Fall Newsletter

President's Message

As representatives of the Peggy Bowman Second-Chance Fund, we are often asked the tough questions. While we once thought the abortion issue was settled by the Supreme Court, we continue to see erosion of women’s rights. Now seems like a good time to review with you, our supporters, what has occurred and what we may face in the future. Here is the latest information to keep you updated:

Does a woman in Kansas have the fundamental right under the State Constitution to have an abortion? Does the Kansas Bill of Rights in the Kansas Constitution protect this right as it does in the U.S. Constitution?

One would assume that women have that right because of Roe; however, early this spring, the Kansas Supreme Court heard arguments centered on whether a right to abortion exists within the state constitution. The decision of the Kansas Supreme Court will be handed down any day. If the decision rules in favor of prochoice proponents, there may indeed be a backlash by opponents of access to safe, legal abortion. The most dramatic—and harmful—step that they could take would be to initiate the process for a state constitutional amendment, one which would take some explicit step towards banning abortion in Kansas. If two-thirds of the members of both chambers of the Kansas Legislature consent, the amendment is put before the voters. A very simple majority vote results in the amendment’s adoption.

These are drastic times. We must boldly stand together and speak out against those who seek to take away our reproductive rights. The cost is too great to watch our fundamental rights stripped away, one by one, causing hardship on Kansas families who should make their own family-planning choices.

Sandy Brown

President

Fond Farewells

We’re going through some changes here on the Peggy Bowman Second Chance Board, with some beloved members leaving and some new members coming onboard. A few of our members who are stepping down were kind enough to answer some questions about themselves and why they chose to serve.

We asked:

1) What years did you serve on the board?

2) What made you want to serve on the Peggy Bowman Board?

3) What advice/wisdom would you like to share for those who support the Second Chance Fund?

Geraldine Flaharty

I started on the board while Sylvie Rue (founding member) was doing most of the leadership work.

I was in the Kansas House, always been pro-choice and was asked by Sylvie to join. I knew Peggy Bowman from lobbying by her, and support from Tiller’s PAC, and we just continued on.

Continuing the fund until we have universal health care for all without abortion restrictions will be necessary. Reaching that day should be our goal, but until then, finding donors and giving hope and a second chance to women is our priority. I have been blessed to meet and work with a variety of intelligent, principled, caring women on this board.

Julie Sheppard

I think I joined the board about 2000.

I was very excited to find out about the Second Chance Fund—helping Kansas girls and women who need help financially in order to obtain safe and legal abortions—that everyone is a volunteer—that people miraculously send us money—that we have never turned anyone down since its inception in 1996.

I think it is the greatest thing ever.

I look around me and see so clearly that most of the problems in the world could be solved if families could control if, when, and how many children they can afford to raise.

There is nothing like this fund anywhere and I am so proud of all we have been able to do in helping so many. Making this a political issue is just man’s last desperate attempt to control women, and we are not going to put up with it.

Susan Adamchak

2006-2017

I had an abortion when I was 17, having become pregnant the first time I had inter- course. As a good Catholic girl, I knew nothing about contraception or my fertility cycle. I was lucky to live where I did, because it was pre-Roe v. Wade. I traveled to NYC, one of the few places in the country where abortion was legal in 1972. There were women from 8 states in the waiting room. Because of physical complications, the doc wouldn’t perform the procedure, and I had to go through the entire process again in a hospital several weeks later. It affected my relationship with my parents for a very long me. It caused me to open my first checking account for my babysitting money because my parents wouldn’t pay for the procedure.

Years later, I was driving with three other women, and we realized we had all had abortions. It is not uncommon. We all know someone who has made this decision— our mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, friends. But because people hide behind a veil of shame, abortion continues to be “the thing the bad girls do”. Or “illegal immigrants do.” Well, just like the “Me, too” movement about sexual assault, we need to start a “Me, too” movement about abortion. Who is going to start? I MADE A CHOICE! Husbands and partners can say WE MADE A CHOICE!

Challenge your lawmakers who obstruct abortion access to name those in their immediate circles who have sought abortions.

No woman makes this decision lightly. Every woman and couple who has decided to have an abortion has a good reason—age, poverty, disruption of future goals, lack of spousal or family support, fetal anomaly, rape. Few outside that decision-making process can realize how challenging it is. But it is the right choice for many.

Persist. Stand up. Give money. Say I MADE A CHOICE. WE MADE A CHOICE.

WE SUPPORT CHOICE.

Laura Richardson

I think I’ve served 6 years.

I had been volunteering for the State Fair for years, and had been involved locally with attending fundraisers for the Choice movement. When Julie approached me, I thought this would be another way to give back to the PBSCF.

The Second Chance Fund has been a presence in Kansas for MANY YEARS, being there for Kansas women in need of financial support when seeking an abortion. The Board of Directors work hard to continue raising funds to support those in need AND to keep a healthy presence in Kansas and Nationally. Advice ... continue to support the Fund and the Board however you are able—as a volunteer, a voice for choice, financially, an activist—as your efforts WILL support the PBSCF and help keep the Fund viable.

Thanks to each of you for all you do!!!!!

Pro-Choice Kansas booth boldly voices reproductive rights at the 2017 Kansas State Fair

A huge THANK YOU goes out to everyone who volunteered to help staff the Pro-Choice Kansas booth honoring women at the 2017 Kansas State Fair! In additon to the volunteers from the Peggy Bowman Second Chance Fund, volunteers from the ACLU of Kansas, Kansas NOW (National Organization for Women), the League of Women Voters Kansas, Planned Parenthood Great Plains and the Trust Women Foundation all helped to staff the booth for women’s reproductive rights and CHOICE for ten full days of the Kansas State Fair.

Sandy & Dixie

GRATITUDES

I truly appreciate this gift as I have been going through such a difficult time this year and your gift has helped me more than words can even express. Thank you once again, it is truly appreciated.

I really would like to thank you for helping me out through this. The extra funding you provide really helps women like myself to have a second chance. Unfortunately, it is not the right time for me to bring a child into this world. My hopes are to become more financially stable and to be able to provide a be er living that would be suitable for a child. I currently have a child that has disabilities. She needs so much care. So I thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me this second chance.

Thank you for financially helping me with my situation. I was not able to pay the full amount of the services provided. I am already a stay-at-home mother with no job, and getting financial help from you took a burden off my shoulders. Thank you and God Bless you.

My sincerest and most heart felt gratitude to you and to this institution for assisting me in this most difficult time. It is because of the aid and efforts provided by this foundation that I am now better able to continue the process of getting on my feet once again. Thank you for helping me, and women like me.

Thank you so much for your funding. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without this assistance. In fact, your organization provided more than I needed, so I would like to give back what I didn’t need—hopefully it can help another woman choose! Thank you!

Thank you so much for helping me pay for my abortion. I am a single mother who is trying her best to take care of her one-year-old and I just cannot afford to have another baby right now. It is truly a blessing that this organization is here to help people like me fix a bad situation.

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