Crimson Quarterly, fall 2022 edition by OU Daily

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I am a woman who goes to OU. I cannot speak for everyone who is impacted by the fall of Roe. I have been here in Norman going on four years, I have cheered at football games with you, drank at the bars with you and lived in the towers with you.

I love studying here. I will weep with friends over wine and laughter when my time here ends.

But I want you to know the only reason I get to be here is because women before me did not shut up and take it. They clawed and bit and

Misogyny is alive and well at OU

Misogyny is alive, well, violent and systemic.

There are plenty of informed and evidence-based understandings on the topic of reproductive rights. But, in this moment we share now, if you are not someone who can get pregnant, I am instead asking you to consider how comfortable the ability to make choices has made your experience with higher education. I ask you to know what I know:

KAROLINE LEONARD/OU DAILY

GUEST OPINION

Editor’s note: The individual who wrote this column is a female OU student. The OU Daily editor-in-chief knows the identity of the writer and granted her anonymity due to concerns for her safety and well-be ing on campus.

I want you to know that, in our community, women are “roofied,” sexually assaulted and handed drink after drink by men who prefer us unconscious. I went out a few weekends ago to the bars, and men shouted at me, tried to touch me, asked me questions about what kind of sex I like — uninvited, loud and aggressive. They were bigger than me, stronger than me and more sober than me. They would not go to jail for what they maybe wanted to do to me. I would not ever be a be lievable victim.

I ask you to remember a story you may have heard before:

They cried in the faces of angry men who controlled everything about their lives — where they worked, when they had sex, where they worshipped, how many children they had, and sometimes whether they got to keep living at all.

When British suffragettes were arrested in the fight for the right to vote and began a hunger strike in prison, they were force-fed through a tube shoved into their noses and mouths. History shows us that when we ask for more choices, the choices we can make are ripped away from us. They are made for us.

You hate the thing you fuck.

Sometimes, they died.

But, if you want women on this campus, you must have all of us. You have to care about us even when you aren’t fucking us.

You demand us to be available, expect the college hookups you’re promised, and yet want nothing to do with the fight for our survival and liberation. How will you have us if we are dead? If we are so scared we never leave

fought and voted and screamed and left.

As a student who pays the salary of the men who say nothing as my rights are in question, I hold a disappointment I truly cannot express. To instruct your offices not to speak about the current political circum stances, to limit their freedom of speech and then host Free Speech Week, is laughable.

But I’ll tell you misogyny is real. Violence is happening. I am really, really scared. I have always feared misogyny, but now I fear speaking out against it more than ever.

Whatever decision you make about the illegalization of abortion, I ask you to consider the active hatred of women on our campus as you make that decision. The landscape of your choice on the matter is not a peaceful one, and it’s certainly not one that’s invested in you having a choice in the first place.

To those of us who are impacted by misogynist violence and hatred at OU: I love you. I’m sorry. We’ll survive this, too.

Whateverhome?world you think feminism is actually needed in, some far-off country where women are actually less than men — that place is here. It’s been here. If you’re a man, fascism is at your door. If you’re not, it’s already in your bed. Our governor has blood on his hands. Our university has said nothing. Nothing. I know it’s complicated. The issue is fraught. Someone will be mad.

This issue of Crimson Quarterly is about the impact a lack of repro ductive rights has on our community. I am that community, and so are many of you.

The only respectable option is to remind your faculty, staff and students that their right to have an opinion on this issue is absolutely protected.IwishIwas safe attaching my name to these thoughts, but I’m not. I consulted a trusted professor about this decision, but she believed it would be unsafe to claim my authorship. Don’t mistake my ano nymity with fear — let it tell you something about yourself and our community.I’mnotaiming for objectivity by not offering a personal opinion on abortion. I’m sure that you have a stance at this point that I don’t have a shot at changing.

Everyone else: I am sick of waiting for your anger. We are dying in your closed mouth.

5 “

If you have ever called a woman on this campus a slut, laughed at her with friends after the fact or looked down on her post-hookup like you weren’t also there, I ask you to consider whether you deserve ac cess to women’s bodies in the first place.

Be truthful. If you hate women, if you find them annoying and good for one thing, if you wish they would pipe down in class and stop being such bitches, I invite you to be honest about that.

When you talk about our bodies like we aren’t here, remember we hear you. We’re angry you’ve said nothing. We’re disgusted that you only care about our right to choose when harm is done to us first. This isn’t just an issue about women. Many of us can become pregnant and not identify as women. But how can I ask you for nuance when you offer no outrage whatsoever?

Alright. I have asked you to be honest, so I will do the same:

“

Our naked bodies are sent without consent in group messages and posted online, our open mouths mocked and simultaneously expect ed. Men take off condoms without telling us, make bets about how far they can take us. Women do not have the choice to opt out. We are faced with two options: maintain a state of hypervigilance that saves none of us or attempt to have fun at the risk of life-altering harm.

Many of you live comfortable lives in the sense that you can sleep with as many women as you want here knowing it will not reflect poor ly on you. You’ll still maintain your fraternity memberships, score that internship, become lawyers in nice suits, own businesses, fix cars or be fathers. Maybe you will become a supreme court justice. Nobody will wonder if you were a bit too easy in college to be respectable.

I don’t have an interest in your views on abortion or to change them. I will, however, share that there has not been a moment in my time at OU where I felt removed from the threat of patriarchal violence and misogyny.Betruthful. If you hate women, if you find them annoying and good for one thing, if you wish they would pipe down in class and stop being such bitches, I invite you to be honest about that. I want you to ask yourself if women matter to you beyond their ability to get you off or smile in college flashbacks you will look back on with fondness. What parts of you hate women? Can you admit, maybe even in small ways, to fostering this misogyny at OU?

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Facing curriculum restrictions

jillian.g.taylor-2@ou.edu

training, is among OU medical and pre-med stu dents who are considering leaving Oklahoma to expand their education on reproductive health care. But the reasons behind their applications to out-of-state medical schools and residencies are more complicated than the overturning of Roe v. LawsWade.likeHouse Bill 4327 and Senate Bill 1503

Jarshaw, who is in her first year of clinical

The hands of faculty from the OU College of Medicine have long been tied by legislative framework inhibiting what they can teach about abortions. For many soon-to-be physicians in Oklahoma, the Dobbs v. Jackson decision was the final straw.

JILLIAN TAYLOR

The OU College of Medicine’s curriculum is split into preclinical for the first two years of med ical school and clinical training for the remaining two. Jarshaw said medical students take their first course about reproduction in the second semes ter of their second year of preclinical curriculum.

