Editor,
I would like to begin by saying that I appreciate the fact that the Daily Lobo is tackling important topics such as the attack that is being mounted against women’s health care providers here in Albuquerque. Abortion has been a hot-button issue in the U.S. since well before it was made legal decades ago and, until the shaming of women for taking control of their own reproductive health becomes the exception and not the rule in our fine country, it is certain that the controversy will continue.
I am sure it was not lost on any of those who read your article Monday on anti-choice activist Abby Johnson’s visit to campus that the Lobo’s coverage was very one-sided. For one, Johnson’s claims that “98 percent of women walk in a Planned Parenthood clinic will get an abortion,” was mentioned while accurate figures from PP — in fact, only 3% of the services they provide are abortions — were glossed over.
My thanks to you for mentioning these discrepancies, but let us not mince words here: Abby Johnson lied. She knew she was lying. She purposefully lied with hopes of misleading the well-meaning attendees of her public spectacle. Whether pro- or anti-choice, how are we to have an intelligent discourse on the topic of women’s health care when one side is intentionally misleading its audience?
I am a student without health insurance. I am thankful that there are low-cost health care options that I can take advantage of, like those provided to students by Student Health and Counseling (SHAC), but what about those uninsured and low-income community members who are not afforded services here on campus?
Planned Parenthood is an amazing reproductive health resource for women and men, seeking low-cost services such as affordable birth control, STI testing, routine pap exams and mammograms.
Attacks on women and the organizations that provide them safe and affordable health care options must end. Now is the time to begin respecting New Mexico’s women and to quit shaming us for the difficult decisions we make with regard to our own bodies and our own health.
Sarah Crawford
UNM student
