LMLD (7): Forefront Issues

Disclaimer - This interview was conducted prior to the 2016 Presidential Election results.

What are your opinions on contemporary issues that are the face of reproductive rights activism? (Tampon Tax, physical and financial/governmental assaults on Planned Parenthood, etc)

 

Maria: I remember working on the sexual harassment committee at Hunter. One of the arguments was that the bathrooms should be closed to women on weekends in research buildings. [These contemporary issues are] another form of discriminating against women. In our theater, if you need a tampon, you have to ask for it at the counter. It’s like going back to some of what they did with contraceptives. You had to ask someone for them back in the 60s. I feel as though we are going backwards a bit in that respect.

 

Christine: Another area that I would say is huge, and I don’t have enough knowledge to really comment on it, is medical reimbursement. It is one of the most important ways that people make decisions about what they can and cannot access and afford for their personal care. That is a huge thing that our legislatures determine: what gets covered by Medicaid, which affects poor women. Those are bigger impact policy decisions than things like the Tampon Tax although that is critical.

 

Maria: But to speak to the abortion issue, it is based on the early history of the birth control movement; it was Margaret Sanger who was at the forefront of it. She couldn’t do it on her own. She went to Holland and brought back the diaphragm because she was concerned about being imprisoned in the United States. The white, privileged men took over and Planned Parenthood was based in medical hands as opposed to it being something that women were involved in. Women became the nurses; men became the doctors. It’s almost like this white, privileged man group is dying out and trying to hold on to this power somehow. It’s almost a throwback to the early times of the movement which is scary. It is part of this whole policy of population control. What will the color of the United States be like, in terms of it’s diversity, in the next few decades? There are a lot of issues that go back to a group of people who feel threatened and they hold a lot of power, unfortunately. I hope that can be changed through many of us-not just young people.

-Alex-

my mother and grandmother in New York (1969)