Abortion is in the headlines this week. On Saturday jsmdlawyer at Daily Kos diaried Clarence Thomas’ attempt to prevent an imprisoned woman in Missouri from having the abortion to which she was legally entitled, just because she didn’t have the $350 she needed to get to the clinic (before we were through with that one, she could have hired a limo, but how much better for women everywhere that she didn’t need it after all).
And this morning none of us was shocked–shocked!— to hear about Harriet Miers’ 1989 promise to support a Constitutional amendment banning abortion altogether.
But now I’m going to tell you an abortion story that hasn’t made the news, and probably won’t–a story about the women of Katrina, and about the hurricane relief effort no one talks about–the Katrina aid that dare not speak its name.
How many young women did we all see on our TV screens, bedding down on the floor at the Astrodome in Houston or Reunion Arena in Dallas with their babies and toddlers, surrounded by crumpled plastic bags that held all they had left in the world? There seemed to be thousands of them, and then more thousands. As in any population of young women, many of them were pregnant. And for a great number of those young women–the ones for whom unexpected and unwanted pregnancies represented a second disaster–the devastation that their lives had become was worsened by the anxiety of wondering how they could find the help they needed to have a desperately desired abortion.
Fortunately, they didn’t have to depend on FEMA. Low-income women who are residents of Texas and who cannot afford the cost an abortion are able to rely on two sources of help–the Lilith Fund and the Texas Equal Access Fund–volunteer nonprofit organizations that immediately expanded their previous scope to offer all possible assistance to displaced women who were relocated to Texas in the aftermath of Katrina. Lilith and TEA typically provide somewhere from $50-100 in assistance, and as providers, we generally find a way to make up the rest.
This morning at the clinic I was paged to the phone to take a call that meant bad news for any low-income woman in this very large state who needs an abortion. Because of the huge additional burdens on its resources since the first part of September, the Lilith Fund has been completely wiped out and will no longer be able to offer help to any woman in Texas for at least the next one to two months. Nothing like this has ever happened before, because the Lilith Fund is a well-managed and extremely responsible organization, but providing care for the women of Katrina has overwhelmed us all, funders and providers alike.
The need of women who are faced with rebuilding their entire lives is tremendous, and the response of the pro-choice community has been remarkable. In Arkansas, a state with fewer evacuees, Dr. Jerry Edwards and Dr. William Harrison are offering abortion care without charge to women displaced by Katrina–and quite predictably have been condemned for it by all the usual suspects. But in the much more highly populated metropolitan areas of Texas, the need has outpaced our ability to provide services to all the women who need us, even at reduced fees. That’s what we get for having kept the regular cost of abortion care so low that, as a colleague in Louisiana often says, we seem to be producing quality medical care out of thin air.
The few national funding groups that usually can assist women in any part of the country now are so depleted that they are unable to help almost anyone but Katrina victims, and the Lilith Fund–which together with the TEA Fund has carried most of the burden here in Texas from the beginning–has been hit so hard during the last couple of months that it can no longer help anyone at all.
And there are so many women who need that help. Gretchen Dyer of the TEA Fund can tell you about them better than I can.
More than a choice
<…>
When Tracy called, she had the curtains closed and the door bolted. She spoke in a low whisper that made it hard to understand her. She was hiding in her apartment with her two children because her ex-boyfriend had threatened to kill her. When she’d contacted the police, they’d informed her that he was a known criminal and advised her to get as far away from him as possible.This was good advice. The problem was, Tracy was a struggling single mother with no savings, no place to go and no one to protect her. She was also pregnant.
Tracy couldn’t manage another child on her own, and she didn’t want to bear the man’s child or have any further connection to him. So she’d decided to have an abortion. For her, this was more than a choice. It was a chance to survive, to start over and make a safe life for herself and her children.
<…>
I speak to dozens of women in difficult situations every week, some more desperate than Tracy’s. Most are single mothers working low-wage jobs that don’t pay enough to support their families. Some are victims of rape or incest, women on the run from domestic abuse, women with serious health problems or teenagers trying to finish high school and keep from getting thrown out of their homes because they’re pregnant.
