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PREVIOUS ISSUE
Winter 2012
Realities of The Waiting Room: Constantly Shifting by Lori Adelman
Anti-Abortion Harassment and Violence Still Stifle Access by Eleanor J. Bader
We're Not Sorry. Still. by Jennifer Baumgardner
The Poet's Eye From Poetry Co-Editor Sarah Browning
Calling Black LGBTQ Institutions: Where Are You? Where is Reproductive Justice? by Jasmine Burnett
Privacy at Stake: Patients, Clinics and Electronic Medical Records by Corinne A. Carey
Can We Choose Move Forward on Reproductive Justice? -- And How? by Ayesha Chatterjee and Judy Norsigian
"Love Means Second Chances": Reproductive Freedom in a Novel by Susan Elizabeth Davis
Satirist's View: Same Old Dilemma, or The Virgin Rebirth by Susie Day
As Access Slides, Feminists Need to "Extract" From Our Self-Help Past by Carol Downer
Abortion: On The Issues Magazine - by The Editors
How Anti-Abortion Protesters Got Me: Letter From a Young Activist by Sarah Flint Erdreich
The Grand Folly of Focusing on "Common Ground" by Gloria Feldt
Before "Roe": Legal Battles, Involuntary Servitude, My Mom by Justine Goodman
Next Generation Access: Medical Students Fill A Void by Mary Lou Greenberg
The Power of Theater: "Words of Choice" Touches Hearts by Alexis Greene
Where the Reality of Abortion Resides: Intimate Wars by Merle Hoffman
Gone Too Far? Reproductive Politics in the Time of Obama by Carole Joffe
Lila Rose: A Sweet Face to Accompany Extreme Anti-abortion Claims by Kathryn Joyce
Glorifying the Fetus While Ignoring the Fetal Environment by Margie Kelly
Reframing Compassionate Care: Of Madame Restell and Other Outlaws by Jeannie Ludlow
Helping Bloggers To Help: Tips for Reproductive Health Organizations by Amanda Marcotte
What To Do When They Say Holocaust by Carol Mason
"Silent Choices": African American Women Open Up on Film by Faith Pennick
Fine Thoughts On Fertilized Personhood by Marge Piercy
Heading Toward Menopause, Still Caring about Abortion by Andrea Plaid
Letter to a Young Activist: Don’t Drop the Banner by Barbara Santee
Redefining Chutzpah: More Bad Ideas to Burden Women by Aram A. Schvey
Sharing the Wealth of Knowledge on Abortion by Ria Sen and The Feminist Press
An Abortion Miracle? Let's Try the First Amendment by Priscilla Smith
Related Stories: Bold Discussions of ABORTION in On The Issues Magazine by The Editors
The Art Perspective: Ursula O'Farrell curated by Linda Stein
Student Think Tank
Water Born: Swimming Along in Competition and Life
by Gwen Deely
May 24, 2012
My life aquatic was in full swing before I was born.
Evidently I was busy doing laps and polishing my freestyle in the womb because doctors had to pluck me out with a forceps two weeks after my due date. My parents gave me swim lessons at the tender age of three. A football-shaped float strapped to my body kept me from drowning.
My first race, when I was four years old, was memorable for its ferocity. So determined was I to win that the organizers were unable to stop me when a false start occurred. I swam my guts out while they were shouting, blowing whistles and finally jumping in. Even when I was held aloft above the water, my arms were frantically churning to win that race.
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Abortion: On The Issues Magazine - by the Editors
Abortion is a matter of the heart. Also law, medicine, politics, history, health, activism, art, liberation, bodily autonomy and self-worth. We probe. •Art by Resa Blatman
Gone Too Far? Reproductive Politics in the Time of Obama - by Carole Joffe
Setbacks just might launch the resurgence of pro-choice activism. •Art by Regina Araujo Corritore
The Grand Folly of Focusing on "Common Ground" - by Gloria Feldt
Guess what? Two clashing worldviews of women do not make a right. •Art by Elaine Soto
An Abortion Miracle? Let's Try the First Amendment - by Priscilla Smith
A Supreme Court litigator suggests a change of tune. •Art by Lisa Link
Ursula O’Farrell
- Curated by Linda Stein
A California-based painter expresses the inner struggles of women to reach empowerment.