RAY BAHNER/OU DAILY

OU medical students seek reproductive education

— which allow anyone to sue someone who pro vides abortions or “aids and abets” someone in accessing abortion — limit OU medical students’ opportunities to counsel patients. But their abil ity to learn how to provide abortions has already been restricted by state funding to cases of rape, incest and threats to maternal life for many years.

The course is designed to “teach

When longtime Oklahoma resident Christen Jarshaw joined the OU College of Medicine’s class of 2023, she knew the limitations she would encounter as a studying provider with interests in OB-GYN.Shestayed in state because she wanted to im prove Oklahoma’s 1,630-to-1 patient-to-provider ratio and increase access to reproductive health care in a state burdened by uncomprehensive sex education and the fourth highest maternal mortality rate in the U.S., as of 2018.

Danielle Digoy (center), a second-year preclinical medical student, hands out pamphlets for OUHSC Medical Students for Choice at an involvement fair.

Abortion curriculum: past and present

Now, Jarshaw is considering whether her stud ies will continue at OU as she applies for resi dencies. A close adviser encouraged her to try

Christen Jarshaw attending a protest at the Oklahoma state Capitol after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. She is co-president of OUHSC Medical Students for Choice.

For Jarshaw, this was not an issue. She joined OUHSC Medical Students for Choice during her first year and serves as the group’s co-president. There, she participates in educational events and lobbies alongside her peers for more comprehen siveSheeducation.alsovolunteered in less restrictive medical facilities outside OU to further her skills in obstet rics and gynecology. But the overturning of Roe v. Wade limits Jarshaw’s access to opportunities out side of medical school, meaning she has to rely on clinical training in a space whose services were al ready limited by state funding.

Regens, who is also the associate clerkship di rector for third-year medical students, said stu dents entering clinical training will experience the greatest impacts on their learning, as the uni versity’s clinic can only provide abortions in cases threatening maternal life.

Before the overturning of Roe v. Wade, provid ers in the college could also counsel patients and connect them to external resources. Now, because Oklahoma prohibits anyone from “aiding or abet ting” someone in accessing abortion, they are lim ited in how they can guide patients.

But beyond this course, Jarshaw said state leg islation already prevented medical students in terested in abortion care from effectively further ing their education at OU, causing many to either lobby for an expansion of curriculum or look out side the traditional medical system.

undergraduate medical students about the nor mal and abnormal structure, function and devel opment of male and female reproductive systems” with an emphasis on “treatment options for con ditions and functions that are specific to women,” according to the college of medicine’s curriculum.

The frustration shared between patients and providers is apparent in moments of silence, Jarshaw said, as she and her patients take deep, deliberate breaths. She said it feels like a disser vice to know clinical guidelines but be prohibited from following them in ways that would align with everyone’s experience and morals.

“I think everyone across the board is incredi bly dissatisfied and upset with the concept that the government is determining what we can and can’t say to our patients,” Jarshaw said. “The pa tient-and-provider relationship is no longer pri vate and sacred.”

Alexandra Regens, an OB-GYN resident physi cian at the OU Health Sciences Center who helps organize curriculum on reproductive topics, said she doesn’t expect the overturning of Roe v. Wade to impact what she can include in the course’s cur riculum. She said it’s impossible to talk about re productive health care without including conver sations on abortion and abortion access.

The need for abortion care exists, Jarshaw said, as patients carrying unwanted pregnancies have made it to the doors of OU’s clinic. If the political landscape looked different, Jarshaw could imple ment the counseling skills she learned from OU or outside involvements.

PHOTO PROVIDED

“We need people who feel this obligation, pro vide high-quality patient care and provide for their patients and advocate for them,” Digoy said. “We don’t want them all to leave.”

“It really normalizes abortion and makes it a health care decision that you come to with your medical provider and, because of the lack of bar riers here, that can start the same day that you decide that this is what you want to do. … Being able to support our patients in any choice that they make and doing my best to make that as comfortable and seamless as possible is a really nice change,” Belmonte said.

At the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, providers operate under stat utory protections, meaning abortions at any stage of pregnancy are protected as a fundamen tal right. Michael Belmonte, the college’s senior fellow in complex family planning, chose to work and educate residents in Colorado for this reason.Belmonte came to Colorado after he complet ed a residency at Indiana University, where he could only perform abortions in cases threaten ing maternal life. Now, he can effectively perform abortions up to 24 weeks and, in certain cases, beyond that.

abortions.Belmonte had to wait until the end of his resi dency in Indiana to provide first-term abortions. He said Colorado students’ ability to learn how to perform these procedures and counsel patients early helps decrease the stigma felt by the provid er and patient.

Regens said she doesn’t blame medical stu dents for wanting to leave Oklahoma when there are legal, financial and criminal repercussions for physicians, but that the state’s continued shortage of providers has the potential to be very dangerous.“Ourbest shot is the people who are from here, people who have trained here and people who have ties to the state. … It’s not a time that I would think a lot of physicians from our state are want ing to come here,” Regens said.

Physician shortages and patient needs are both things Talbot said she is keeping in mind, but she wonders how the state can expect her to stay when they are limiting how she could care for Oklahomans.

In light of restrictions placed in other states, Belmonte said the university’s clinic has seen more demand. It began with the passage of

Medical training in less restrictive states

9 studying out of state, but she doesn’t know where she could go.

Megan Talbot, a biology pre-med senior, is a peer health educator at the OU Goddard Health Center and participates in OU Women’s Health Advocacy, a group focused on “increasing cam pus awareness of women’s health, tackling stig ma and easing access,” according to its Instagram page. Both involvements have expanded her in terest in OB-GYN by providing spaces for stu dents to discuss and learn about resurprproduc tive health care.

Talbot also faces the reality that if she applies to medical school in Oklahoma, she will experience limitations in what she can study. She said she is applying to medical schools in California to re ceive a comprehensive education.

where she has planned to stay in the long term, but she fears she will have to travel out of state to continue learning how to provide comprehen sive care in abortion provision and counseling.

BAYLOR SCHERER/OU DAILY

The state already faces a shortage of OB-GYNs, and Digoy fears the patient-to-provider ratio will continue to shrink if medical students feel they can’t access comprehensive education.

Future students

It’s a reality many current and future medical students face at OU.

OU Health Communications Director April Sandefer wrote in an email to the Daily that, as an academic health system, OU Health provides comprehensive care for women and children of all ages and at all stages of life. She wrote that their health care complies with state and federal laws along with health care regulations and com pliance, and they will continue to monitor state and federal legislation and legal changes and en sure full alignment as new laws are enacted.

