TED doesn't want to talk about abortion

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      TED doesn't want to talk about abortion.

      Writing in the Nation on February 12, Jessica Valenti recounted a conversation with TED content director and TEDWomen co-host Kelly Stoetzel, who stated that abortion did not fit into TED's focus on “wider issues of justice, inequality and human rights”.

      “Abortion is more of a topical issue we wouldn’t take a position on, any more than we’d take a position on a state tax bill," said Stoetzel.

      Good to know a woman's reproductive rights have nothing to do with justice, inequality, or human rights.

      Inequality:

      According to the World Health Organization, 20 million of the 42 million abortions performed around the world every year are both illegal and unsafe. In fact, the WHO calls unsafe abortion a silent pandemic. The majority of women who are unable to obtain a safe, legal abortion are living in poverty, have no access to comprehensive family planning information or birth control, and live outside of urban centres.

      While the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice think tank, recently found that abortion rates in the U.S. have dropped to the lowest level since 1973 (the year Roe v. Wade was decided), the rates of abortion among women living in poverty increased 18 percent between 2000 and 2008. (A December 2013 Guttmacher study found that the rate of pregnancy among poor women is five times higher than their wealthier counterparts.)

      Making abortion illegal does not make abortion disappear; it simply makes obtaining one unsafe—and potentially fatal—and criminalizes any woman who has one.

      Justice (and also some more inequality):

      In the Dominican Republic, a woman cannot legally obtain an abortion for any reason.

      Countries like Chile, Peru, Venezuela, El Salvador, and Nicaragua prevent women from having abortions unless their lives are threatened. 

      In Ireland, abortions are permitted to save the life of a woman; however, 31-year-old Savita Halappanavar died after being denied an abortion after a miscarriage in 2012.

      In Japan, Indonesia, Kuwait, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates, a woman must get the permission of her spouse to have an abortion.

      Just yesterday (February 12), Spain rolled back its abortion laws after a 183-151 vote approving a bill restricting a woman's access to abortion. Under the new law, a woman may only have an abortion in cases of rape or if she can prove having the child would be a severe risk to her health.

      Last year, dozens of states in the U.S. passed highly restrictive abortion laws, leading to mass closures of facilities. In Texas, 12 abortion clinics closed in November 2013 due to new restrictions. In Missouri, 15 anti-abortion measures—including mandatory ultrasounds and requiring a 72-hour waiting period for any woman wanting an abortion—have been tabled in 2014 already. There is only one approved abortion provider to service the over three million women living in that state.

      Even in Canada, there is no surgical abortion provider in Prince Edward Island at all, forcing women to travel out of province to terminate a pregnancy after seven weeks.

      (For more about abortion rights worldwide, check the Center for Reproductive Right's interactive map.)

      Human rights:

      Restrictive abortion laws interfere with a woman's bodily autonomy and rights, contravening both the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

      TED bills itself as nonprofit organization dedicated to "Ideas Worth Spreading", and presumably would like to see its group as a promoter of women's rights and issues. They even held a special TEDWomen forum (Its tagline: "How are women and girls reshaping the future?") to ostensibly address those matters. 

      But organizers aren't really supporting women by creating a separate space for women; they are leveraging "feminism" (I must put that in quotes because there is hardly one kind of feminism) in order to broaden TED's core audience—and presumably make more money.

      (Inequality redux: A ticket to TEDWomen cost US$1,000 each, while attendees of Vancouver's upcoming TED conference paid $7,500 for the privilege of listening to "middlebrow megachurch infotainment". Despite earning $43 million per year, TED does not pay any of its speakers.)

      Simply put, TED's ban on abortion-related topics is the exact opposite of supporting women and advancing feminist issues. It's essentially stating that the need for safe, legal access to abortion is just not an idea worth spreading.

      TED Vancouver is taking place from March 17 to 21 at the Vancouver Convention Centre, and you can guarantee the word abortion will not come out of the mouths of any of the speakers attending.

      A petition has been created asking TED to allow participants to speak about abortion rights.

