I love this because I also love turning to history for inspiration. It's both fortunate and unfortunate how cyclical things are! And it's a big reminder that history does not end with one loss or one win, it simply marches on, and the fight also goes on.
Moira - I just hope we can have hope for the USA at the moment. Looking at you from the other side of the Atlantic it seems to us that things are steadily deteriorating! Perhaps we can offer you some hope from our side - after 14 long years our Conservatives have been kicked out and a somewhat timid Labour party has come back to bring some sense and decency into public life. Not perfect, because our MAGA equivalent has got a foothold in parliament for the first time, but at least we have a chance. In France, too, people have rejected the far right even if the result is a bit chaotic. So perhaps we offer a vision of what you might be able to get! We hope so for your sakes.
On a different note could I just say that every time I see you have produced a new article for the Guardian it goes to the top of my reading list - what you do, what you write is wonderful and inspiring.
Thank you! No one knows the future, but I have to believe that we will survive this and be stronger and freer once we’re through it. The Right fights so dirty because they know they’re losing. History shows us people who fought facing longer odds and worse oppression who nevertheless persisted* and led to victories.
We’ve gone too far and fought too hard to retreat now!
The Army of Three have been inspiring me for a long time. I’m so glad to read and talk about them in this space. While there is not much film/video of them, Lana Phelan is featured in this film about pre-Roe abortion stories; she is the first storyteller.
Thank you, Moira. The history you shared with us was new to me, and I am grateful for it. The story reminded me a bit of the book, "When Birth Control Fails..." by Suzann Gage in the sense that women have been fighting for control over their own bodies for awhile now. The copy I have was published in 1979. Among other things, the inside cover reads, "This book is to be shared only by women, for women, to further women's control of our own bodies." https://archive.org/details/DIYabortZine
Moira - Thank you for this little history lesson. I was unaware of the 'Army of 3' but I was a proud card carrying member of NARAL back in the day! I was also a fan and admirer of Gloria Steinem, somebody else men love to yell about.
Wow, getting Moira Donegan to fill in! How totally cool. And what a story. Thank you. Back when I volunteered for NARAL, it was called the National Abortion Rights Action League. Still a great name.
As a professor of environmental studies who teaches about climate change, it has sometimes been a struggle to find hope. Visiting the D-Day beaches in France last summer (which I wrote about here - https://jeanlavigne.substack.com/p/d-day-landing-beaches) changed my mind. I have never been much interested in histories of war and I went in to the museums knowing almost nothing - but I came out with hope. I don't think there's a better example in the 20th century of the fact that we (people who believe in democracy and self determination) can and will move mountains when the threat becomes existential - as it is today for democracy in the US and for women's lives, livelihoods, and self determination.
Yes, we are in dark times and I have a teenage daughter-- honestly, I wake up most days with a feeling of dread, but stories like these do give me hope. For people who want to learn more about Maginnis, Gurner, Phelan & the era of pre-Roe activism/after-Roe clinic defense & politics, I highly recommend Angela Hume's recent book, Deep Care: The Radical Activists Who Provided Abortions, Defied the Law, and Fought to to Keep Clinics Open. I'm roughly halfway through the book now (in the Reagan era, when *I* was a teeenager--when Planned Parenthood saved the futures of a couple of my friends, thank you PP!), and it's a banger of a read.
I love this because I also love turning to history for inspiration. It's both fortunate and unfortunate how cyclical things are! And it's a big reminder that history does not end with one loss or one win, it simply marches on, and the fight also goes on.
Moira - I just hope we can have hope for the USA at the moment. Looking at you from the other side of the Atlantic it seems to us that things are steadily deteriorating! Perhaps we can offer you some hope from our side - after 14 long years our Conservatives have been kicked out and a somewhat timid Labour party has come back to bring some sense and decency into public life. Not perfect, because our MAGA equivalent has got a foothold in parliament for the first time, but at least we have a chance. In France, too, people have rejected the far right even if the result is a bit chaotic. So perhaps we offer a vision of what you might be able to get! We hope so for your sakes.
On a different note could I just say that every time I see you have produced a new article for the Guardian it goes to the top of my reading list - what you do, what you write is wonderful and inspiring.
Thank you for this.
Thank you! No one knows the future, but I have to believe that we will survive this and be stronger and freer once we’re through it. The Right fights so dirty because they know they’re losing. History shows us people who fought facing longer odds and worse oppression who nevertheless persisted* and led to victories.
We’ve gone too far and fought too hard to retreat now!
The Army of Three have been inspiring me for a long time. I’m so glad to read and talk about them in this space. While there is not much film/video of them, Lana Phelan is featured in this film about pre-Roe abortion stories; she is the first storyteller.
https://youtu.be/45Z6BxkwGWQ
This was a helpful history lesson. Thank you!
Wow, I never knew this history or what the letters if NARAL stood for. Thank you!
Great article - I just hope we don't have to switch back to NARAL as the name...
Thank you, Moira. The history you shared with us was new to me, and I am grateful for it. The story reminded me a bit of the book, "When Birth Control Fails..." by Suzann Gage in the sense that women have been fighting for control over their own bodies for awhile now. The copy I have was published in 1979. Among other things, the inside cover reads, "This book is to be shared only by women, for women, to further women's control of our own bodies." https://archive.org/details/DIYabortZine
Moira - Thank you for this little history lesson. I was unaware of the 'Army of 3' but I was a proud card carrying member of NARAL back in the day! I was also a fan and admirer of Gloria Steinem, somebody else men love to yell about.
It’s our time now to take up this same work! Thanks for the hope!
Appreciate your good thoughts and perspective--and yes to taking lessons from our past to help guide us in the future!
Wow, getting Moira Donegan to fill in! How totally cool. And what a story. Thank you. Back when I volunteered for NARAL, it was called the National Abortion Rights Action League. Still a great name.
As a professor of environmental studies who teaches about climate change, it has sometimes been a struggle to find hope. Visiting the D-Day beaches in France last summer (which I wrote about here - https://jeanlavigne.substack.com/p/d-day-landing-beaches) changed my mind. I have never been much interested in histories of war and I went in to the museums knowing almost nothing - but I came out with hope. I don't think there's a better example in the 20th century of the fact that we (people who believe in democracy and self determination) can and will move mountains when the threat becomes existential - as it is today for democracy in the US and for women's lives, livelihoods, and self determination.
Yes, we are in dark times and I have a teenage daughter-- honestly, I wake up most days with a feeling of dread, but stories like these do give me hope. For people who want to learn more about Maginnis, Gurner, Phelan & the era of pre-Roe activism/after-Roe clinic defense & politics, I highly recommend Angela Hume's recent book, Deep Care: The Radical Activists Who Provided Abortions, Defied the Law, and Fought to to Keep Clinics Open. I'm roughly halfway through the book now (in the Reagan era, when *I* was a teeenager--when Planned Parenthood saved the futures of a couple of my friends, thank you PP!), and it's a banger of a read.
Here is a wise lesson from Art Cullen on the history of abortion in Iowa:
https://open.substack.com/pub/artcullen/p/storm-lake-has-a-complicated-history?r=59ksl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web