Some OU pre-med and medical students don’t want to wait for legislation to change and are considering other options while they are ear lier in their Danielleeducation.Digoy,asecond-year preclinical medical student, became passionate about re productive care because of her grandma, who died from cervical cancer when she was in mid dle

Althoughschool. she is not set on a specialty, Digoy enjoys shadowing OB-GYNs and participates in OUHSC Medical Students for Choice to further her education on reproductive health. She even volunteered at Oklahoma City’s Trust Women Clinic for a few weeks before it shut down. Oklahoma is where Digoy’s family lives and

“Luckily, I have more time, but even when I’m looking at medical schools … it’s very limited be cause, also as a person of color, I don’t want to stay here,” Talbot said. “I want to go somewhere where I can learn the full scope of medicine and not be limited in my education as a provider be cause should there come a day where abortion is totally fine, I want to be able to provide that med ical care, if necessary.”

Outside of Oklahoma, there are 21 states where there is expanded or protected access to abor tion, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. The closest options for students in Oklahoma seeking more comprehensive abor tion education are in Kansas and Colorado.

The university’s educational programs usu ally include upper-level medical students and residents in the operating room. Starting as early as their first year in residency, students build up basic surgical skills and enter their second year feeling comfortable providing first-trimester

But for medical students and providers in Oklahoma, the overturning of Roe v. Wade was more so a continuation of medicine clashing withRegens,policy.who is also a member of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said she tries to use her experience in advocacy work to equip medical students and residents. She organizes an advocacy curriculum for OB-GYN

residents and provides sessions in the college’s reproductive course reflecting on Oklahoma’s status in women’s health.

It would be logistically challenging, Belmonte said, as there would have to be contracts written between universities, and students would need malpractice insurance. Partnering universities would also have to decide who would pay for ex penses like lodging and traveling.

She also invites students in OU’s OB-GYN in terest group to advocacy days at the Oklahoma state Capitol, where they have advocated against several bills restricting abortion that have come through the state over the years.

The main issue these students face is that many legislators have made up their minds on abortion, Regens said. ACOG is against any bill that limits access to abortion care, but Oklahoma providers must also move the needle on issues like maternal mortality and access to contraception.Regenssaidthey have to pick and choose their battles.It’sfrustrating to medical students like Jarshaw. She has always seen the gaps in Oklahoma’s re productive health care system and is dedicat ing her 20s to clinical training so she can help fill them.When Roe v. Wade was overturned, Jarshaw woke up to five texts from friends confirming what she already knew was coming. Her edu cation would continue to be dictated by govern ment officials who hadn’t completed the years of medical training she had.

RAY BAHNER/OU DAILY

upcoming midterm elections and is pushing more people to vote in November.

“It’sstate.justa matter of what you prioritize, and it’s OK to prioritize being in your home state or city with your family with the intention of build ing those skills in other ways,” Belmonte said. “I hope those opportunities will continue to grow as we settle from all the changes that have been happening very rapidly.”

In the aftermath of Roe v. Wade being over turned, the intersection of policy and medicine is becoming increasingly clear to the general public. Abortion has become a top issue in the

Looking ahead, Belmonte said there have been conversations at the University of Colorado about how to open opportunities to medical students, residents and fellows studying in pro grams restricted by state laws.

Texas’ near-total abortion ban and has only in creased with the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

As a former medical resident in Indiana, Belmonte recognizes the considerations and restrictions medical students in states like Oklahoma are experiencing. He said he’s felt in timated by anti-abortion advocates, who have sent him anonymous letters and followed him home.Hesaid he knows he’s privileged to practice in an accepting and supportive environment and feels nothing but empathy for students who are being forced to decide if they will stay close to their in-state support system or seek education out of

-CHRISTEN JARSHAW, OU medical student “ “

Policy moving forward

All she could do was put her phone down, get up and clean something in her apartment. She took care of what was around because she knew — as many medical students did that day — she couldn’t fix what was happening outside her closed doors.

Medical students fear legislation will bar them from getting a comprehensive reproductive education.

Belmonte said he was surprised to hear just how far people need to travel, as it’s difficult to track down clinics with available appointments, even if a patient lives near a state with fewer restrictions.Belmonte said he can’t fully quantify how many people they see each day, as that num ber fluctuates depending on circumstances, but there have been moments where their “phones were ringing off the hook.” A high patient load means students receive a lot of training oppor tunities, but he said it’s unfortunately at the ex pense of their patient’s difficult circumstances.

Everyone across the board is incredibly dis satisfied ... that the gov ernment is determining what we can and can’t say to our patients.

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finished, she began packing up to head home. She heard earlier there would be a protest at the Oklahoma state Capitol that afternoon, but she couldn’t decide if she needed to be there. Still, she felt called to the Capitol steps.

‘A political creation’

RAY BAHNER/OU DAILY

“I decided it didn’t matter whether my pres ence was going to make a difference in making any kind of statement,” Logsdon-Kellogg said.

She had already prepared her sermon for that Sunday, but she knew she had to address what happened. She struggled to find a way to bring up the topic without telling her congregation what to think, but she couldn’t ignore the topic entirely.

Abortion across religions

JAZZ WOLFE jazzwolfe@ou.edu

“I was feeling slapped in the face,” LogsdonKellogg said. “The autonomy of all women was being questioned.”

She was still wrestling with what to say when she arrived at Norman United Methodist Church that Sunday. As she socialized before the sermon, she spoke with other women in the congregation and found many of them were feeling the same pain and inner turmoil she felt.

When Logsdon-Kellogg gave her sermon, she knew she was one of many religious leaders who had to address the news carefully. When she

“I needed to be there with people who were also feeling distressed.”

The assumption that evangelical Christians

The Norman United Methodist Church on Sept. 13. The Rev. Jennifer Logsdon-Kellogg, the church’s pastor, described feeling “slapped in the face” when she learned about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Leaders offer nuanced perspectives from denominations 12

The Rev. Jennifer Logsdon-Kellogg learned the U.S. Supreme Court had officially overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24.

Logsdon-Kellogg’s congregation is part of one of over 100 subsects of Christianity in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center. There are dozens of other religions, including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, that observe unique views on abortion.

At the protest, Logsdon-Kellogg was in a crowd of hundreds.

were always against abortion came from over 50 years of anti-abortion organizing, said Jennifer Holland, an OU assistant professor of history. The movement was led predominately by white Catholics — with other major religions left out of the fight — ahead of the initial Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973.“This idea of a Judeo-Christian value that al ways believes abortion is murder is a political cre ation of the anti-abortion movement,” Holland said.Logsdon-Kellogg was not inclined to join po litical movements growing up. Originally from Ada, Oklahoma, she spent most of her formative years focused on learning about the values of dif ferent religions. She graduated from Oklahoma Christian University in 1994 with a degree in phi losophy and Afterward,religion.shestarted a construction busi ness with her husband. For nearly two decades, she worked side-by-side with her high school sweetheart. In 2010, however, she felt a calling to ministry.Shequickly started seminary school, grad uating in 2016. In her time at seminary school, her childhood church — United Methodist in Norman — asked her to be a pastor. She accepted the offer and was eventually ordained as a minis ter in 2018.