Helping Bloggers To Help: Tips for Reproductive Health Organizations - by Amanda Marcotte
If it's a movement, start connecting with the connected. •Art by Heather Keith Freeman
Occupying the Waiting Room: 40 Years of Health Care Needs - by Lori Adelman
Pregnancy termination is ultra common, but who and how has shifted. •Art by Melissa Eder
Can We Choose to Move Forward on Reproductive Justice? -- And How? - by Ayesha Chatterjee and Judy Norsigian
We need to expand our inner circles and spread on out. •Art by Lisa Link
Before “Roe": Legal Battles, Involuntary Servitude, My Mom - by Justine Goodman
Learning feminist history from a source close to home. •Art by Marianne Barcellona
What To Do When They Say Holocaust - by Carol Mason
Pushing back against an opposition that distorts. •Art by Linda Carmella Sibio
Featured Video: The book trailer for On The Issues Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Merle Hoffman's memoir, "Intimate Wars." Click for larger view
We're Not Sorry. Still. - by Jennifer Baumgardner
Controversial or not, the refusal to be apologetic is urgent. •Video
Redefining Chutzpah: More Bad Ideas to Burden Women - by Aram A. Schvey
Surprise: Congress has a "fix" for nonexistent race selection. •Art by Heather Keith Freeman
The Power of Theater: "Words of Choice" Touches Hearts - by Alexis Greene
Actors break through rhetoric to share honest truth. •Art by Words of Choice
Heading Toward Menopause, Still Caring about Abortion - by Andrea Plaid
Stop the stereotyping (oh, and I really do not want a baby). •Art by Heather Keith Freeman
Calling Black LGBTQ Institutions: Where Are You? Where is Reproductive Justice? - by Jasmine Burnett
Show up. Show solidarity. Show you care about oppression. •Art by Jessica Burke
Reframing Compassionate Care: Of Madame Restell and Other Outlaws - by Jeannie Ludlow
Illegal wasn't always bad, and complexity isn't either. •Art by Carol Jacobsen
As Access Slides, Feminists Need to "Extract" From Our Self-Help Past - by Carol Downer
How we won the war, and will win it again. •Art by Robin Tewes
Where the Reality of Abortion Resides: Intimate Wars - by Merle Hoffman
In two words -- "if only" -- patients probe deepest values. Excerpt from the book, "Intimate Wars." •Art by Barbara Schaefer
"Business, Money and Power"
On The Issues Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Merle Hoffman talks about "Business, Money and Power."
Abortionomics: When Choice Is A Necessity - by the Editors
A new study reveals pressures on reproductive decision-making during an economic downturn.
Anti-Abortion Harassment and Violence Still Stifle Access - by Eleanor J. Bader
Targeting an 11-year-old? Viciousness that knows no bounds. •Art by Lisa Link
Glorifying the Fetus While Ignoring the Fetal Environment - by Margie Kelly
Mercury, lead, BPA: will antis address harm-in-the-womb? •Art by Linda Carmella Sibio
Next Generation Access: Medical Students Fill A Void - by Mary Lou Greenberg
Training new physicians is essential for future abortion care. •Art by Karen Fitzgerald
Letter to a Young Activist: Don’t Drop the Banner - by Barbara Santee
Whatever your career, we want you -- now and forever. •Art by Susan Bee
How Anti-Abortion Protesters Got Me: Letter From a Young Activist - by Sarah Flint Erdreich
We're discouraged -- and we're not backing down. •Art by Susan Bee
Privacy at Stake: Patients, Clinics and Electronic Medical Records - by Corinne A. Carey
Digital record craze needs new rules to protect abortion decisions. •Art by Barbara Schaefer
Lila Rose: A Sweet Face to Accompany Extreme Anti-Abortion Claims - by Kathryn Joyce
She's young, sincere … and she wants to pulverize your freedom. •Art by Chitra Ganesh
"Silent Choices": African American Women Open Up on Film - by Faith Pennick
A friend's dismissive comment begins a quest to respond. •Video
Fine Thoughts On Fertilized Personhood - Poetry by Marge Piercy
- Cartoon by Matt Bors

©Matt Bors
The Poet's Eye - From Poetry Co-Editor Sarah Browning
Judith Arcana, Sonya Renee Taylor, Johnna Schmidt, Melissa Tuckey and Katherine Anderson Howell measure moments of give and take.
