Roe v. Wade decision might go, but Cherisse Scott's story shows why women deserve a choice | Column

This country has a long history of trying to control the female reproductive system.

From the nation-wide ban on abortions in 1910 to the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade — which granted women the right to have an abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy — women have been fighting to have the final say.

A leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court, published by POLITICO, hints that justices may overturn Roe, but it's important to understand the view of women facing a tough choice.

Twenty years ago, Cherisse Scott, founder and CEO of SisterReach in Memphis, was bamboozled into thinking that a crisis pregnancy center was an abortion clinic. She was misled and misinformed by who she thought to be medical professionals into keeping her baby, rather than getting an abortion that she was seeking.

"It wasn't a choice that I made with full knowledge and information but through manipulation and lies," Scott said. "They lied and said that If I had an abortion, I wouldn't be able to have any more kids and I believed them."

Women benefit from being empowered

Crisis pregnancy centers are typically nonprofit and religiously affiliated. They counsel clients against having an abortion as part of their free, but limited services.

The trauma from Scott's experience opened her eyes to how many Black and other disenfranchised women and girls are manipulated and misinformed when seeking advice from medical professionals about their reproductive health and choices.

After recognizing how a woman's life can positively change when she is empowered with access and information about her reproductive health, Scott began advocating for reproductive and sexual health and justice in 2005.

"I think I'm even more upset now than I was then, because now I recognize the disingenuous nature of why abortion rights are at stake," said Scott.

In 2011, she moved from Chicago to Memphis and founded SisterReach — a 501(c)3 nonprofit that supports the reproductive autonomy of women and teens of color, poor and rural women, LGBTQIA+ people and their families through the framework of reproductive justice. Currently, SisterReach is the only reproductive justice organization in Tennessee.

"Our governor is very eager and ready to put taxpayers' dollars into crisis pregnancy centers but will not put any money into the school system to employ sexual health educators to teach our children about their bodies." said Scott.

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Becoming a parent requires resources

Last year, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee spent $180,000 of taxpayer dollars on seven ultrasound machines for anti-abortion clinics across the state. He then said that he wants to continue using public dollars to fund crisis pregnancy centers.

“I think any time we can improve access and information for women, and we can provide services for children we’re going to keep investing in that,” Lee said.

People grew wary of advice from medical professionals after the COVID-19 pandemic began.

But how are we — as women — supposed to rely on and trust medical professionals to advise us on our options with our bodies when some choose to use their titles to exploit people at a time where they are most vulnerable, scared and seeking medical expertise?

"The reality is I never saw those people again," said Scott. "There is no concerted effort to assure that those same folks that were manipulated and convinced to keep their babies have a roof over their head or food in their bellies."

We must keep an open mind and remember that becoming a parent isn't just about having a baby, but being able to provide for, guide and nurture another human being. That requires living wages, health insurance and access to quality and affordable childcare — which not everyone has.

We can't be so quick to judge people for doing what they believe is best for themselves, their families and their unborn child.

High court decision could end legal access to abortion

In July 2020, Gov. Lee signed a bill into law banning abortion after six weeks, which a federal judge quickly blocked from going into effect.

If the leaked Supreme Court draft becomes the final opinion, the legality of abortion will be left to individual states.

Tennessee is among 12 states that have a "trigger law" to ban abortion if Roe is overturned.

"People are going to keep having abortions regardless of whatever efforts these folks try to do," Scott said. "They may slow down abortion access, but they will not completely abolish it."

Kyra Watts, an Atlanta native, is a graduate of Florida A&M University, and a writer and editor on the opinion and engagement team at The Tennessean in Nashville. She can be reached @Kyrawatts98 on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Roe v. Wade: One woman's story shows why abortion should remain legal