Back to business
Last semester we protested against of RFL’s (Respect for Life) screening of the film “Hush”. After which we received this email from a concerned student.
Dear W.E. Club,** **
I watched that HUSH video on September 29th and I think you missed the point of the video. It actually said that there IS a real risk for breast cancer after an abortion. I don't know if you made a mistake, but in your email, you told all your members, myself included, that "abortion does not cause breast cancer." If you did not understand the science behind the research conducted, I would be happy to explain it to you! It actually makes a lot of sense.
Women are free to have an abortion, but the risks should not be hidden from them. Unfortunately, I think you are keeping all of your club members ignorant by not addressing that abortion is not a completely safe procedure. You are shirking your responsibility by not distributing this knowledge. I think that knowledge empowers women. If you think women should be denied this knowledge, you are entitled to your opinion, but then I wouldn't call your club "Women's Empowerment."
Shouldn't women have the RIGHT to know the risks they are taking when they have an abortion? Shouldn't women hear the stories of those who have had an abortion and subsequently had multiple miscarriages because of the damage to their cervix and uterus? How could you so casually and carelessly mute the voices of these victims? Women were interviewed in that video. They put themselves in the spotlight and told the world intimate stories of their past in order to raise awareness of the risks of abortion. Risks that people like you will not even acknowledge. The risks that became reality for the women interviewed in HUSH.
I hope you will reconsider how you distribute information to your club. Please do not dismiss or distort scientific research and the findings of experienced breast cancer surgeons only to support your own position. This is about women's health. Not politics.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Fordham Student
To which we replied:
Dear Concerned Fordham Student,
The HUSH documentary that was screened by Respect For Life presents itself as pro-information and pro-woman, but it, in fact, gives false health information by discredited witnesses with no actual credentials. Major national and international health organizations, including The American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute, clearly state that abortion has not been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer. Despite abortion being a safer procedure than most dental procedures, its so-called “risks” are used by lawmakers and religious groups to significantly limit access to abortion. Many states have laws that require abortion clinics to have a relationship with a hospital in order to have access to an operating room in case of complications, even though these are extremely rare and patients could be taken to an ER instead. Some states also require doctors to give false, scientifically inaccurate “medical information” about the nonexistent risks of abortion to patients before performing abortions. These are known as “A Woman’s Right to Know” acts and are based on the very fear-mongering pseudoscientific “experts” that HUSH features. This misinformation not only contributes to the stigma around abortion and attempts to dissuade patients from getting abortions, limiting their ability to freely choose what happens to their bodies, it creates a platform for anti-choice legislators to make abortions almost impossible to receive in certain states.
You claim that patients considering abortions should have the right to know about risks in procedures they might receive, which is already required of all medical procedures by informed consent laws. However, you fail to mention the many known mental and physical health risks of carrying a pregnancy to term and childbirth. A study in 2012 published in Obstetrics & Gynecology found that “legal induced abortion is markedly safer than childbirth. The risk of death associated with childbirth is approximately 14 times higher than that with abortion. Similarly, the overall morbidity associated with childbirth exceeds that with abortion.” If this documentary was truly pro-information, the health risks associated with pregnancy would be included and compared with the relatively minuscule risks of abortion. As this film does not offer this information, and because of the known anti-choice and anti-LGBTQ history of Angela Lanfranchi and Joel Brind, two of the “experts” witnessed, it is clear that the film is, in fact, anti-choice propaganda contributing to the stigma surrounding abortion. Furthermore, the documentary was secretly filmed in an abortion clinic in Seattle, which is illegal and could infringe on the privacy rights of the patients which HUSH claims to advocate for.
At the end of your email, you claim that “this is about women’s health, not politics.” What you fail to realize is that abortion and reproductive rights have always been a politicized issue in the United States and the attempt to regulate abortion out of existence has very real consequences for the patients who do not wish to carry their pregnancy to term. As a pro-choice feminist group, we believe that all people should have sovereignty over their own bodies. Like you, we believe that knowledge empowers women, and we would not feel comfortable calling ourselves “Women’s Empowerment” if we did not protect the human rights of all people who have the ability to become pregnant and call attention to those trying to limit access to abortion and reproductive healthcare.
Sincerely,
Women’s Empowerment