Sharing the Wealth of Knowledge on Abortion - by Ria Sen and The Feminist Press
Selections for the well-stocked library on abortion.
Satirist's View: Same Old Dilemma, or The Virgin Rebirth - by Susie Day
Mary's sending western civilization a pink slip. •Art by Heather Keith Freeman
"Love Means Second Chances": Reproductive Freedom in a Novel - by Susan Elizabeth Davis
An activist dives in and discovers nuance.
What's the next generation thinking? About the history of lesbians in the military; a response to "Women, War & Peace" in On The Issues Magazine.
From the On The Issues Print Archive
From Our Files:
RELATED STORIES: Bold Discussions of ABORTION in On The Issues Magazine
On the Issues Magazine has been linked with abortion – in theory and practice – since its first issue in 1983 as a newsletter of Choices Women's Medical Center. Since then, the magazine, in print and online, has spoken boldly about the essential right of women to make their own reproductive decisions, covering a wide range of subjects: morality, ethics, history, anti-abortion violence, law, artistic expressions. A large repository of past stories, available for free, are indexed in our archives. Below are excerpts from a few.
In 1990, a story by Mary Lou Greenberg, Another American Tragedy, The Death of Becky Bell, Interview with Bill and Karen Bell described the horrible consequences of a parental notification law: When Becky went to Planned Parenthood in Indianapolis, she learned that she couldn't get an abortion without the consent of at least one parent or a waiver from a judge. But she couldn't bear to tell her mother or father. And word on the street was that it was useless to go before the judge…. Becky Bell, as thousands of women and girls before her, was forced to seek an illegal abortion. Several days after Becky returned from a party feeling "sick," her parents took her to a hospital. The next day she died….Now her parents, Bill and Karen Bell, are …talking to whomever will listen about the killing nature of parental consent and notification laws.
Intimate Wars
The Life and Times
of the Woman
Who Brought Abortion
from the
Back Alley
to the
Board Room
• Merle Hoffman, publisher of On The Issues Magazine
IntimateWars.com
CURRENT ISSUE
Spring 2012
Bodies in Motion: Physical Females Face Different Risks by Eleanor J. Bader
Curious Tension: Feminism and the Sporting Woman by Susan J. Bandy
Cheering or Being Cheered? My Daughter's Cheerleading Adventure by Lu Bailey
Who Owns Sports? Dissecting the Politics of Title IX by Martha Burk
Why Sex Segregation Is Bad for Society by Alex Channonk
Films Lag in Sharing The Women's Game by Ariel Dougherty
A Soccer Dad Faces Parenting, Coaching and Dreams by Mauricio Espinoza
Yoga Frontiers: Women Shape Practices in Exceptional Ways by Molly M. Ginty
The Rise and Fall and Possible Rise of Women's Pro Soccer by Tim Grainey
Winning the Sports Beat: Female Writers Need Wide Angle Lens by Marie Hardin
Opening Historic Trails: Accidental Heroes Stomp Sports Inequity by Risa Isard
Girls, Women, Sports: What to Read - by Chané Jones and The Feminist Press
Women On High: The Price of Passion at the Roof of the World by Jennifer Jordan
Athletically Disinclined: My Counterpoint by Gabrielle Korn
Goalposts: Tackling the Last Bastion of Male Monopoly by Andrew D. Linden
Aspiring for Medals: Watching New Gymnastic Generations by Zerlina Maxwell
Athletes and Magazine Spreads: Does Sexy Mean Selling Out? by Laura Pappano
Rules Put Extreme Pressure On Transsexual Players by Lindsay Parks Pieper
Olympics' Coverage Still Shortchanges Female Athletes by Jane Schonberger
Leaping, Racing, Spearing: The Female Athlete Amazes in Myth by Laura A. Shamas
Becoming Glory: Kicking Goals to Transcend the Night, A Memoir by Christine Stark
Nine Titles Thinking About Title IX by Rachel Toor
From Our Archives: Related Stories on Girls, Women, Sports
The Poet's Eye From Poetry Co-Editor Judith Arcana
Related Stories: Bold Discussions of ABORTION in On The Issues Magazine by The Editors
The Art Perspective: Karen Shaw curated by Linda Stein




Winter 1990