THE REV. JENNIFER LOGSD SON-KELLOGG, pastor at Nor man United Methodist Church “

forced to have a child they cannot care for is a form of captivity in modern society. Throughout the Bible, there is an emphasis on the community caring for those less fortunate, she explained. In modern society, however, there are not enough systems in place to make that a reality.

13 “

You can’t make a law or list that would cover every eventuality.

Logsdon-Kellogg also expressed concern about laws that punish people who counsel those con sidering abortions and medical professionals that provide them. She feels her role at her church is to be a sounding board for members of her congregation.Logsdon-Kellogg is not the first reverend in her position. Religious leaders have acted as guides in

JAZZ WOLFE/OU DAILY

Another value emphasized in the Bible is free ing people from captivity, Logsdon-Kellogg said. She explained that a key theme in Christianity is working toward Logsdon-Kelloggliberation.argued that a person being

“You can’t make a law or list that would cover every eventuality,” Logsdon-Kellogg said. “There is only so much our laws can do for us.”

Logsdon-Kellogg said she knows other Christians would disagree with her stance on the topic, but she emphasized there is a lot more nuance to the discussion than is often acknowledged.WhileLogsdon-Kellogg holds that every life is sacred — including potential life — she said she understands that every person should have the right to make their own choices. She also worries that the legal system cannot be flexible and re sponsive enough to take into account the many medical dangers pregnant people can face.

Through her years of studying Christianity, she learned that the Bible doesn’t mention abortion specifically. However, multiple passages in the Bible are interpreted to mean that God loves all, including fetuses, Logsdon-Kellogg said.

abortion, it is accepted, Jacobson explained.

“It feels like we’re going backward,” LogsdonKelloggHarisadded.Ali—an imam of the Islamic Society of Norman — also acts as an adviser for those who have questions about abortion. People come in with their “emotions all over the place,” he said, and he always sits them down to take deep breaths before they talk about their options.

While Ali said the need for abortion is a rare occurance in Muslim communities because of

Additionally, the oral tradition of Judaism has adapted over the centuries to address additional contingencies in the modern era. For example, if the pregnant person’s mental health is in danger, as opposed to their physical health, it is acceptable to have an abortion. If a doctor recommends an

Clergy members of all religions

14 “

“There is no room for us in the pro-life move ment,” Jacobson said. “If religion goes into politics in America, we will always lose.”

Ali also emphasized that Muslims have varying views on abortion. The same is true in religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. With a diverse population comes diverse beliefs, said Sushumna Kannan, a former researcher of feminism at Indic Academy.Forexample, in India, abortions are legal and fairly common because of a regional distaste for the use of condoms due to the belief that they less en pleasure, Kannan said. However, one of the prominent religions in India — Hinduism — says that killing someone who cannot defend them selves is one of the worst sins, Kannan explained.

“It’s a terrible choice, but if you have to choose, we would choose the mother,” Jacobson said.

“Even when the doctor and rabbi are disagree ing, the doctor is always right,” Jacobson said. “We believe you should live by the Torah and not die by the RapeTorah.”isamore sensitive topic for Jewish peo ple, Jacobson said. There are many ancestors of modern Jewish people who were the product of

rape, she explained. However, whether the person keeps the child or not, it is ultimately their choice.

‘No room for us in the pro-life movement’ Holland said Jewish people have historically supported abortion rights given their stance — similar to other religions — that a person’s life should be prioritized over the fetus.

Even when the doctor and rabbi are disagreeing, the doctor is always right. We believe you should live by the Torah and not die by the Torah.

Before Roe v. Wade, the Clergy Consultation Service existed. Clergy members — predominate ly those of Christian and Jewish faiths — worked together to help people seeking abortions find medical care. Their positions as religious advisers helped them naturally transition into their new roles.Intheir acts of civil disobedience, they were protected from prosecution as leaders in the com munity, Holland said. New laws proposed across the U.S. could end that protection, Holland said.

“We support everyone, Muslim and non-Mus lim, when they come into the mosque,” Ali said. “It’s just who we are.”

Jacobson said there needs to be a certain level of trust between people that when a decision as hefty as abortion is made, it’s being made with thoughtfulness and care.

she found and still thinks of, howev er, was heartbreaking to her. In the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible, a man prayed to God that he would win a battle he had against his enemies. If he were to win, he promised he would sacrifice the first thing that came through the door to greet him when he returned.

“I cling to that story because … the only autono my she had was the timing of the sacrifice, not the fact of it,” Logsdon-Kellogg said. “And I think that as terrible as that story is, there are women … in Oklahoma that are in that situation all the time.”

the way relationships are structued, it does hap pen. But it is understood that no matter what, God will provide, he said. For example, if a person feels they need an abortion because of poverty, they can instead turn to the Muslim community for support, he said.

“

HARIS ALI, imam of Islamic Soci ety of Norman

“

The next day, he won the battle and, when he was home, his daughter was the first to welcome him. When he explained what he had done, she nodded in understanding. She said she knew he had to follow through on his promise, but asked that she have time to say goodbye to her loved ones and prepare herself.

A female perspective

He also advises people based on the idea that nobodyis perfect and that the topic of abortion is not black and white. In some interpretations, most abortions would be considered murder. According to the Quran and Islamic tradition, murder is one of the greatest sins a person can commit. However, there are exceptions, Ali said.

We support everyone, Muslim and non-Muslim, when they come into the mosque. It’s just who we are.

Geoffrey Goble, a religious studies professor at OU, explained that religious debates usually re flect cultural concerns as opposed to strictly re ligious ones. People use religion as a “tool kit” as opposed to a strict set of rules to “inform their lives in a meaningful sort of way,” he said.

When Logsdon-Kellogg was first studying re ligion, she searched for stories of women in the Bible that were not directly connected to fertil ity or childbirth. It was a difficult task, and she found very few. She emphasized that the way the Bible depicts women is not done from a female perspective.Onestory

the realm of abortion for decades, Holland said.

ABBY JACOBSON, rabbi of Emanuel Synagogue in Oklahoma City

committing a sin in Islam does not mean a person is doomed.“Through your sins, you get closer to Allah,” Ali said. “Through your sins, you turn back to God.”

Similar to Christianity and Islam, Hinduism follows the beliefs that if someone’s life is in dan ger due to their pregnancy, an abortion should be done, Kannan said. While Buddhism has no strict rules against abortion, it is interpreted that it’s rules against violence apply to the medical proce dure, Goble said. However, Buddhism also has for exceptions in emergencies, Goble added.

