tikvahwoman

I'm Back! Sort of.

2009-07-12T21:46:00.000-07:00

But I've got a new blog - Feminist Mama Galore. Sounds a bit like it could be my exotic dancer name, doesn't it? I'm still over at RH Reality Check in my official capacity as Managing Editor and blogger but if you're honestly interested in my "extra musings" ("Extra musings?" you ask. "What could she possibly mean?" I say to you now, "I don't quite know yet."), check me out here. Thanks to all of the commenters - for the opportunity to spar, commiserate and hang out together here for awhile!

Dolly Lama?

2007-12-14T15:18:00.000-08:00

The Dalai Lama of Tibet, visiting Milan this week, told reporters that the next Dalai Lama could very well be a woman.

"If a woman reveals herself as more useful the lama could very well be reincarnated in this form," the 14th Dalai Lama told reporters in Milan, where he arrived for a private visit on Wednesday.

The 14th Dalai Lama has been living in exile since 1959 because of China's terrorist rule over Tibet. Looks like their power bleeds over into matters of the spirit as well:

China, which has ruled Tibet since 1951 and has violently crushed protests there, recently announced that so-called living Buddhas in Tibet needed permission from the government, officially atheist, to be reincarnated.

Wha??

According to China's communist party, all matters related to religion must be ok'd by them - I have visions of a young child whose body holds the reincarnated soul of the 15th Dalai Lama waiting on an endless line in a windowless, white room much like the Department of Motor Vehicles holding his or her "papers" that need to get signed by some Chinese bureaucrat who doesn't even want to be there:

Bureacrat: Name?
Young child with non-validated soul of Buddha: Uh, I think I'm the 15th Dalai Lama
Bureaucrat: What?
Young child with non-validated soul of Buddha: Some monks visited my family and told us that I was the reincarnation of Buddha and that I must now take up life as the next Dalai Lama.
Bureacrat: Listen, kid. You're nothing until we say you're something AND especially not until you've filled out the proper paperwork, had it stamped and notarized down on the 2nd floor and then brought it back up her for processing.
Young child with non-validated soul of Buddha: But I don't need those papers. I am Tibetan and I have been deemed the next Dalai Lama.
Bureaucrat: You're bupkus until you've got the signed, stamped and processed paperwork from the Chinese communist party that tells you different. No move aside I've got other folks standing on line.
Young child with non-validated soul of Buddha: Thank you, sir.

... So, although successive reincarnations of the Dalai Lama are generally "revealed" to a committee of monks after the current Dalai Lama has died, the Chinese government will continue its oppressive rule over Tibetans infusing even their religious practice.

Vagina

2007-03-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

This is a blog post from my friend Alex about vaginas, The Big Lebowski and my son. It's more than worth a read.

Shin, Armpit, Little Toe, Vagina, Forehead...

Let's get one thing fucking straight: My girly body parts are not dirty, shameful or inappropriate for children. I'm not talking about pictures of vaginas (which aren't necessarily any of the above), any sort of sexual context or making anyone discuss vaginas against their will. I am talking about the WORD vagina, which names a part of the human body.

I am not surprised by this story at all. Sadly, I'm not even disappointed because I would absolutely expect nothing less. Three high school students in NY are possibly facing suspension for saying the word "vagina" in the context of a reading of "The Vagina Monologues." Their principal is a man. Big surprise. His name is Dick. I am not kidding.

The three students are on the Today Show this morning with Eve Ensler. Meredith handled herself with the usual airheaded idiocy. "But children were going to be present." I love that the president of the school board (also on the show) said that he has no problem with the word vagina and has heard it more in the last few days than ever before.

The point here is not if they get suspended or not, although, it would be an injustice. The point here is that there was even a question that the word in the context of a empowering phrase in a monologue that includes the word vagina may be offensive to hear. Ridiculous.

I think this point is well explained in the words, of Maude Lebowski. Let's consult the text:

MAUDE
My art has been commended as being
strongly vaginal. Which bothers
some men. The word itself makes
some men uncomfortable. Vagina.

