Public Story
New Abortion Medication Restrictions Speak Out
Summary
Images from a gathering of abortion activists at the Wisconsin State Capitol.
Wisconsin’s State Capitol
Madison, WI
Against a backdrop of the first outdoor farmers market in Madison, WI, the Madison Abortion & Reproductive Rights Coalition for Healthcare (MARRCH) occupied the space in around the Forward statue on the steps of the Wisconsin State Capitol. This dedicated group is the voice in Madison, bringing attention and awareness to reproductive health rights and bodily autonomy, and the use of Mifepristone, which was recently banned.
Shoppers and onlookers gazed at the group with banners and signs advocating for abortion rights. Several members of MARRCH were topless, which garnered more attention to the activists and their message of support. Most passersby either smiled politely or avoided eye contact altogether. Many stopped to take a photo to possibly share; regardless their motive, criticism or support, MARRCH’s message is spread. Those with children who had to pass the group on either side of the steps often quickly ushered their them quickly passed, semi-shielding their child’s eyes as if protecting them from seeing a horrific accident. Most however showed support for the group and their presence here today, with several people making donations to MARRCH.
Upon her arrival one member of MARRCH, Kat, used a bottle with a red liquid in it to squirt the liquid on her thighs. Red streaks of simulated blood ran from crotch to ankles. The obvious shock-value of this delivered when a group of young women looked in horror at what appeared to be blood on the concrete from where Kat had applied the red liquid.
I asked Kat about this, she said: “I guess for me, it has a couple different meanings. It signifies the danger of not having access to safe abortions. It represents those that have died due to not having access. The women that have had to miscarry on their own instead of being able to doing it in a hospital. All those scenarios where lives are at stake [because] safe legal abortion is no longer available.
“Another is the raw power of being a woman, a person with a uterus. The beauty and fierceness of our period. Periods and menstrual blood are still seen as so disgusting and people want to keep it in the closet and a topic we don’t talk about. To me it’s a beautiful, powerful time. I will not hide it.”
What was normally an outing on a Saturday morning to get treats and other local goodies, brought a message for all, young and old, that there are those who are out here advocating for your rights as the right-wing of government continues the attack on women, bodily autonomy and abortion.
From the event description:
Mifepristone is a prescription medication used in combination with another prescription called misoprostol to terminate a pregnancy. This combination of medications has been used in nearly all medication abortions in the United States for the past 23 years.
In 2016 the FDA expanded Mifepristone usage from 7 weeks up to 10 weeks gestational age. As of 04/13/2023 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit states Mifepristone will remain approved for use up to only 7 weeks gestational age (7 weeks pregnant) while legal states sit and wait for Biden and SCOTUS' response.
In addition, the ruling also states mifepristone can no longer be sent in the mail, at least for now. Several states led by Democratic Governors have begun stockpiling both medications in the event that access is disrupted.
Though a pregnancy can be terminated via just the usage of Misoprostol, the medication combination is most effective.
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