Jacobson added that Jewish people often strongly oppose mixing religion with politics. She said they are generally comfortable with Jewish laws being separate and different from the government’s.“AsanAmerican, I want people to be able to make that choice because it’s not my right to argue about it,” Jacobson said. “It’s not my right to stand in the Jacobsonway.” said while the Torah says nothing directly against abortion, it does explain that if a person’s life is in danger, an abortion is expected.

If a person is in danger because of a pregnan cy, the person’s existing life should be saved. In instances of rape — comparable to an act of war in Islam — abortion is permissible early in the pregnancy.Alisaidabortion is a private decision that would be between the person and God. He said all life should be appreciated and cherished, but

“

“The dominant morality of a tradition is to be guided by the dominant culture in which it is found,” Goble said.

Abby Jacobson, a rabbi of the Emanuel Synagogue in Oklahoma City, said part of the rea son Jewish people have been so involved in advo acting for abortion rights is because the anti-abor tion movement was dominated by and commit ted to evangelical Christians.

In an article from Bloomberg Law, George Washington law professor Robert Tuttle warned against looking solely to history to provide an swers to “the most consequential questions of the day.” The history-and-tradition test is “en tirely ambiguous” and is “easily manipulated by

Sharon and Mary Bishop-Baldwin’s first photo together in 1996.

“What we’re seeing really is what the Supreme Court has been for a lot of its history. It’s not been a progressive institution, it’s been a regressive in stitution,” Thai said.

At OU, student leaders like Zack Lissau, pres ident of the Student Government Association, said the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, which de termined the U.S. Constitution does not pro tect the right to an abortion, should be a “wakeup call” for young people in the United States to vote. A spokesperson for OU’s Students for Reproductive Justice said this is “a time of anger and mourning” and the decision is “dehumanizing.”“Ourunderstanding of what freedom is … evolves as we grow and mature as a society. We can learn from history, but we shouldn’t be bound by history, and we certainly shouldn’t re peat the mistakes of history,” OU Law professor Joseph Thai said.

“We spent $1,300 to (get married). (We got) all of the rights out of that documentation for $50 in a marriage license,” Sharon said.

ALEXIA ASTON alexiaaston@ou.edu

2SLGBTQ+ couples fear reversal of Roe could lead to loss of rights

judges to foster their own agenda.”

PHOTO PROVIDED

Same-sex marriage became legal in Oklahoma on Oct. 6, 2014, when the 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals lifted its stay on same-sex marriage — about one year before the Supreme Court le galized same-sex marriage in the Obergefell v. HodgesSharoncase.and Mary Bishop-Baldwin, the state’s first same-sex couple to receive their marriage license, recounted their decade-long fight to marry nearly eight years after it was legal for them to do so in Oklahoma.

Questions surround future of samesex marriage after conservative Supreme Court decision

The history and tradition test Thomas’ opinion is rooted in a reading of the U.S. Constitution that would protect only those liberties deeply rooted in U.S. history, Thai said.

Thai said society tends to put the Supreme Court on a pedestal in modern times. He said people think the court is the protector of rights and the guarantor of equality.

Overturning Obergefell

But the possibility frightens him.

It wasn’t until 10 years later, on Oct. 6, that Sharon and Mary became the first same-sex cou ple in Oklahoma to receive a marriage license when the 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals lifted its stay. The couple married the same day.

Thai, who served on the legal team of the Bishop-Baldwin suit, said while Thomas’ opin ion this past summer would target couples like Sharon and Mary’s ability to legally marry, he’s unsure if there are five votes on the current court to overturn Obergefell.

He said the court is backpedaling to the 18th and 19th centuries to evaluate which rights were recognized. This history and tradition test ben efits only a very privileged, narrow and undem ocratic group of people: white American men, ThaiThissaid.interpretation could roll back some rights that have been shared by all in recent decades, Thai said, like abortion, interracial marriage, contraception and same-sex marriage.

Overturning Roe v. Wade puts at risk privacy and personal autonomy rights recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court over the past 50 years, ac cording to an OU law professor, including more recent rights such as same-sex marriage and 2SLGBTQ+ health Conversationscare.regarding protections for same-sex marriage resurfaced the day Roe v. Wade was overruled June 24 when U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concur ring opinion arguing that the Supreme Court “should reconsider” its past rulings codifying rights to same-sex relationships, same-sex mar riage and contraception.

Sharon, a 1992 OU alumna, and Mary began their lawsuit against Oklahoma in November 2004. In January 2005, federal district Judge Terence Kern ruled Oklahoma’s ban on samesex marriage unconstitutional, but the ruling had been stayed, meaning Oklahoma couples couldn’t get married, pending ruling from a higher court.

At least 43 abortion clinics in the U.S. have shut down after Roe v. Wade was overturned, ac cording to a study by the Guttmacher Institute. The closures are concentrated in the South and Midwest, where states have banned or restricted abortionAlabama,access.Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas have en acted complete bans on abortion, and Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee have im plemented restrictions on abortion after about

“We’re not gonna stand back and let them take this right away that we, and so many others, have worked so hard and so long for,” Mary said.

2SLGBTQ+ in the Legislature

Sharon and Mary Bishop-Baldwin in a restaurant.

Although Mary said she and her wife will re sume their fight for marriage equality if neces sary, Sharon said they thought they were done fighting in their older years.

“They’re not taking my marriage unless it’s from my cold dead hands,” Sharon said.

“It felt like we were finally getting past the bar riers of health care. We were finding medical fa cilities that were accepting the community. We were adding those resources to our website and we still are. … It’s frustrating that we’re now hav ing to face this issue,” Robertson said.

Norman PFLAG hosts a support and social meeting every Tuesday, Robertson said, which typically attracted about 10 to15 people. Now, meeting attendance has doubled because peo ple are scared.

of the 2SLGBTQ+ community’s fears stemming from Roe v. Wade are exacerbated by these recent bills, Robertson said.

“I think Roe v. Wade just made an even bigger

If these health clinics are forced to close, ser vices like sex education, birth control and gen der-affirming treatments will also be lost, said Michael Robertson, president of the Norman PFLAGGender-affirmingchapter. care consists of medical, surgical, mental health and non-medical ser vices for transgender and nonbinary people, ac cording to the Office of Population Affairs.

“Even if there aren’t five votes, I think that cloud of uncertainty is not something that mar ried couples should live with or that unmarried LGBTQIA people should live with,” Thai said. “(They’re) wondering whether someday their right to marry the person they love may be taken away from them, just like abortion was the rug pulled from under their feet.”

Oklahoma has faced a recent uptick in an ti-2SLGBTQ+ legislation, including Senate Bill 2, which prevents trans girls and women from join ing women’s sports teams at public K-12 schools and universities, and Senate Bill 615, which re quires restrooms or changing areas in schools to be used by individuals based on their assigned sex at Membersbirth.