DUDE
Oh yeah?

MAUDE
Yes, they don't like hearing it and
find it difficult to say. Whereas
without batting an eye a man will
refer to his "dick" or his "rod" or
his "Johnson".

As an aside, my godson Elijah, who was about five at the time and who says his r's with a little difficulty, overheard me quoting the above passage. He responded matter-of-factly: "I don't have any twouble saying vagina, but I do have a little twouble with my r's."

Amen, Elijah. You're the product of feminist parents. Should all children be so lucky. Obviously Principal Dick's parents weren't.

We Hate Bratz

2007-02-28T10:23:00.000-08:00

"We hate Bratz dolls. Right, Mommy?"

My four-year old daughter makes me proud in the toy aisle at Target. We're looking for a gift for one of her girlfriends who is turning five soon. My daughter's mimicry of my intense hatred towards a slew of popular young girls' dolls like Barbie and Bratz may be rote but it's firmly implanted. For a toy company like Bratz or Mattel, makers of all things Barbie, there is no getting around my maternal barricade; at least for as long as my daughter believes that mama knows best. This, however, is not the case for millions of young girls in this country. Girls as young as three-years old are now the direct targets of marketing campaigns hawking things like toys and clothing with obvious overtones of sex and sexuality. Add advertising and media content that over-emphasize the importance of physical appearance and sexual appeal for women and according to the American Psychological Association's (APA) latest report, The Sexualization of Girls, you've got a "broad and increasing problem" that is "harmful to girls."

Continue reading on Reproductive Health Reality Check!

Talk for Planned Parenthood

2007-02-22T22:22:00.000-08:00

This is great and straight from LifeNews (antis) but I had no idea! Sometimes ya get yer news from the strangest places...

Planned Parenthood Launches Nationwide Pro-Abortion Cell Phone
Service

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 21, 2007

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The nation's largest abortion
business
has started a new wireless communications system partnering with
a
long-time pro-abortion long-distance carrier. Planned
Parenthood's new
cell phone service will allow pro-abortion activists to not only
make
calls but get action alerts from the organization.
Planned Parenthood Wireless is a new affinity program that
allows its
supporters to sign up for a mobile phone service and see 10% of
their
monthly bill go back to the abortion business.
The pro-abortion group will also use customers' monthly bills to
include action alerts and information and will provide 30 free
minutes
of calls every month to encourage its members to talk to friends
about
abortion issues.
"Planned Parenthood members care passionately about women's
reproductive health and rights," Cecile Richards, PPFA president
said in
a statement LifeNews.com received. "Now they have a smart,
simple way
to support our work and express that passion with every phone
call they
make, through a wireless service provider that cares."
The service is handled exclusively by Working Assets, a company
that
exists to sell phone service to left-wing political activists
who want
to see their favorite groups supported. It has provided
long-distance
phone services for Planned Parenthood for years.
Like many other affinity phone service companies, Working Assets
contracts with a larger phone company (in this case Sprint) to
provide
telephone access to its customers.
In fact, the two companies partnered to generate phone calls to
South
Dakota residents urging them to defeat a statewide abortion ban
on the
ballot last November.
Customers who sign up will also get pro-abortion text messages
from
Planned Parenthood. New customers keep their current cell phone
number
and can get a free phone for signing up.
Not to be outdone, the pro-life side of the abortion debate also
has
companies that provide telephone service.
The Missouri-based Pro Life Communications offers long-distance,
local
telephone, nationwide cellular, Internet, and will soon be adding
satellite television to its lineup. The company says it donates
all of
its profits to pro-life organizations, which is currently about
15% of
the monthly bill customers pay.
Joseph Dalton, the head of the company, says it only contracts
with
networks and providers that do not support Planned Parenthood or
pro-abortion groups.
Another company, Amerivision Communications, has been working
with
pro-life groups for many years to provide them with affinity
long-distance services for their members. Also known as LifeLine
Communications or Affinity 4, the company offers Internet
services as
well as wireless communications, credit cards, and DirecTV
service.
The company gives 10% of the monthly usage bill back to the
pro-life
organization of the customer's choice and has contributed more
than $75
million to Christian and pro-life groups.
Related web sites:
Pro-Life Communications - http://www.prolifecomm.com Affinity 4
-
http://www.affinity4.com

