Kelly Spencer, Copy Editor
If you’ve been present on the Internet in the past year, you’ve probably seen someone post a link to their crowdfunding platform on one of the dozens of these sites that have sprung up. These sites allow people to create a profile with a fundraising goal and have others donate to their cause. They usually look something like, “Tommy’s Mission Trip Fund” or even “Help Me Pay My Rent Fund.” One featured on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe, a site that advocates for its users to access it as a means to raise money for medical care, was titled “Bailey’s Abortion Fund.” This obviously didn’t go over well.
“Bailey’s Abortion Fund” was pulled from the site a few weeks ago when representatives from GoFundMe found it inappropriate. The site says they handle issues of this nature on a case-by-case basis, however, not long after Bailey’s fund was taken down, the site edited its rules to restrict all abortion-affiliated funds. Salon.com reported the new rule was filed under the title “Termination of Life.” All other medical-related restrictions are filed together and under a different category.
This restriction of abortion-affiliated material was apparently a farce because the site still allows anti-abortion campaigns to raise money. GoFundMe responded to the article posted on Salon.com, saying “GoFundMe policies exist to protect our brand from certain materials and subject matter whose proponents span the political spectrum. For example, GoFundMe may not be used to fund an abortion or purchase firearms.”
Essentially what they’re saying in this statement is that abortion is not a medical care. This, ladies and gentlemen, is bullshit. The comparison of abortions and firearms is so bogus it hurts my head. But what’s even more bogus is that this false understanding of abortion is not out of the ordinary.
Tennessee is currently in the midst of the largest abortion battle this country has seen yet. The referendum Amendment 1, scheduled to be on the November ballot, states “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion,” including pregnancies “resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother.”
This radical and outrageous referendum plans to usurp all rights women previously had in instances of violent and horrific pregnancies. Tennessee already has a myriad of restrictions on abortion that make them nearly impossible to obtain, but if passed, this measure will essentially eradicate all possibilities in the state. Of course, they can still say it’s legal, regardless of how little they are actually provided.
Instead of protecting the rights of living women, we’re still choosing to personify something that is not yet human. An abortion is a medical care that needs to be provided for all women. With measures like these being put in place, the rise in DIY abortions is only increasing. Without a safe means to obtain an abortion, women are forced to buy abortion pills on the black market or insert foreign objects into their bodies in an attempt to terminate the pregnancy. In case it needed to be said, this isn’t right.
In Bailey’s case, it was the most responsible and humane route, and that’s the case for most all women who seek out an abortion. When a woman finds herself in the situation of needing an abortion, it’s a horrifying experience because of the stigmatization our culture has with it and the lack of security and safety in obtaining one. It shouldn’t be this way. A woman’s right to choose should take precedent over a fetus.
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