tonight i went over to the ritz for the planned parenthood annual award reception. two other women from the office joined me. we'd never been before - to a planned parenthood reception, that is.
that was approximately 6 hours ago.
what a blast! planned parenthood throws a kickass party. (a full 90 minutes of cocktailing!!) we heard from the governor, the woman who resigned from the FDA, and a community doctor who'd been serving planned parenthood for the past 30 odd years. it was fabulous being in a room full of activists, officials, agencies - everyone tossing back the cocktails, eating the prime rib, nibbling on chocolate, reading everyone's nametags desperately trying to figure out who you were. oh, yes, and catching up on what's been happening back in washington for the scalito confirmation. everyone had a story about being depressed and angry. (though rumor had it that kerry called for a filibuster, kennedy backed him and then frist called cloture.)
interesting fact: did you know that planned parenthood only has ONE abortion provider in the whole of metropolitan chicago? ONE. a doctor who's been doing this since roe was decided. i was stunned. we think that because we live in the city that we're protected. that access is easy and it's always going to be here.
it's not. there's ONE doctor in the whole city of chicago providing services for planned parenthood. who are the other service providers? the county hospital and one other service agency. how many providers do they have? one each. so that makes 3. 3 abortion providers in the whole city of chicago.
what the hell is going to happen when those doctors move away, or die or somehow stop providing services? some of the discussion tonight was about what would happen when abortion became a regional issue. my friends and i realized that chicago (and illinois) is surrounded by virulently anti-abortion states: wisconsin, missouri, michigan, indiana. if abortion turns into a regional burden, illinois will be swamped. i spoke with a woman who works in one of the medical offices and she said that today, they performed 65 procedures. 65. in one day. in one city. in one office.
we northern liberals like to distinguish ourselves from states like mississippi, states where there's one agency where women can go for abortions, but if a place like chicago of all places only has 3 doctors providing service, what's the difference? there's no difference between them and us.
a loss for them is a loss for us.
2 comments:
(waves) Yay! I was there too! Glad you had a good time! (I wish I had a little less fun; I still have a wicked hangover.)
There are actually a few other abortion providers in the city, small clinics, but I don't recommend them. You're right, we don't have enough doctors training on abortion technique as part of their residency. It's easier to focus on non-controversial areas of expertise...
it's good to know there's more than one! but i'm still amazed that the number of providers is so low. i realize we have a lot farther to go.
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