Printed from: _http://www.lifenews.com/nat2943.html_
(http://www.lifenews.com/nat2943.html)

Lake of Fire

2007-02-22T21:38:00.000-08:00

I am warily looking forward to seeing Tony Kaye's new film Lake of Fire. It's a documentary about the abortion debate. It's 2 1/2 hours long...my god.

But I'm looking forward to it because, from what I've read, it takes a look at the endless controversy surrounding abortion without bias and with an eye towards unearthing the extremism on both sides. That is, the film tries to show how deeply entrenched both sides are with feet firmly planted in the absolute rightness of their belief systems.

That sounds juicy to me. I think a lot about the gray. The gray that lives between the vociferous and passionate pro-choice advocates and the driving, vocal anti-choice activists. We're all hell bent on making sure everyone knows how completely RIGHT we all are. We're stuck in the black or white. But the rest of the country lives in the gray.

I've lived in the gray. I lived in the gray when I became pregnant with my second child - my daughter, while working at Aradia Women's Health Center. How could I feel such absolute joy and love for a collection of cells just 5 weeks old while advocating so strongly for the woman in the exam room next door to my office undergoing an abortion at 12 weeks pregnant?

The gray followed me for awhile. We did exercises at Aradia - the staff would engage in collective exercises, writing about our feelings about abortion. One day, a couple of days before our monthly staff meeting, we were asked to write about "something about abortion that surprised us". I wrote about the gray. I wrote about how surprised I was at my ambivalence about working at AWHC, about abortion, when pregnant with my daughter. I wrote about the sadness I felt that I could feel such love & happiness for a 5 week old embryo while women around me were saying good-bye to the embryos growing inside them.

I wrote about the fear. I had fear that maybe I wasn't "pro-choice." That maybe deep down I just couldn't advocate for something that wasn't black & white anymore. How could I be a passionate advocate for gray?

But somewhere between the writing of the piece and my growing belly, I relaxed. I realized that the gray had always been there. That it's there for many, many women. I realized that the sadness I felt wasn't to be crammed down, pushed away forever. The sadness was to be experienced and felt. The sadness was okay. The love I felt for my daughter growing inside gave me tremendous joy because I had made a choice - the right choice for me.

The sadness was one of those beautiful contradictions that life is made up of. Life is all about the anger, the joy, the beautiful, the ugly, the grief, the happiness, the fear, the calm. I don't live in the gray. But I can understand the gray and where it comes from now. I do feel absolute in the rightness of my belief that all women MUST have the freedom to control their reproductive destiny. My experiences, however, have taught me compassion for and understanding of those who live in the gray. My fears conquered make me stronger. My sadness overcome gives me courage. That's black and white for me.

Merck Puts A Stop To HPV Vaccine Mandate

2007-02-21T10:46:00.000-08:00

Merck has decided to stop their push in various state legislatures to mandate Gardasil, their HPV vaccine, for all school-aged girls. Gardasil is the vaccine that has the potential to protect against cervical cancer by innoculating against certain strains of HPV that can cause cervical cancer.

Even before Gardasil became available, Merck - the New Jersey based makers of the vaccine, started campaigning to raise awareness. Texas recently became the first state to require the vaccine for school aged girls. There are currently twenty other state legislatures debating the same requirements.

But, according to a statement made by Rick Haupt, director of medical for Merck's vaccine division, there isn't enough state funding to pay for the expensive three-dose vaccine (each vaccine costs approximately $120, making it a $360 vaccine altogether!). And the American Academy of Pediatrics says there isn't enough "public acceptance" either. Also, there is talk that more research needs to be done before a large scale push to mandate a vaccine should happen.