PHOTO PROVIDED

For transgender and nonbinary children and adolescents, early gender-affirming care is cru cial to overall health and well-being, as it allows the child or adolescent to focus on social tran sitions and can increase their confidence while navigating the healthcare system, according to theAnoffice.analysis by the Human Rights Campaign released in June found that 39 percent of lesbi ans were more likely to have experienced an un wanted pregnancy, compared to 27 percent of heterosexual women and 29 percent of bisexual women.A2019 study conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that bisexu al women were three times more likely than het erosexual women to have had an abortion.

one-third of transgender, nonbinary and gender non-conforming people who had been pregnant considered ending the pregnancy on their own without clinical supervision due to a lack of in surance coverage and affirming health care.

A 2019 study in California found that over

Health care access

six weeks of Collectively,pregnancy.the11states had 71 abortion clin ics. Now, only 28 remain, according to the study.

There are only two out 2SLGBTQ+ Oklahoma legislators, or 1.3 percent, representing the 3.8 percent of adults in the state who identify as 2SLGBTQ+.

They said the Legislature doesn’t have any where near the amount of 2SLGBTQ+ lawmak ers representing the full spectrum of gender and sexuality that exists in Oklahoma.

One of those legislators, Oklahoma District 88 Rep. Mauree Turner (D-Oklahoma City), is Oklahoma’s first nonbinary and first Muslim legislator. Turner said they entered the position aiming to address the issue of systemically un derrepresented Oklahomans being ignored by theTheLegislature.other,Senate Minority Leader Kay Floyd (D-Oklahoma City), is the first lesbian to serve in the Oklahoma Legislature.

They said the recent push around accurate lan guage is to better reflect the reality that people all across the gender identity spectrum are impacted by the lack of access to abortion care.

“It’s important that we’re … opening a broad er spectrum of people’s eyes to all of the different folks who are impacted by any of these decisions, McAfee said. “I think it starts with the discourse around, ‘Where else are we leaving folks out? How are we not thinking about people who we’ve ex cluded because of language in the past?’ I think that the accuracy of that more inclusive language is critical.”Sharon said the 2SLGBTQ+ community is standing on the shoulders of 2SLGBTQ+ rights pi oneers like Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, and gay liberation activist Marsha P. Johnson.

Nicole McAfee, the executive direc tor of 2SLGBTQ+ advocacy group Freedom Oklahoma, said they believe Oklahoma’s lack of 2SLGBTQ+ legislators causes compounding harm to the community, including the recent policies aimed at the 2SLGBTQ+ people.

Moving forward

The misconception that Oklahoma doesn’t have a big 2SLGBTQ+ community is partially due to its members feeling unsafe in the state, McAfee

“I am proud that I’m somewhere on that pyra mid of people standing on the shoulders of other people,” Sharon said. “I’m glad I didn’t sit back and hide when I had the choice to hide or fight, and I’m always going to be proud of the people who stick their necks out.”

Sharon and Mary Bishop-Baldwin in front of the U.S. Supreme Court while oral arguments for the Obergefell v. Hodges case were being given inside.

impact on top of the other local legislation be cause it’s not just happening on a state level that we typically see in a conservative state like Oklahoma,” Robertson said. “Now, we’re seeing it on a national level.”

“Theysaid.have built these bubbles away from our community that have always existed here, and it still exists here in our region in resilient ways all across the state in our rural communities, in Indian Country and in our metro areas,” McAfee said.

When Roe v. Wade was overturned, debates arose surrounding the language used in con versations on abortion and reproductive health care. Organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Cleveland Clinic and the American Cancer Society have moved from language solely referencing cisgender women to including everyone who can become pregnant.

As a pioneer in modern times, Sharon of fered her shoulders to the younger generation of 2SLGBTQ+ activists who she said too often face attacks on their civil rights.

“It’s really hard to talk to a lot of (legislators) about the impact of any of these decisions on our (2SLGBTQ+) community when so few of them are in the community,” McAfee said.

According to Victory Institute, the U.S. Congress has 11 out members from the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and 15 more would need to be elected to achieve equitable represen tation. There are also 189 out state legislators who identify as 2SLGBTQ+ but voters would need to elect 224 more for equitable representation.

PHOTO PROVIDED

McAfee said the transition isn’t an attempt to be inclusive, its intent is to be accurate.

Visit Norman’s OLDEST BOOKSTORE carrying the best of both old and new books. WE BUY, SELL, AND TRADE BOOKS. Located in downtown Norman | 300 W. Gray St. | Suite 108 Indigenous-woman owned TEAMOURJOINOUDAILY The OU Daily is the independent student voice of OU since 1916. To get real-world experience and develop your professional portfolio, OUDAILY.COM/JOBS INTERESTED IN: DIGITALPRINTVIDEOGRAPHYPHOTOGRAPHYMARKETINGADVERTISINGSOCIALPODCASTSEDITINGREPORTINGMEDIADESIGNDESIGNwww.oudaily.com@theoudaily@OUdaily Download the OU Daily app Get notifications. Get news tailored to you. SOONERKNOWOUDAILY

“I’ve been thinking about how absolutely crazy this is that 50 years later we’re going through the same thing all over again,” Irey said. “At this point in time, I’m not sure what I can do.”

On Jan. 30, 1973, eight days after Roe v. Wade was decided, OU held its own debate on abor tion, with a seven-person panel composed of re ligious leaders, professors and a physician. Irey was the only woman sitting on the panel.

As an affiliate of the Oklahoma Abortion Action Coalition, she spoke on how abortion supports women’s right to bodily autonomy and stressed its importance as a medical issue, not a legalNow,one.as she and other Oklahomans with uter uses return to a time before Roe v. Wade, she fears she has lost her rights again. But as Irey and two other women in Oklahoma reflect on the past and present restrictions they endured, they are encouraged to pick up and continue the fight for bodily autonomy.

Fighting for equal rights has been a longtime passion for Irey, who has participated in several advocacy organizations and lobbying groups.

Residents reflect on life before, after landmark Supreme Court decisions on abortion

Karen Irey, a former OU assistant professor of social work, remembers the fight for abortion rights in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Women remembered having abortions in gruesome and difficult circumstances that in cluded frequent infections, alleys or motel rooms, metal hangers, and limited pain relief andAdvancementsanesthesia. in medicine and technology

On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court turned the clock back to before 1973, when abor tion was not a protected right, maternal mortality rates were high and privacy was not a luxury peo ple with uteruses had.

Living pre-Roe to post-Roe

Before abortion was legalized nationwide, abortions still happened in large numbers and life-threatening ways.

