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Column: A Texas woman needed an abortion. Here's how far California went to help her
Last edited Sat May 7, 2022, 10:15 AM - Edit history (1)
A mom knew having another child wasn't the right decision for her.
Facing Texas' new restrictive abortion law, which bans the procedure after a heartbeat is found, Stephanie saw California as her best hope.
Facing Texas' new restrictive abortion law, which bans the procedure after a heartbeat is found, Stephanie saw California as her best hope.
latimes.com
Column: A Texas woman needed an abortion. Here's how far California went to help her
This mom knew having another child wasn't the right decision for her. Facing Texas' new restrictive abortion law, she saw California as her best hope.
Column: A Texas woman needed an abortion. Here's how far California went to help her
This mom knew having another child wasn't the right decision for her. Facing Texas' new restrictive abortion law, she saw California as her best hope.
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CALIFORNIA
Column: A Texas woman needed an abortion. Here’s how far California went to help her
BY ANITA CHABRIA COLUMNIST
MAY 6, 2022 5 AM PT
{snip}
Stephanie, 33, prayed about the pregnancy. She ran through her savings being off work. She thought about the bills a baby would bring, what it would mean for her kids, and for her own future. Then she decided to have an abortion. ... “Where I am at in my life, I am on a journey where I am still trying to find myself, trying to be the best mother I can be,” she said. “And I feel like it’s hard enough already and I don’t want to bring another child into this world.” ... This is of course none of our business, and requires no justification, no back story to make us understand a choice that is hers alone. But Stephanie shared her story with me both to help explain what it really means for California to be a sanctuary state for abortion, how urgent it is that this state keep the promises its politicians are making, and to let others in need of an abortion know that there is help in these dark and frightening days.
What Planned Parenthood Los Angeles did to help Stephanie, the lengths it went to, surprised me. It made me proud to be in a state that isn’t backing down from this ugly fight, and it made me realize that we are far beyond putting on pink hats and protesting at a statehouse where the governor and legislators already have doubled down on making California a sanctuary for reproductive care.
This is no longer just a culture war between those with political and ideological differences, if it ever was. This is a crisis of identity that will determine the future of this country for decades to come, a dividing line between inclusive democracy and a white Christian nationalism that is seeking, successfully for now, to domino our rights one by one in a vicious fight to keep power for a few at the expense of equality and equity for most. It is racist, sexist, hate-filled and un-American.
I asked Erwin Chemerinsky, one of the nation’s pre-eminent constitutional scholars and a professor at UC Berkeley, where we are headed if the leaked Roe decision becomes law. His assessment was bleak. ... “Justice Alito’s opinion, assuming it becomes the final decision, will put many rights in danger,” he said. ... “The right to custody of one’s children, the right to keep the family together, the right of parents to control the upbringing of their children, the right to purchase and use contraceptives, the right of consenting adults to engage in same-sex sexual activity, the right of competent adults to refuse medical treatment,” all those will be vulnerable, he warned. ... He predicts that if Roe is overruled, states will “adopt laws prohibiting contraceptives that act after conception, like the IUD, the morning after pill, some birth control pills. They will outlaw IVF where embryos are not implanted. They will prohibit women from leaving a state for an abortion and more.” ... Stephanie knows exactly what that oppression feels like.
{snip}
Anita Chabria
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anita.chabria@latimes.com
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Anita Chabria is a California columnist for the Los Angeles Times, based in Sacramento. Before joining The Times, she worked for the Sacramento Bee as a member of its statewide investigative team and previously covered criminal justice and City Hall.
Column: A Texas woman needed an abortion. Here’s how far California went to help her
BY ANITA CHABRIA COLUMNIST
MAY 6, 2022 5 AM PT
{snip}
CALIFORNIA
California will be ‘a beacon of hope’ for out-of-state abortion seekers, say leaders
Stephanie, 33, prayed about the pregnancy. She ran through her savings being off work. She thought about the bills a baby would bring, what it would mean for her kids, and for her own future. Then she decided to have an abortion. ... “Where I am at in my life, I am on a journey where I am still trying to find myself, trying to be the best mother I can be,” she said. “And I feel like it’s hard enough already and I don’t want to bring another child into this world.” ... This is of course none of our business, and requires no justification, no back story to make us understand a choice that is hers alone. But Stephanie shared her story with me both to help explain what it really means for California to be a sanctuary state for abortion, how urgent it is that this state keep the promises its politicians are making, and to let others in need of an abortion know that there is help in these dark and frightening days.
CALIFORNIA
60 hours, 50 abortions: A California doctor’s monthly commute to a Texas clinic
What Planned Parenthood Los Angeles did to help Stephanie, the lengths it went to, surprised me. It made me proud to be in a state that isn’t backing down from this ugly fight, and it made me realize that we are far beyond putting on pink hats and protesting at a statehouse where the governor and legislators already have doubled down on making California a sanctuary for reproductive care.
This is no longer just a culture war between those with political and ideological differences, if it ever was. This is a crisis of identity that will determine the future of this country for decades to come, a dividing line between inclusive democracy and a white Christian nationalism that is seeking, successfully for now, to domino our rights one by one in a vicious fight to keep power for a few at the expense of equality and equity for most. It is racist, sexist, hate-filled and un-American.
I asked Erwin Chemerinsky, one of the nation’s pre-eminent constitutional scholars and a professor at UC Berkeley, where we are headed if the leaked Roe decision becomes law. His assessment was bleak. ... “Justice Alito’s opinion, assuming it becomes the final decision, will put many rights in danger,” he said. ... “The right to custody of one’s children, the right to keep the family together, the right of parents to control the upbringing of their children, the right to purchase and use contraceptives, the right of consenting adults to engage in same-sex sexual activity, the right of competent adults to refuse medical treatment,” all those will be vulnerable, he warned. ... He predicts that if Roe is overruled, states will “adopt laws prohibiting contraceptives that act after conception, like the IUD, the morning after pill, some birth control pills. They will outlaw IVF where embryos are not implanted. They will prohibit women from leaving a state for an abortion and more.” ... Stephanie knows exactly what that oppression feels like.
{snip}
Anita Chabria
anita.chabria@latimes.com
Anita Chabria is a California columnist for the Los Angeles Times, based in Sacramento. Before joining The Times, she worked for the Sacramento Bee as a member of its statewide investigative team and previously covered criminal justice and City Hall.
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