Searching for the Perfect Card

By: Renee Bracey Sherman, originally posted on Strong Families

“How come you have a black mother?” an inquisitive young boy asked me. We were four, playing at a park near my childhood Chicago home. I stared at him blankly, but never responded – I had no idea what he meant. 

For many years I never understood why so many people would ask me that question. Growing up biracial was a challenge. Greeting cards always showed mothers and daughters with the same skin tone and light eyes; the books in school reflected “diverse” families, but separated the white family from the black one. Mine was never represented. 

My father told me about the frustration she endured every time she’d take me to the zoo or park. “She’s so cute. Are you babysitting?” they’d ask. As a young mother, she was angry that people would make assumptions that she couldn’t be more than my nanny because of her chocolate skin. Having to claim your child to complete strangers wasn’t covered in the parenting guide. 

My mother put herself through nursing school, and by walking across the stage with me in her belly, she taught me the importance of a good education. I’ve got her deep dimples, smile, and laugh. She raised me with her belief that it’s never too late to learn something new – she learned to figure skate in her 40s and participated in ice shows with my brothers and me. How could she not be my mother? Why do our skin colors even matter? 

Each Mother’s day, birthday, and any other day you buy a card for, I comb the card aisles looking for the perfect card. One without images of people or some cheesy line about how she taught me to cook and sew. I search for a card that captures all of the intangible life lessons that she instills in me everyday. Until now, there haven’t been cards for that. 

I’m thankful for the Mama’s Day card campaign. It allows me to say what I truly feel and have an image that reflects my love for her. I created a card that gives me the power to show her what I love about her. The Mama’s Day cards make me thankful for everything she has given me, especially her love.

Full Spectrum Advocacy: A review of current bills in the California Legislature that effect your body & your community

There are some very exciting bills headed through the California legislature. These bills will have direct impact on reproductive health and justice in our communities! Come learn more about the following bills and what you can do to make sure they pass. Let's make California a full-spectrum state! 

RSVP on Facebook!

AB 154 will reduce barriers to reproductive health care by allowing trained nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and physician assistants to perform early aspiration abortions. 

AB1308 & SB 304 will clarify midwifery educational paths in California, make CNMs able to precept student midwives in the midwives/LM track, and allow midwives/LMs to order medications and devices they use within their scope of practice. 

AB271 will repeal the family cap law. The current law (hopefully to be repealed) states that if a parent is receiving money through CalWORKS and that parent has a child, the parent is not eligible for additional aid for that child, despite the growth of their family.

---

Come learn what you can do to get involved!

When: Tuesday May 28th 7-9pm
Where: 32 Langton St. SF, CA 94103 Just three blocks from Civic Center BART!
Cost: $5-$15 Suggested donation for BADP, no one will be turned away for lack of funds
Accessibility: The space is wheelchair accessible (but the restroom does not have grab bars). Babes in arms are welcome. Please email salon_fund [at] bayareadoulaproject [dot] org or send us a note on facebook if you have any questions about accessibility

RSVP on Facebook!

Our Panel for the Night will Include:

Ashley Morris speaking on AB154: 
Ashley is the Senior Organizer at the ACLU of Northern California. Ashley’s policy and advocacy work is currently focused primarily on reproductive justice and increasing access to abortion care. While at the ACLU, Ashley served as the Northern California Regional Coordinator for the 2012 Yes on 34/SAFE California Campaign and the Northern California Regional Director for the 2008 Get Up/Vote Down 4&8 Campaign. She performs with Gamelan Sari Raras and previously served as board co-chair of Good Ol’ Girls, an organization that connects progressive women on the rise with social and professional opportunities.

Treesa McLean speaking on AB1308: 
Treesa Mclean is a midwife who has been serving Bay Area families in the reproductive health community for 30 years. She is currently active with California Families for Access to Midwives, working tirelessly to ensure that all Californians who want have access to midwifery care, and that those who give birth at home can have access to quality care. birthwithtreesa.com cafamiliesformidwives.org

Sierra Harris speaking on AB271: 
Sierra Harris is the Assistant Director of ACCESS Women's Health Justice. She is passionate about reproductive justice and eliminating systems of oppression that impacts people's reproductive and sexual health and decisions. In her spare time, Sierra enjoys cooking and hosting family dinners - a space she believes cultivates community outside the activism sphere and is central to revolution. accesswhj.org

Lupe Rodriguez will help us to understand the legislative process and how we can have an impact!
Guadalupe (Lupe) Rodríguez is Director of Public Affairs at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, where she oversees government relations, communications and grassroots advocacy. Lupe is the board chair for ACCESS Women’s Health Justice, a statewide organization dedicated to making

health care more accessible for women. She also and sits on the board of California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, and serves as a commissioner on both the Human Rights Commission in the city of San José and the Santa Clara County Commission on the Status of Women. Lupe is an alumnus of the Women's Policy Institute (2007-2008), and of the Latino Leadership Alliance academy. Lupe is also an advisor on the Women’s Health Leadership Network, an advisory group for the Women's Health & Rights Program at the Center for American Progress.