The U.S. ranked last in maternal health among 10 other high-income countries, according to a study at The Commonwealth Fund. In 2020, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention re ported that 850 patients died as a result of preg nancy-related events. Black women are also three to four times more likely than white women

Constrasts between Oklahoma’s pre-Roe, post-Roe landscape

People who protested for abortion rights before Roe v. Wade fear they are fighting the same battle all over again.

It is estimated there were between 200,000 and 1.2 million abortions per year in the 1950s and 1960s, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The gap is so large because no definitive study or data was compiled for the exact number of abortions before Roe, since abortions were ille gal in the majority of the country and were done in secret, according to the National Library of Medicine.In1965, illegal abortions made up 17 percent of all deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Pregnancy and childbirth have been found to be 33 times more dangerous than abortions, ac cording to a study in the Duke University Press. Countries with restrictions and bans on abor tions lead to the prevalance of unsafe abortions, which have high rates of maternal mortality and major complications, according to The National Library of Medicine.

As she looks back on life before Roe v. Wade, she said she is shocked and disturbed now that it has been overturned.

KAROLINE LEONARD karolineleonard@ou.edu

over the years made it so less than 1 percent of abortions result in major complications, accord ing to the National Library of Medicine.

PEGGY DODD/OU DAILY

Irey dedicated a large portion of her life to ad vocating for the Equal Rights Amendment in the Oklahoma Legislature, which was later vetoed by the Oklahoma Senate by just four votes. She also served as a chairperson of the Norman Coalition of Equal Rights in the 1970s and 1980s and helped found what is now the OU department of women’s and gender studies.

Keeping their doors open meant exposing themselves to threats, lawsuits and protestors daily. Gallegos said people protested the clinic and attempted to scare patients when they walked in for appointments, whether or not they were at the clinic for an abortion procedure.

Women’s Clinic was a fixture in the community. Patients depended upon on it for abortion care, general reproductive health care and lifesaving treatments. Gallegos said she was out of options once the ban was passed, and she started to look outside the state to see how she can still help her Gallegoscommunity.decidedto move the clinic to Carbondale, Illinois, as states surrounding Oklahoma did not have plans to protect abortion under the law at the time.

Carbondale is an over seven-hour drive from Tulsa, and although Gallegos could pack up her life and the life of one of her colleagues, the rest of her nurses, employees and doctors were unable to make the move.

to die of pregnancy-related causes.

consider.”TheTulsa

a month before the Supreme Court made its decision.Gov.Kevin Stitt passed the nation’s strictest abortion ban on May 25, ending access to the procedure throughout the state. Before the ban, Gallegos said she treated around 300 to 500 peo ple with uteruses each month, even up until the day of the ban.

While getting ready to leave the now-closed clinic, Gallegos received another call from a des perate person seeking care. Gallegos started to tear up when she described telling that patient they couldn’t be helped and needed to find a way

MIKE SIMONS/TULSA WORLD

not politics or personal morals.

“Everybody that buys into him and supports him goes and does the same thing he did,” Irey said. “Oh my gosh, what’s going to happen to women if this continues?”

“There are times when women can’t or shouldn’t healthwise have a child. … I don’t recall that being as much of an issue back then, because I think it was more women’s rights,” Irey said. “That’s a part of women’s rights: to have medical control.”Ireysaid she feels hopeless knowing something she supported for over 50 years has been taken away so quickly. However, she said she will keep fighting if it means helping people with uteruses in future generations.

Even still, Irey fears taking away the right to abortion could mean losing more rights in the future.“Are they going to take away our right to vote?

“Back then, at least for me, we weren’t dealing with (politics) as much,” Irey said. “We were deal ing with people’s beliefs and religious beliefs. That is more understandable, and I accepted that, but now I cannot accept this (political) insanity.”

“One thing we tried to do as we were waiting to hear what would happen with those (bills) was stay open as long as we could,” Gallegos said. “That meant taking a risk every week that we would have a schedule of patients — not knowing if that would be the week that the bill would pass (or) if that would be the week that the governor would sign it — and we’d have to stop.”

Gallegos said the hardest part of the past few months has been turning away patients seeking care. On the day of the ban, Gallegos and her col leagues called previously scheduled patients for that day and upcoming weeks to cancel. Patients were already on the way, walking in the door or sitting in the waiting area when the news was announced.“Wewere depended upon, and now those pa tients have to make the decision if they were going to be able to travel out of state and to access care somewhere else,” Gallegos said. “People still call thinking that they’ll be able to get services with us. … It’s hard to tell someone that their only options are to travel out of state and listening to people on the other line. … You can tell that that’s a lot to

Irey has since left Norman and moved to Kansas where she is originally from. She said watching Kansas vote to protect abortion rights gave her hope.

Is that the next thing?” Irey said. “If one right goes, then others could topple. Women have fought long and hard for these, and I just don’t think it should be overturned.”

“When you look at a map (for) where ac cess is going to be allowed and where it’s not, Carbondale is a potential haven to Oklahomans, and so we wanted to still be available for the pa tients that we would have been able to continue serving,” Gallegos said.

A clinic escort helps guide a patient toward the Tulsa Women’s Clinic as abortion protesters stand nearby.

Trump’s conservative and anti-abortion ap pointments to SCOTUS and targeted treatment of women in office led directly to this decision, Irey said, which made her want to fight even harder against “Trump insanity.”

Irey said imagining a world pre-Roe seems im possible, and yet, fighting for abortion rights is a norm for her once again. But Irey said conversa tions are different this time because they are more about political agendas.

Andrea Gallegos, the former executive direc tor of the Tulsa Women’s Clinic, said Oklahoma has been living in a “post-Roe world since May,

This time around, Irey said she feels the push to eliminate abortion rights was sparked by former President Donald Trump. She noted the way he “normalized looking down on and mistreating” women and female-presenting people.

One of the strictest abortion bans in the U.S.

As the issue becomes increasingly politicized, Irey said the focus has moved away from the heart of the issue. Irey believes decisions on abortions should remain between a patient and their doctor,

to travel out of state.

PHOTO PROVIDED

“(Abortion) is already sometimes a difficult de cision, and now to just add more burdens on preg nant people when they are going through this is a lot,” Gallegos said. “Knowing that we have a per fectly good place where we could provide the ser vices is hard, but our hands are tied.”

“It’s really easy to get disheartened by what I’ve seen and as much as I’ve experienced doing this work,” Desai said. “I’m still hopeful, and

At top, Irey in 1976, three years after Roe v. Wade was established. Above, Irey with her husband, Tom, in 2017.

something for me that keeps me hopeful is know ing that people who want to take away bodily au tonomy, they are not the majority.”