<…>
Last week Charlene called. A few months out of treatment for methadone addiction and only a few days out of a homeless shelter, she’s trying to get her life back together. Her child is about to start school, and she’s looking for a job. Another baby right now will put her simple goals out of reach.And then there was Louise, a single mother of two with breast cancer. She was too sick to work, had no medical insurance and had used up her savings on medical bills. The doctor advised her that the pregnancy was life-threatening for her and the radiation treatments an unacceptable risk to the fetus. The decision to abort was a life-and-death decision for her and for her two children who need her. It was a whole lot more than a choice.
As most of you know, Texas covers about the same land area as France. There were countless Tracys and Charlenes and Louises even before any of us ever heard of Katrina. And they’re still here, and still needing help, along with 41 year-old “Mary” from Slidell, a mother of three with hypertension and diabetes, and 13 year-old “Tiffany” from New Orleans, who just wants to fit in with the other seventh-graders at her new school–both of whom were patients at our clinic on the same day last week. And the phone just keeps on ringing . . .
Without the partnership provided by the Lilith Fund, the TEA Fund will be left alone to carry the almost unimaginable burden of helping numberless women who are living in circumstances more desperate than most of us have ever known.
Every donation that Lilith and TEA receive goes directly to a woman who needs it. For a woman from Louisiana still cooped up in a motel and buying no-name macaroni and cheese to feed her kids on the shrinking balance of her FEMA check–or for a Texas woman sleeping in her car with her two year-old because she’s afraid to go home–no amount is too small to make a difference. By the very nature of their work, Lilith and TEA have the strictest of privacy policies. There are no third party middlemen, and their operating expenses pretty much consist of a toll-free phone number, a few cell phones and a checkbook.
When I took that call this morning, my first thought after “Oh, my God, no” was that I knew a lot of good people who would want to help Tracy and Charlene and Louise and Mary and Tiffany just as much as Lilith and TEA and I do.
For all of them, for every one of them, thanks a lot for anything you can do.
Update [2005-10-20 1:59:42 by moiv]: A friend at Lilith sent me some figures this evening, and I wanted to share them with you.
“In April, the Lilith hotline took 463 calls…in September we took 797
In 2004 we paid out around $17,000 in vouchers.
So far in 2005…a whopping $38,000″
Those numbers represent a lot of women in a lot of trouble. I’m only one person in one clinic in one city of a big state, but today I met women whom you’ve already helped. The volunteers at TEA and Lilith are feeling pretty overwhelmed right now–which for them is normal–but this time, and for a change, it’s a good feeling. They’ve said thank you to me today about half a dozen times, and I feel the need to pass that along to its rightful owners.
From all of them, and most especially from all the women, thank you.
Oh, moiv. I have no money. What can I do? Is there anything I can do?
These women’s stories just break my heart.
If you don’t have money, you can mail this diary, and the links, to everybody you know who does have money.
You can post it to other message boards or blogs. I will do some of that tomorrow.
If you are a member of a faith based or social group or book club, you can print the diary out, and add the addresses of the funds and pass out copies to the people in your group.
If you are on good enough terms with people in your workplace or your school or neighborhood play group or poker night, you can do the same thing there.
You can even try sending the diary to your local newspaper.
You can also send it to pro choice celebrities.
Have I mentioned lately that you absolutely rock???
I’m in the same boat as Brinnainne but sent this on to two lists that total about 580 members. Hope it helps.
This is a beautifully, movingly written diary. Thank you for all you do.
when you recommended their story and let more people see it.
They shouldn’t have to be invisible.
for one fund over the other?
They both work in partnership with each other, and are equally worthy. Lilith is in worse immediate shape, and TEA will now be carrying a double burden until Lilith recoups … so it’s a tossup either way.
Anything you can do will be wonderful, thanks.
lilith link goes to texas equal access fund and access fund link goes to lilith
Thanks for telling me, so I can fix it.
it was pretty low impact.
I decided to go with the lilith fund — I was thinking that being in such financial difficulties must be really stressful for all the people there so the sooner they feel like they can breathe, the better for everybody.
I’ll be sending them all I can, and bless you and all who on the front lines day in and day out. Take care of yourselves, please.
