NARAL Activist:
Having Abortion ‘One of the Best Decisions of My Life’
by Dr. Susan Berry20 Feb 2015
In a new video reportedly created to encourage other
women to speak out about the positive effects of abortion, Renee Bracey Sherman
says having an abortion was “one of the best decisions” of her life.
“I haven’t once regretted it,” Sherman says. “It allowed me
to change paths. It was one of the best decisions of my life. And I’m happy.”
Sherman, who calls herself a “reproductive justice and
storytelling activist,” is the author of Saying Abortion Aloud:
Research and Recommendations for Public Abortion Storytellers and Organizations,
in which she, in a joint venture with the Sea Change Program, urges women to
share their stories about their abortions publicly in order to create a new
narrative about abortion as a positive part of a woman’s life and put an end to
the negativity associated with abortion.
According to Fusion,
Sherman – a NARAL
board member – received the Justice Award by ACCESS Women’s Health Justice in
2013 “for her volunteerism housing and giving rides to women traveling 4-5
hours for their abortions.”
Sherman’s research, which was
essentially a “survey with public abortion storytellers” that used Google forms
and interviews, found that 92 percent (36 of 39) of respondents said they would
continue to share their abortion stories publicly because these experiences
were satisfactory. Additionally, Sherman said she found that 41 percent of
abortion storytellers said they had “received little to no support from the
organization with whom they partnered to share their story.”
“Recommendations” for abortion storytellers, as a result of
the survey, are that they be made aware of types of support they can receive
when sharing their abortion stories; that they know they should share the
truth; and that they be compensated for sharing their abortion stories because
“their work and contributions are valued.”
The report also provides recommendations to organizations
that support public abortion storytellers.
Writing at the Huffington Post,
Alanna Vagianos was taken with Sherman’s video and “the thought process she
went through before choosing to terminate a pregnancy – and the opportunities
making that choice has afforded her.”
“The best part of this video — besides that it shows she
made the best decision for herself at the time — is that it reveals so much
about Sherman’s personality, family and upbringing, showing that she’s so much
more than her choice to have an abortion,” Vagianos continued. “She is a full
human being with likes, dislikes, funny stories and a family that loves her.
Sherman’s choice to have an abortion was just one of many decisions she’s made
in her lifetime.”
NARAL
Caroline Fredrickson
was the general counsel for NARAL
Pro-Choice America, the Washington legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),
and is the president of the American
Constitution Society.
Note: Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the American Constitution Society.
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, was a contributor for MoveOn.org, and the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Media Matters, the Brookings
Institution (think tank)., and the
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund.
Ilyse
Hogue was a director of political advocacy for MoveOn.org, is a senior adviser for Media Matters, and the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Peter
B. Lewis was a contributor for MoveOn.org,
a donor for Media Matters, and a
trustee at the Third Way.
William
M. Daley is a trustee at the Third
Way, a member of the Commercial Club
of Chicago, and was the chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.
Ronald A. Klain
is a trustee at the Third Way, and
the coordinator of government Ebola
efforts for the Barack Obama
administration.
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Saban
Center for Middle East Policy is a policy center at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Haim
Saban is a benefactor for the Saban
Center for Middle East Policy, a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the chairman for Univision Communications Inc.
Fusion
Media Network, LLC is a venture partner with Univision Communications Inc., and a venture partner with ABC Inc.
Mary
Ann Tighe was the VP for ABC Inc.,
and is a regional CEO for the CBRE
Group, Inc.
Laura D'Andrea
Tyson is a director at the CBRE
Group, Inc., and was a trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Richard
C. Blum is a director & former chairman for the CBRE Group, Inc., an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), a senior director at
the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a
director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg
conference participant (think tank).
Eric H. Holder Jr.
was an intern at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, a board member for the American
Constitution Society, and is the attorney general at the U.S.
Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration.
Caroline
Fredrickson is the president of the American
Constitution Society, was the Washington legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),
and the general counsel for NARAL
Pro-Choice America.
Janet
Reno is a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society, was the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice, and Ronald A. Klain was her chief of staff.
Ronald A. Klain
was Janet Reno’s chief of staff, is the
coordinator of government Ebola
efforts for the Barack Obama
administration, and a trustee at the Third
Way.
Peter
B. Lewis was a trustee at the Third
Way, a contributor for MoveOn.org,
and a donor for Media Matters.
Ilyse
Hogue was a director of political advocacy for MoveOn.org, is a senior adviser for Media Matters, and the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
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