ON THE ISSUES Winter 2012 issue: Abortion

On The Issues Magazine is launching our Winter 2012 edition: ABORTION. We invited leading writers, thinkers, artists and commentators to look at abortion – boldly, unapologetically, prophetically. As a result, we are publishing our largest online edition to date, featuring a plethora of ideas, insights and exchanges.

Through this extensive issue, On The Issues Magazine is delving into abortion's truths -- and there couldn't be a better time to do so: last year, a record 135 new provisions related to reproductive rights were passed in the United States. As the anniversary of Roe v. Wade approaches, please join On The Issues Magazine as we explore the many complex pieces of the abortion debate.

©Heather Keith Freeman
Our Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Merle Hoffman shares an excerpt from her highly-anticipated, newly-released memoir Intimate Wars: The Life and Times of the Woman Who Brought Abortion from the Back Alley to the Boardroom. Hoffman recounts holding the hands of abortion patients as the director of a women's clinic and hearing their whispered explanations, laced with refrains of "if only."

Several writers offer unique perspectives on what the movement for reproductive freedom needs to be focusing on now. Lori Adelman sets the stage for a discussion of progress by creating a picture of abortion patients and how they have changed in Occupying the Waiting Room: 40 Years of Health Care Needs. Author and commentator Carole Joffe, in Gone Too Far? Reproductive Politics in the Time of Obama argues that unexpectedly tough times have primed people to fight back. Amanda Marcotte urges the mainstream reproductive justice organizations to do more to bolster the work of online supporters, writers and activists in Helping Bloggers to Help: Tips for Reproductive Health Organizations. And Jasmine Burnette asks African American gay and lesbian organizations to show more solidarity with women in Calling Black LGBTQ Institutions: Where Are You? Where is Reproductive Justice?

©Karen Fitzgerald
Margie Kelly, in Glorifying the Fetus While Ignoring the Fetal Environment, points out a major contradiction in government policy: that "the government wields a big stick to protect fetal life when restricting abortion, but fails to limit toxic chemical exposure to protect fetal life -- let alone the health of pregnant women." Gloria Feldt continues the conversation with The Grand Folly of Focusing on "Common Ground," in which she warns pro-choice activists not to waste time on trying to appease an opposition steeped in patriarchy and absolutism.
©Carol Jacobsen
Our writers also focus on the legal tangles related to reproductive rights. Priscilla Smith, a lawyer who argued two reproductive rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, suggests a fresh approach to abortion litigation in An Abortion Miracle? Let's try the First Amendment. And attorney Corinne A. Carey alerts patients and providers to a truly underreported 21st century concern -- the sharing of electronic medical records and what it means for abortion patients in Privacy at Stake: Patients, Clinics and Electronic Medical Records.

Unfortunately for the state of reproductive rights, this edition would not be complete without discussing the deceit and viciousness of the anti-abortion movement in the past 40 years. Kathryn Joyce describes a newer attack: how extremists are deploying youth and sincerity to front their most virult messages in Lila Rose: A Sweet Face to Accompany Extreme Anti-Abortion Claims.

To combat these attacks, Ayesha Chatterjee and Judy Norsigian of Our Bodies Ourselves ask us to expand our circles of outreach in Can We Choose to Move Forward on Reproductive Justice? -- And How?. They write, "Doing this effectively will require creativity, tenacity and abiding respect of all women's realities and circumstances. We're up for the challenge -- are you?"

We want to hear what you think about the ideas in the magazine. Please contribute your thoughts to our comments section at the end of every story and Café piece, or write a letter to the editor.

And we hope you'll share this rich repository of material with your friends and colleagues -- find us on Facebook and Twitter! We're using the hashtag #abortion this issue, so add it to your tweets to jump in the conversation.

Thanks for reading!