Attitudes toward abortion change with each generation, and Krista Jacob wants women to remember the trials of their predecessors.

Jacob, abortion counselor and founder of “Sexing the Political: A Journal of Third Wave Feminists on Sexuality,” spoke to 120 people in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union Wednesday night about the changing views of abortion rights.

“Generation X women came of age when abortion was legal, and have not known people who had to leave the country to get abortions, or had to get dangerous illegal ones,” Jacob said.

Jacob recounted a story of an abused woman with seven children who was found “in a pool of blood in the bathroom — she had tried to give herself an abortion with a wire coat hanger.”

“My concern is that this is getting lost in history,” she said.

Women and progressive activists are spread thin, Jacob said. They have more causes to concentrate on than in the 1960s and ’70s, when the movement focused on three or four causes.

This plurality stands in stark contrast to the pro-life movement, she said, which is “very active, focused and cohesive.”

“It’s mainly Catholic women, who are very organized within the church and community, but there’s resources coming in from all over the place,” Jacob said.

The pro-life movement has effectively framed the issue of abortion in its own vocabulary, she said.

“A lot of women come in to get abortion counseling using pro-life language,” Jacob said. “They say ‘I know I’m a murderer’ and ‘I know what I’m doing is wrong.'”

Women in the clinic want to separate themselves from the horrible stigmas applied to women who get abortions, she said.

“They say ‘I’m different’ or ‘I’m not a whore’.”

Pro-life crisis pregnancy centers often couch their titles in generic terms, such as “Women’s Center,” Jacob said. These centers often provide misinformation and pressure women into parenthood or adoption.

“We can tell the women who have been there by the questions they ask, such as ‘Is it true that they’ll rip out my cervix?'”

Generation X women can afford to have more ambivalent attitudes toward abortion, she said. They’re not worried about “flying to Sweden or driving to Mexico” if they need access to abortion services, she said.

“They can deal with the larger existential questions,” Jacob said. “An abortion is like a spotlight shined on every facet of a women’s life, from her relationships to her goals to her religion.”

Billie Matheny, sophomore in pre-business, attended the lecture after hearing about it in her women’s studies class.

“I came to hear a different side of the issue,” she said.