      EDIT: So this morning (February 14), I got this tweet from @TEDTalks:

      The link they provided leads to a page that says TED organizers "agree that abortion and reproductive care are core issues of social justice and human rights" and a bunch of videos that are not about abortion. They say that their community features dozens of threads about abortion, but that's hardly the same as a widely available and highlighted video from an (unpaid) TED talker.

      TED also says Valenti quoted Stoetzel out of context. Valenti says she didn't:

      So the question is...

      Comments

      10 Comments

      Ally Langaker

      Feb 13, 2014 at 4:56pm

      If u don't want to talk about it then don't bring up the torcher topic...have u thought about people that have done this and they hate themselves for doing it...not having any other venue??? or help??? My birth mother was 13 when she had me...I am greatful she didn't have an abortion...I have no contact with my family and it's because apparently I look too much like my birth father...I was a 50% chance...

      Russell Crawford

      Feb 13, 2014 at 6:49pm

      There are laws that control the impact of abortion. Those laws are newly discovered and should be a good subject for TED. They can be viewed at http://www.scientificabortionlaws.com

      Incredible Bulk

      Feb 13, 2014 at 8:15pm

      Just relax Miranda, it's not the end of the world, besides we have the good ole Georgia Straight here.

      TED

      Feb 14, 2014 at 1:01am

      Ted stands for Technology, entertainment and design. It's "Ted" not "Tad".

      Arthur Vandelay

      Feb 14, 2014 at 5:48am

      TED is apolitical. It's not meant to be a stump upon which to grind one's axe, regardless of how noble the axe.

      Miranda Nelson

      Feb 14, 2014 at 10:06am

      As I've outlined, abortion rights are an issue of inequality, justice, and human rights, which is what TED spokesperson Kelly Stoetzel says the organization is committed to. This isn't a political issue at all.

      idolatrous liberal hippie douche

      Feb 14, 2014 at 10:09am

      Don't want to talk about abortion? Could it be because ted doesn't want to stir controversy with vancouverites view?

      Here's my take on abortion: why would bacteria be considered life in mars..and a heart beat not considered life on Earth?

      Indoor tanning on the other hand, some places in Canada require parental consent form, why can't it be same for abortion?

      Come On Already

      Mar 8, 2014 at 8:27am

      Thank you for the article. It makes me no longer want to watch any of their talks

      A number of Ted talks go beyond the specific accronym (AIDS laws, same-sex marriage, peace), so why not abortion? It's appalling that an organization (supposedly about getting new ideas our there for our advancement as a people) is too scared to take on this issue.

      I will send this article to everyone I know so TED is found out.

      For shame!

      Quick question

      Jun 29, 2014 at 10:06pm

      Ok, but would you be okay with a speaker talking about how to convince women not to have abortions, or how to get governments to pass anti abortion legislation? Do you genuinely want ted talks to talk about ab
      Oration, or rather, do you want them to agree with you on abortion?

      Jane Doe

      Oct 5, 2014 at 6:36pm

      I'm an adult female...am I for abortion...if a woman lays down and spreads her legs without the aid of protection and knowing full well at any time she could become pregnant then that same woman and I emphasize "woman" she should carry said child to term, if she does not want the responsibility to raise a baby then there's adoption...if a person is raped and becomes pregnant there's the morning after pill...but if a child becomes pregnant due to rape the morning pill will be of little help as it states not to give under the age of ???....abortion is the best way to go...I wouldn't want my child to be ridiculed and bullied in today's standards with how our youth is...so I would discretely take her to a clinic and sign for the procedure to be done...we can deal with the after math later....so to me there are two sides to this issue not just the one "you're killing a fetus" yes in ten days they have webbed fingers and toes and they are so cute but think outside the box for a minute and not your own beliefs but try to think of a 12 year old coming to you and saying she's pregnant thanks to a family member raping her or some stranger doing it...would you seriously put her through 9 months carrying a child she can't possibly raise...adult adoption, child abortion simple if you ask me