Bless you, big sister. 🙂
is down, for over 2 hours.
I got yours, yes please, if you can conveniently do that.
Traffic is good, constant at 70 – 180 so may be worthwhile.
sending a check to The Lilith Fund first thing am. I feel it’s the least I can do since moiv has done so much to keep us informed online.
Thank you – for the work you do, for sharing your knowledge, for reminding us of the real women (and girls) who are in need, for the voice with with you speak – never strident nor harsh, and for your humanity and compassion.
Passing along to others and sending donaton – another thanks for letting us know of the need and whom to contact.
thanks so much for letting us know. i’ll be contributing too.
wow! thanks so much for posting this moiv!
Thank you Moiv for bringing this urgent issue to our attention. Will donate to Lilith fund today and pass the diary along to the women in my life that may be able to help too. This is URGENT folks. Let’s all do what we can.
On it–thanks for the head’s up! moiv you are a hero.
GRRR too early – couldn’t suss out the dammn security code thingie-for the longest time– anyway- it says for moiv- just so you know that posting here is effective. 🙂
Stole that idea from somebody over at Big Orange.(!)
and he made me cry last night.
And now I’m reading down the thread here this morning and am about to do it all over again.
I just spoke with a Lilith rep, and she was amazed by how much everyone cares. She says they don’t know when they can be operational again, and I told her that I didn’t either, but “help is on the way.”
I’d imagine there are times when you, and others working so hard of the front lines every day, get discouraged and may feel alone..but you’re not, Moiv. I just finished reading the thead here and on dkos, and again am totally awed at the power of women gathered, along with concerned borthers, in common cause. So often it just takes someone wise and courageous enough to step out in front with needed information and clear direction for action, to set a swelll like this into motion. You are that kind of woman, Moiv, and it is an honor to know you. Let the tears flow if they want, they are pure gold.
Thank you for all that you do, moiv.
It becomes more and more obvious to me each day that I am entirely too lucky.
Having been in the situation myself, poor and preg,I was fortunate enough to have MediCal to help me out,way back in 1979.Although dealing with the so-called ‘social workers’ was very frustrating and humiliating.
I spend some time counseling young women, and they are so clueless and helpless.It really is up to us,the elders,to provide some support to bewildered and frightened youngsters.
Good grief- on another note,a couple of years ago VA had a PR campaign about underage sex– including– OMG — cocktail napkins that were to be used in bars — with the slogan—- “Isn’t she a little YOUNG?”.
The mind still boggles.
on my blog, with props to you.
Most of the other places I went to post it already had it 😀
I will be passing this along to every pro-choice woman I know here in Vancouver. Thank you, moiv, for once again making visible for us those who are so often rendered invisible.
I hope this isn’t tacky or tasteless but I wrote this comment in response to someone’s comment in Armando’s frontpage post last night on “Understanding the right to privacy and the right to choose.” The question pertained to women’s right to privacy and how women react to other women’s privacy rights. It’s the closest I could come to what the feeling was when reading the threads on Moiv’s diary last night. It was the last thing I thought of last night and it was the first thing I thought of this morning. So much love it seems unbelieveable it can happen behind screens thousands of miles away from each other but then, of course, it’s not that unbelieveable, we are talking about women afterall. Here’s the comment, thanks for indulging me.
A few thoughts about privacy and women
I thank my lucky stars each and every day that I was born a woman. I love men but I am in complete and utter awe of women. The women I know, the women whose books I read, the women I learn from, the women who inspire me, the women who sing to me, the women who speak for me, the women who march, who commit their lives to helping other women, the women who lead and the women who follow all have something in common with me.
All of those women rejoice in women’s choices. All of those women applaud the women who give birth and support and applaud the women who choose not to give birth.
It’s what the women I know do, we grant each other autonomy over our bodies to make the choices we feel are the right ones for us to make. We honor the privacy every single person deserves to have in this country. We trust that every woman knows what is best, trust that every woman knows what is her own truth, trust that every woman will follow her own heart and will do whatever it is she deems necessary.
The women I know have faith in one another, we ask for comfort, we ask for love, we ask for support and we ask for the acknowledgement that what we choose to do is honorable and that it’s our decision alone to make.