choice

October 3 is Rosie Jiménez Day, a day organized by the Abortion Access Project in memory of Rosaura Jiménez, the first woman known to die of an illegal abortion due to the Hyde Amendment. Ms. Jiménez died of a massive infection on October 3, 1977, after an illegal abortion. The Hyde Amendment (passed in 1976) bans the use of federal Medicaid funds to pay for abortions for low-income women, and is renewed each year. Low income women in particular still face huge challenges in accessing abortions, due to both the limited number of providers and the associated costs.

October is used to be National Abortion Access Action Month, in honor of Ms. Jiménez. (Comments on the RH Reality Check post indicate AAP doesn't run the month anymore.)

The image of illegal abortion that has stayed with me most strongly, since I first saw it many years ago, is the famous, heartbreaking photo of Geraldine Santoro, who bled to death alone in a hotel room due to a botched home abortion.

Read more at the Abortion Access Project, at the National Organization for Women and on RH Reality Check.