Keep Politics 25-Feet Away from My Health Care

by Renee Bracey Sherman

On April 18th, I stood in City Hall and said something that the dozens of speakers before me hadn’t said. “I had an abortion”. I was speaking during the public comments portion of the committee hearing for Supervisor David Campos’ proposed 25-foot Buffer Zone around San Francisco’s reproductive health care clinics. At the hearing, people spoke “for women” and what they needed, on the infringement of first amendment rights, and the nuisance that the protestors create in the Mission neighborhood outside the Valencia Street Planned Parenthood. But no one was speaking about what I was feeling: the experience and emotions of walking into an abortion clinic.

 

When I was 19, I became pregnant, and my partner and I decided that an abortion was the best option for us. A few days later, I found myself ringing the doorbell to a small private clinic, waiting to be buzzed in. As I walked through the bombproof door, I realized that while I felt that I was going in for a legal medical procedure that I needed, one that I wanted, others would rather wish me harm than give me health care. That scared me.

 

Years later, I still feel that chill as I walk past anti-abortion protestors. They hand me papers about abortion, and even when I refuse them politely and continue walking, they try to hand them to me and yell at me. “You’re a killer.” I’m afraid the situation could escalate if they find out that I indeed had an abortion. This isn’t what health care is supposed to be like. 

 

Eleven states, including California, and the District of Columbia have laws prohibiting the obstruction of a reproductive health care clinic. Currently, three states – Colorado, Massachusetts, and Montana – have an 8-foot ‘bubble zone’ around patients as they enter a clinic, which begins anywhere from 35 feet to 100 feet from the clinic’s door. These are similar to San Francisco’s current ordinance, which the full board of supervisors will vote to increase to 25-feet on May 7th.

 

As they stand, the current laws are not protecting patients. One hearing’s of the anti-abortion protestors said that she only provides sidewalk counseling, and that a greater distance would just encourage protestors to yell louder at the patients. Take it from me – an abortion can be a tough decision, and having a crowd of people yell at you at the top of their lungs doesn’t make it any easier.

 

At the San Francisco hearing on Supervisor Campos' proposed 25 foot Buffer Zone to protect patients accessing healthcare services.What those of us choosing abortion need is support and compassion – not yelling. What we need is peace. We need to be trusted. Part of our first amendment and civil rights is to be able to exercise a health care decision that we have made for ourselves. I did the research. I talked to my partner. You may not believe that my decision was the right one, but it was mine to make. And I don’t deserve to be yelled at right before I go in for a surgical procedure. Twenty-five feet is a start to creating a peaceful space around my health care.


 

Renee Bracey Sherman, an abortion doula with the Bay Area Doula Project, speaks publicly about her abortion experience and the need to end abortion stigma. 

Movie review: After Tiller

by Ruby Warnock

Image announcing After Tiller showing at Sundance Film Festival courtesy Yes and No Productions

A group of our doulas got together yesterday to watch a screening of the film After Tiller as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival. The film offers a humanistic account of the state of third trimester abortions in this country following the assassination of the late Dr. Tiller at his church in Wichita, Kansas in 2009.

“I would prefer, personally, to have a challenging, stimulating and emotionally and spiritually rewarding career that is short, rather than have a long one that is filled with mediocrity, feeling you don’t make any difference to people.” The moving words of Dr. Tiller open this captivating documentary.

The film features doctors LeRoy Carhart, Warren Hern, Shelley Sella and Susan Robinson, the only four providers openly practicing third trimester abortions in the United States following the death of Dr. Tiller and provides a moving picture of the daily struggle of this challenging work. The film did a great job of highlighting the struggles experienced by all involved in the process. It manages to provide an accessible and unique prospective to the heated topic of late-term abortions.

We arrived to metal detectors and a strong police presence due to the guest appearance of one of the doctors featured in the film, Dr. Shelley Sella. We were lucky enough to meet her after the film!

Our doulas meet Dr. Sella at the screening of After Tiller

She is a truly inspiring hero, although she would prefer "role model," which is why she chose to participate in the film. Her dedication to women is moving:

 “I think about what I do all the time – and I recognize what I do. At times I struggle and—at times I don’t. But I always come back to the woman and what she’s going through,” says Dr. Sella in the film.

The film was also attended by the lovely filmmakers Martha Shane and Lana Wilson, the talented editor Greg O'Toole and one of the cinematographers Emily Topper.

Third-trimester abortions are one of the most contended and misrepresented issues of the abortion debate and the film did a fantastic job of providing the viewer with insight into the difficult decisions that go into this procedure by the providers, the women and their families. After Tiller offers a thoughtful presentation of the issues accessible to audiences with variable views about abortion. 

Bowlin' to Knock Down Abortion Barriers!

Our April Salon Series event was full of beer, bowlin', and raising bucks! The Double Strike Doulas kicked some serious butt to raise funds to help low-income folks who contact our dear friends at ACCESS Women's Health Justice during the National Network of Abortion Funds' Bowl-a-Thon 2013!

Between the two bowl-a-thons, in Oakland & Los Angeles, ACCESS raised over $31k! And at the Oakland event there were 63 strikes. The National Bowl-a-thon has already raised over $500k.

The Double Strike Doulas ready to kick some Hyde Amendment ass!Lots of folks have inquired about the awesome "Uterus MINE" tee shirts that our doulas were pictured wearing at Access Women's Health Justice's bowl-a-thon. Well, don't worry your heads folks, you can get them through the amazing Heather at 4000 Years for Choice! Support a great community activist by getting your handmade shirt today!