Choices for women

Twenty pregnancies before the age of 38—with no access to contraceptives. That is not a world in which a woman has choices. But it’s what Georgette, a mother in the Democratic Republic of Congo faced until last year. That’s when Georgette met Pascasie, a community health worker who was trained to share information about family planning. Georgette said, “family planning saved my life.” Her story—and those 20 pregnancies—make me shudder. I thought of Georgette and her children today as I read the special edition of The New York Times Sunday Magazine.

The Magazine focused on a range of women’s issues, but what’s missing? Choice. Nicholas Kristof focused on some strong, ambitious American women making a difference; Deborah Solomon interviewed Melinda Gates; Kwame Anthony Appiah explored social change in different cultures; and Lisa Belkin looked at gender parity among parents. But mentioned just peripherally in each article are women’s choices to make decisions about their bodies—and their futures.

Thinking about that missing element—and Georgette’s story—made me want to shout from the rooftops, “we can’t change women’s lives without birth control and reproductive health care!” How else can you protect an Ethiopian girl from fistula who is married off at the age of 12 to an older man? (It’s also critical to change laws and practices around early marriage and early childbirth too!) Or empower a woman in Bangladesh to space her additional pregnancies so that she can afford to keep her children in school? Or support young women to achieve their future career dreams?

If you’re down with choice—and giving women more choices—check out Pathfinder’s Make a Choice to Give a Choice campaign. You can see Georgette’s story as well as meet Margaret, a young girl in Tanzania struggling to stay in school, and Esther, an HIV+ mother who has big dreams for her daughters. Help support choice by sharing the videos or giving up a few lattes and giving a few dollars. Every gift matched through October 31st will be matched—up to $50,000.

Women the world over have a right to choices. Together, we can all help make sure that right is realized.

Disclaimer: This post was written by a Feministing Community user and does not necessarily reflect the views of any Feministing columnist, editor, or executive director.

Writer, editor, feminist, reproductive health advocate, marathon runner for change, red velvet/chocolate lover and all around new media fan. Views are my own :)

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