. All advertisements must be paid for in advance. We reserve the right to reject any ad.

Medical Morass
   The medical issues cell has been meeting for nearly two months now. Our meetings seem to have taken on a pattern. At the first couple of meetings we talked about the medical profession in this country. It wasn’t too hard to pinpoint the problems…they are so obvious that they stick out like a sore thumb. (People of the medical profession pardon me for infringing on your territory.) In our preliminary discussions we had a pretty good analysis of the situation. Medical care is a class privilege in this country. If you’ve got the money you’ve got adequate care and attention. Doctors are guarding their professionalism with their lives. Sexism and racism are running rampant in the hallowed halls of hospitals and clinics that serve people everywhere. Female nurses are expected to follow male doctors like puppy dogs with slave -like devotion and obedience. Woman are denied the right to make decisions about their own lives. The medical people (along with legislators) are killing thousands of women by not getting rid of the system’ s archaic abortion laws. People are often kept in the dark about the safety of the kinds of medications they are taking (OK doc, you can pass some of that guilt off to drug manufacturers). Doctors are refusing to go into ghettos to treat people because they are not treated courteously. Third world people are being experimented on the find new methods of contraception. When the man talks about curbing the population he is going to make damn sure that he cuts down in all the right places! I keep putting off medical and dental examinations because they are too expensive. I could go on and on…
   So after we had the monster pinned down, we started making suggestions about alternatives. So now we spend the first half of our meeting making proposals. The only catch to abortion counseling, which is being done, is the $350 minimum per abortion which most

AD
SOCIALIST REVOLUTION
Agenda Publishing Company
1445 Stockton Street
San Francisco, California, 94133
Single Issue $1.50
Subscription (6 Issues) $6.00

[hand drawn cartoon]
It’s (Oh noM) Yes-
QUACKMAN [down arrow]
-in his well known PIG disguise
[hand drawn police officer] Alright BABY SQUAT
[hand drawn woman with shot gun] he’ll get his!

middle class women (let alone lower class) have little chance of scraping up, and no one is willing to give them. Free Medical tests: We could offer free service to people…pap smears, pregnancy tests, etc. But where do we get the expensive equipment? Doctors are too busy with their patients who pay to give time to a free medical center. We can train our own people, but we will need a lot of help first. Free contraceptive information and advice: We have the information, it’s the prescriptions and examinations that cost the money. There is no Planned Parenthood in this town, and the nearest one is some fifty miles away. The University clinic charges money, and I haven’t heard of any doctors who will do examinations free. The only way you can have free medical attention is to be on ADC and in the area of contraception that’s a little after the fact. But then! I guess we should be thankful for small favors since the student health service here just this past year decided that maybe they should stop giving a moral lecture and give contraceptives to females requesting them. Thanks a million for the pill!
   The second half of the meeting usually drifts into other subjects. We aren’t talking about medical issues anymore. Instead we discuss the day care center, or we speculate on what will happen with the New York abortion law. (New York is pretty far away.) Occasionally some of us drop the meeting altogether and go out to get stoned. We do just about everything under the sun you can think of to do when you can’t deal with the situation.
   It’s the kind of frustration that we’re feeling at this point that makes people so enraged. Big medical business has things sewn up so tight in this area that we can’t even get a foot in the door. But we’re angry enough now that we’re not going to stop trying. And our anger is not going to disappear… it’s going to grow. The mystique of medicine is gone, and the automatic respect for the great white doctor is being turned upside down.
   Free and good quality medical care for all people! And that’s only going to come with the Revolution!

Worker’s Union
   A NOTE FROM THE STAFF OF THE FORMER SOUTHERN FEMALE RIGHTS UNION
(Frances Hebert, Judy Harden, Kathy Bragg’ Roxanne Dunbar Susan Farris)
   The Marxist reading group in New Orleans includes women who have been meeting as a women’s group for more than a year, and has been joined by other individuals. Several women who are now associated with SFRU joined the reading group a few months ago.
   Due to our studies in the group and practice in SFRU, we have arrived at a different political direction than we formerly held. We have dissolved the organization and discarded the name. We are now working towards building a New Orleans Female Workers’ Union. Some of us are getting jobs in industrial, lower clerical, and service work in order to join with working class cadre to build a working class base for the women’s movement in this area. We believe that this is the direction the women’s movement in general must take to truly serve the liberation of women and all oppressed people.

12   Vol. 1 No. 3  July 24, 1970
[hand drawn arm] Ain't I?

Saving...

