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Reproductive Freedom, Self-Directed Dying

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Reproductive Freedom, Self-Directed Dying OUR BODIES, OUR LIVES, OUR RIGHT TO DECIDE? REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM, SELF-DIRECTED DYING, AND WOMEN’S AUTONOMY by Ninia Leilani Baehr A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in American Studies MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY Bozeman, Montana November 2017 ©COPYRIGHT by Ninia Leilani Baehr 2017 All Rights Reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I thank the ten veteran reproductive freedom activists whose names, backgrounds, and insights are featured in the final chapter of this dissertation. They trusted me to keep specific confidences and to reflect their views with integrity. This study would not have been possible without their insights. Second, I thank the five members of my dissertation committee: Dr. Mary Murphy (History); Dr. Robert Rydell (History and American Studies); Dr. Kristen Intemann (Philosophy); Dr. Walter Fleming (Native American Studies); and Dr. Elizabeth Rink (Health and Human Development). Between them, they provided valuable guidance, excellent editing advice, and superb examples of accessible writing on a range of academic subjects. Third, I thank the abortion rights pioneers with whom I collected oral histories three decades ago, especially Laura Kaplan. I did not thank Laura publicly when I published my Master’s thesis under the name Abortion without Apology; my information about the Jane Abortion Service came from her, but many former Jane members were still not using their own names because their actions had been illegal. Since then, Laura has published the history of Jane. I now have the opportunity to thank her for introducing me to the radical history of the abortion rights movement years ago, and also for later introducing me to the National Women’s Health Network, where I learned about the reproductive justice model that informs this work. Finally, I thank my mother, Cj Baehr, who helped edit this document, and my wife, Lori Hiris, who provided moral and financial support so that I could focus on completing this project. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1 Positionality Statement .................................................................................... 1 Overview ......................................................................................................... 5 Background ..................................................................................................... 6 Relevance ....................................................................................................... 9 Gender-Based Caregiving Disparities ...................................................... 10 Gender-Based Financial Disparities ........................................................ 11 Gender-Based Life Expectancy Disparities .............................................. 11 Framework .................................................................................................... 16 Autonomy ...................................................................................................... 24 2. AUTONOMY IN FEMININE AND FEMINIST ETHICS AND SELF-DIRECTED DYING ............................................................................. 30 Autonomy in Feminine and Feminist Ethics .................................................. 30 Feminine and Feminist Ethics and Self-Directed Dying ................................ 34 Autonomy and Self-Directed Dying ............................................................... 44 3. PARALLELS BETWEEN THE ABORTION MOVEMENT OF THE 1960s AND 1970s AND THE RIGHT-TO-DIE MOVEMENT TODAY ............ 87 Referrals, Travel, and “How To” Handbooks ................................................. 88 Referrals .................................................................................................. 88 Travel ....................................................................................................... 97 “How To” Handbooks ............................................................................. 100 Self-Help Groups ......................................................................................... 106 Self-Examination and Menstrual Extraction ........................................... 106 Jane ....................................................................................................... 111 Medicalization, Therapeutic Committees, and Reform v. Repeal ................ 119 Medicalization ........................................................................................ 119 Therapeutic Committees ........................................................................ 122 Reform v. Repeal ................................................................................... 124 Reproductive Justice ................................................................................... 131 Population Control ................................................................................. 132 Single-Issue Organizing and Meaningful Choice ................................... 147 Inclusive Organizing .............................................................................. 148 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED 4. VETERAN REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM LEADERS’ VIEWS ON SELF-DIRECTED DYING ........................................................................... 162 Interviewees ................................................................................................ 162 Five Themes Relevant to How Highlighting the Parallels between the Struggle for Abortion and the Struggle for Self-Directed Dying Might, or Might Not, Draw Support from Baby Boomer Veterans of the Reproductive Rights Movement for the Right-to-Die Movement .................................. 174 Two Lessons Learned from the Reproductive Justice Movement ............... 184 Three Additional Considerations ................................................................. 188 Synthesis .................................................................................................... 198 Observation: Movement Similarities, Issue Differences ......................... 199 Conclusions ........................................................................................... 214 Reflection ............................................................................................... 221 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................... 227 APPENDICES .................................................................................................. 247 APPENDIX A: Pre-Interview Information and Questions Provided to Women Interviewed .................................................................... 248 APPENDIX B: Suicide Statistics in the U.S. ........................................ 253 APPENDIX C: Health Behavior Change: Women and End-of-Life Care ..................................................... 266 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Population Aged 85 and Over, 1900 to 2050 .......................................... 10 2. Differences between Male and Female Populations by Age, 2010 ......... 12 3. Population by Age and Sex, 1970 ........................................................... 13 4. Population by Age and Sex, 2010 ........................................................... 13 5. Population by Age and Sex, 2030 ........................................................... 14 6. Population by Age and Sex, 2050 ........................................................... 14 7. News Magazine Talks about Do-It-Yourself Abortion with Maginnis ....... 90 8. Irreversible Illness? Unbearable Suffering? Die with Dignity ................... 96 9. A Private Matter ...................................................................................... 98 10. A Terminal Cancer Patient’s Controversial Choice ................................. 99 11. Del-Em .................................................................................................. 109 12. Co Gen .................................................................................................. 110 13. Do It Yourself with Betty ........................................................................ 111 14. Jane: Celebrate People’s History .......................................................... 112 15. God the Mother Message – Therapeutic Abortion ................................. 123 16. God the Mother Message – Reform/Repeal .......................................... 125 17. Stop Forced Sterilization ....................................................................... 146 vi GLOSSARY Abortion Rights Movement: A political movement begun in the early 1960s to promote women’s access to legal abortion. Assisting Suicide: Taking action to assist another person in bringing about his or her own death. Assisting suicide is illegal throughout the U.S. except in cases of legal physician-assisted suicide, also called “physician aid in dying” or “medical aid in dying.” (See below.) Civil Rights: Generally understood to mean legal rights accorded to some or all individuals within a country, territory, or other entity according to that entity’s constitution or other legal documents; for example, the right to privacy legally accorded to citizens of the U.S. Euthanasia: The administration by a physician of medication for the purpose of ending a patient’s life. Euthanasia is not legal anywhere in the U.S. but is legal in some European countries. Hastening One’s Own Death: A term sometimes
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