After graduating from OU, Priya Desai dedicat ed a large portion of her life to fighting for equal rights with a specific focus on people with uterus es and mothers. Desai serves as a board member for the Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice and is a co-founder of Oklahomans for Paid FamilyGrowingLeave.up, abortion wasn’t an issue Desai discussed or heard about often. It wasn’t until the 2000s when she felt the issue became more polit icized, describing abortion as a “bargaining chip in political games.”

Desai is focused on aiding the people who are historically marginalized and impacted by the criminalization of abortion, Desai said.

The future of reproductive health care, abortion care and equal rights can look bleak, Desai said, but she chooses not to let herself quit. Working in reproductive justice in Oklahoma is a long, hard and dark battle, but Desai said this fight is one of the most important in her life.

Lastly, the OCRJ filed a lawsuit against specific “vigilante-style” laws. The organization said the laws create a “vast abortion desert,” as both Texas and Oklahoma do not have abortion access as a result of these bills.

Desai said looking into the future, it is import ant for people to vote for candidates who will fight for equal rights and abortion rights. She said join ing protests and donating to organizations such as Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Justice and the National Network of Abortion Funds helps ensure people with uteruses will be able to get the care they need and deserve.

Desai said when the bans were announced in May and June, she felt inspired to not let these re strictions just fly by. That is when her organization decided to be plaintiffs in three lawsuits against the state of Oklahoma in response to its restrictive abortion laws.

In an original lawsuit from September 2021, OCRJ focuses on stopping abortion bans and re strictions, citing that banning abortion after six weeks is before most people even know they are pregnant. The organizations are also against the revoking of medical licenses if a physician is found to have performed an abortion.

While abortion affects people from all walks of life, banning the procedure largely impacts those from historically marginalized groups: people of color, people from low-income households, members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, students and single Gallegoswomen.saidthe hardest part is knowing, no matter how many resources or abilities she has, she just can’t help people in Oklahoma anymore.

One lawsuit, in partnership with Planned Parenthood, Trust Women and Gallegos’ clinic in Tulsa, asks the Oklahoma Supreme Court to strike down the state’s laws making performing an abor tion a felony, citing the laws and contradictory. This lawsuit was filed on July 1 of this year.

Desai said while Oklahoma is a restrictive “an ti-people with uteruses” state, there are still peo ple who want to help and will fight for abortion care and rights because it’s a fight that has impact ed people in the past and present.

“It’s really important to note that nobody should face criminal charges or jail time for any aspect of the pregnancy, whether miscarriage or abortion,” Desai said. “The decriminalization of abortion is essential to having the right to power over our own bodies, lives and futures.”

Moving forward

OU’s campus community responded quick ly to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade in January 1973. Still, laws in limbo left people confused and concerned, parallel to the aftermath of the decision’s overruling.

A Tulsa gynecoligist was reportedly able to provide abortions for a fee. Diethylstilbestrol — a hormone used as an emergency contraceptive that has since been replaced by Plan B — was prescribed by physicians at Goddard Health Center, though some were wary of side effects.

“If there is anything which is more dead than yesterday’s newspaper headlines,” White wrote, “it’s a legislative issue from last session which was too controversial to be handled without embarrassment.”

“I think that’s the worst decision ever handed down by the Supreme Court of the United States,” Hamilton said. “That’s just my opinion.”

“I think we are slowly losing the stigma that women are baby machines. We should be given the right to get an abortion,” Kay Zahasky, a soph omore from Oklahoma City, said.

Protesters rally to show support for Planned Parenthood, organized by MoveOn and called “Pink Out Kansas.”

scenarios in which they are legal, Donoho wrote. She ended the editorial by advising Oklahomans to support the bill if it were to move forward in the“ButLegislature.we’remaking strides — and it’s about time!” Donoho wrote.

the time, the local Planned Parenthood said they referred all patients to the University Hospital or a physician in Tulsa.

Other students said they would not get an abortion themselves, but they felt it was good the choice was no longer up to the U.S. government.

Laws were not clearer by the fall, according to an article in November 1973. OU Daily reporter Ruth Kleinecke wrote that options for abortion in Oklahoma were scarce while the laws were in limbo. Physicians were avoiding “unclear legal situations,” meaning it was difficult to find a doc tor willing to do the procedure.

To make up for the uncertainty surrounding legislation, groups like the Alpha Phi Alpha fra ternity hosted abortion education nights. The events were designed to “get people involved” by showing films about abortion and having open discussions with an attorney and a physician.

In the spring, then-Oklahoma Attorney General Larry Derryberry said Oklahoma of ficials were “powerless” to enact or change any laws that would continue to prohibit abortions during the first six months of pregnancy. He lamented with then-state Senator Jim Hamilton the Supreme Court’s decision was affecting Oklahoma legislation.

By the summer, OU Daily reported the University Hospital was administering abortions two to three times a week. Hospital administra tor Jeptha Dalton said there had been 38 abor tions since the ruling in January as of June 7. At

In 1973, the OU community expressed mixed viewpoints on US abortion rights. Daily news re porters captured initial opinions of Supreme Court decision.

22 JAZZ WOLFE jazzwolfe@ou.edu

There were over 50 articles about abortion included in the OU Daily in 1973. By 1974, how ever, the subject was scarcely reported on. In an opinion piece, OU Daily reporter Keith White questioned what had happened to the abortion bill that was proposed in the state Legislature the previous fall.

An editorial by OU Daily editor Denise Donoho explained the bills Oklahoma legislators were writing and said “the legal ramifications for Oklahoma are as yet uncertain.”

JOHN SLEEZER/THE KANSAS CITY STAR VIA AP

Norman reacts to Roe ruling

The ruling was “praised and damned” by readers across OU’s campus, one OU Daily arti cle’s headline reads. Many of the students inter viewed by the Daily expressed their joy with hav ing the right to choose.

Then-state Senator Peyton Breckinridge (ROK) proposed a bill that would clarify some laws in the state by defining abortions and the

American Civil Liberties Union

• 405-528-2157

Organizations and Support:

Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice

Abortionfinder.com

Planned Parenthood – Wichita Health Center

• Nonprofit, nonpartisan promoting individual rights.

• Plannedparenthood.org

• Sexual and reproductive health care and information.

Clinics:RESOURCES

• acluok.org

Planned Parenthood – Central Oklahoma City Clinic

• Refers to quality, certified clinics.

• Abortion provider.

Trust Women Wichita

• Abortion provider.

• 619 NW 23rd St., Oklahoma City, OK

• ocrj.org

• Does not offer abortion services.

• Helps find a clinic near you.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains

• 316-260-6934

TABYTHA JIMENEZ/OU DAILY

• 316-263-7575

• 5107 E. Kellogg Dr., Wichita, KS

• 2226 E. Central, Wichita, KS

• Education, political action and advocacy.

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Planned Parenthood