The new abortion law in New York has no residency requirement, allows abortion up to the 24th week of pregnancy and after the 24th week "under a reasonable belief that such act is necessary to preserve (the mother's) life." Hospital preparations have been inadequate, personnel and equipment lacking in many hospitals, and city health code requirements make it unlikely that many clinics or doctors’ offices will be used for abortions in New York City. The Medical Society of the State of New York has recommended a doctor’s fee of $100 to $150 for the 10-30 minute out-patient abortion. Many doctors will charge more, hospital and laboratory fees are additional. Like everything else in the health system, abortion reform favors the rich. The woman who can pay up to $800 for an abortion now can get it legally. ($350 for the hospital room, tests, and operating room fees $250 for the physician and $120 for the anesthesiologist— or $750 in one reported case already.) Covert guidelines imposed by hospitals (limiting the number of abortions to one week in one case) add to the problem of access to abortions. The Women’s Project is working against that part of the new state law which forbids hospitals to train paramedical specialists to perform abortions. The Project provides doctor and referral services, housing and other aid to women from out of town. Later they may be performing pregnancy tests at a cost, if any, of $1.75. The Project has some doctors who will perform abortions for a fee of $50, but a suitable office or clinic must be found. Support for the Women’s Abortion Project would aid women from out of town. Phone (212) 691-1860; 36 W 22 St., New York, N.Y. 10010. Clergy and Lay Advocates for Hospital Abortion Performance is an organization taking complaints from women who have trouble getting an abortion. It will record “how and why the system breaks down.” (212) 477-0034. Planned Parenthood provides doctor and hospital referral service: (212) 777-4504 or 777-2015. The Abortion Counseling Information and Referral Service, a commercial agency, guarantees a hospital bed and (an available board-certified gynecologist on a specified date.” It claims to charge no fee to a poor New Yorker and up to $800 depending on the case, the institution and the patient’s ability to pay for others: 160 W. 86th St., New York City. (A commercial agency? Somebody better check this out.) The WLF Medical Cell will try to find out how these services are working. If you know, let us know. Our Ad Policy The Woman as consumer is one of the most evil of the sexual stereotypes laid upon woman. Most advertisement plays upon this stereotype, reinforcing it at the same time. The old cry of “Buy, Buy, Buy” must be replaced by advertisement that limits itself to a simple statement of what is offered to the public. We join other women’s liberation publications in accepting only non--exploitative advertisements. Ads are limited to a maximum length of 2”. Each ad costs $5.00 each time it is run. All advertisements must be paid for in advance. We reserve the right to reject any ad. Medical Morass The medical issues cell has been meeting for nearly two months now. Our meetings seem to have taken on a pattern. At the first couple of meetings we talked about the medical profession in this country. It wasn’t too hard to pinpoint the problems…they are so obvious that they stick out like a sore thumb. (People of the medical profession pardon me for infringing on your territory.) In our preliminary discussions we had a pretty good analysis of the situation. Medical care is a class privilege in this country. If you’ve got the money you’ve got adequate care and attention. Doctors are guarding their professionalism with their lives. Sexism and racism are running rampant in the hallowed halls of hospitals and clinics that serve people everywhere. Female nurses are expected to follow male doctors like puppy dogs with slave -like devotion and obedience. Woman are denied the right to make decisions about their own lives. The medical people (along with legislators) are killing thousands of women by not getting rid of the system’ s archaic abortion laws. People are often kept in the dark about the safety of the kinds of medications they are taking (OK doc, you can pass some of that guilt off to drug manufacturers). Doctors are refusing to go into ghettos to treat people because they are not treated courteously. Third world people are being experimented on the find new methods of contraception. When the man talks about curbing the population he is going to make damn sure that he cuts down in all the right places! I keep putting off medical and dental examinations because they are too expensive. I could go on and on… So after we had the monster pinned down, we started making suggestions about alternatives. So now we spend the first half of our meeting making proposals. The only catch to abortion counseling, which is being done, is the $350 minimum per abortion which most AD SOCIALIST REVOLUTION Agenda Publishing Company 1445 Stockton Street San Francisco, California, 94133 Single Issue $1.50 Subscription (6 Issues) $6.00 [hand drawn cartoon] It’s (Oh noM) Yes- QUACKMAN [down arrow] -in his well known PIG disguise [hand drawn police officer] Alright BABY SQUAT [hand drawn woman with shot gun] he’ll get his! middle class women (let alone lower class) have little chance of scraping up, and no one is willing to give them. Free Medical tests: We could offer free service to people…pap smears, pregnancy tests, etc. But where do we get the expensive equipment? Doctors are too busy with their patients who pay to give time to a free medical center. We can train our own people, but we will need a lot of help first. Free contraceptive information and advice: We have the information, it’s the prescriptions and examinations that cost the money. There is no Planned Parenthood in this town, and the nearest one is some fifty miles away. The University clinic charges money, and I haven’t heard of any doctors who will do examinations free. The only way you can have free medical attention is to be on ADC and in the area of contraception that’s a little after the fact. But then! I guess we should be thankful for small favors since the student health service here just this past year decided that maybe they should stop giving a moral lecture and give contraceptives to females requesting them. Thanks a million for the pill! The second half of the meeting usually drifts into other subjects. We aren’t talking about medical issues anymore. Instead we discuss the day care center, or we speculate on what will happen with the New York abortion law. (New York is pretty far away.) Occasionally some of us drop the meeting altogether and go out to get stoned. We do just about everything under the sun you can think of to do when you can’t deal with the situation. It’s the kind of frustration that we’re feeling at this point that makes people so enraged. Big medical business has things sewn up so tight in this area that we can’t even get a foot in the door. But we’re angry enough now that we’re not going to stop trying. And our anger is not going to disappear… it’s going to grow. The mystique of medicine is gone, and the automatic respect for the great white doctor is being turned upside down. Free and good quality medical care for all people! And that’s only going to come with the Revolution! Worker’s Union A NOTE FROM THE STAFF OF THE FORMER SOUTHERN FEMALE RIGHTS UNION (Frances Hebert, Judy Harden, Kathy Bragg’ Roxanne Dunbar Susan Farris) The Marxist reading group in New Orleans includes women who have been meeting as a women’s group for more than a year, and has been joined by other individuals. Several women who are now associated with SFRU joined the reading group a few months ago. Due to our studies in the group and practice in SFRU, we have arrived at a different political direction than we formerly held. We have dissolved the organization and discarded the name. We are now working towards building a New Orleans Female Workers’ Union. Some of us are getting jobs in industrial, lower clerical, and service work in order to join with working class cadre to build a working class base for the women’s movement in this area. We believe that this is the direction the women’s movement in general must take to truly serve the liberation of women and all oppressed people. 12 Vol. 1 No. 3 July 24, 1970 [hand drawn arm] Ain't I?