I think Gardasil has tremendous implications if given to as many young girls as possible - in this country but even more significantly in developing countries where examinations like PAP smears and access to gynecological health care is rare. As a parent of a young girl, I want to know what the side effects are, I want to make sure that the benefits of giving the vaccine outweigh potential deleterious effects. But I think this vaccine has obviously been saddled with the weight of controversy by the nature of what it protects against.

But this has always boggled my mind. Hepatitis B is an STD and children routinely get innoculated against Hep B. Why no outrage?! Oh, because, this is for girls only. And we want our girls pure. We don't want to taint our girls sexual purity by protecting them against something that they should have no problem avoiding as long as they avoid sex for any and all reasons.

Off on a tangent I go. The thing is, I think we should be able to find funding for this. At Aradia Women's Health Center, I became almost obsessed with the HPV vaccine as soon as I heard it would soon be available. I did a lot of the prep work at the clinic to prepare for AWHC being able to provide the vaccine to our clients. I worked on it to the exclusion of almost everything else & AWHC was one of the first - if not the first - health provider in Seattle to be able to offer the vaccine to our clients.

But, of course, as with all health care in this country, the vaccine was available only to the more privileged. Some insurance companies decided to cover it. But for the great majority of our clients who used subsidy in some form or another to cover their health care, the vaccine was too expensive and therefore completely unavailable to them.

I hope the proper data is collected so that the major medical organizations in this country and the organizations working on sexual and reproductive health internationally are able to distribute the vaccine widely, ensuring that all girls have at least one more tool to protect themselves against an STD as well as cervical cancer.

For more on this, see Tyler's post on RH Reality Check!

How "Ashley's Treatment" Is Like Abortion Rights

2007-02-15T13:35:00.000-08:00

Her parents lovingly named her their "pillow angel" because she is "so sweet and stays right where we place her—usually on a pillow." But the simple and ethereal term belies the controversy that has surrounded Ashley, the "pillow angel", and her parents for the last six weeks.

In January of this year, a story broke that unleashed a media torrent and a worldwide outwardly centered on medical ethics. Unpeel the layers, however, and you find a story that shares a great deal in common with the quest for reproductive justice and what it means to be able to sincerely and lovingly make a choice that may seem, to outsiders, the wrong choice—and therefore the unacceptable choice—but an individual's loving choice all the same. At the center of the story, Ashley, a now nine-year-old girl who was diagnosed at 3 months old with "static encephalopathy of unknown etiology"—an unchanging brain abnormality that sentences Ashley to live the mental and developmental life of a three month-old infant while her body continues to age normally. Ashley cannot move or talk but she is expected to live a long life. To read the story of Ashley's early life on her parent's blog is both heartbreaking and beautiful.

Continue reading on Reproductive Health Reality Check!

When Bloggers (that are women) Are Attacked

2007-02-13T15:42:00.000-08:00

Amanda Marcotte of the blog Pandagon was hired on as John Edwards 2008 official blogmistress. She's an experienced writer, smart, witty and clearly knows where she stands on a host of issues. She's not afraid to state her opinion on any topic from sexual assault to reproductive rights to Catholicism. In short, she's a strong woman with strong perspectives - a perfect choice for blogmistress for a democratic candidate's presidential campaign. Melissa McEwen, from the blog Shakespeare's Sister, was hired on as Edwards' campaign's netroots coordinator. Melissa is also a powerful writer with a clear, feminist framework for her positions. She's what I like to call "badass." Yes, I said it.

So, I was not only surprised, but elated really that Edwards had hired on these two amazing women to represent his campaign to the blogosphere & beyond.

Apparently not everyone was as elated as I was. Conservative bloggers were angry that Edwards dared to hire two out of the closet feminists to make their opinions known to the world.

And then came crazy Willy Donohue who didn't just make disparaging remarks about Amanda & Melissa but called for their immediate firing!! And didn't just call for their immediate firing but somehow got two NY Times articles written and a host of mainstream media coverage about it!
This is the William Donohue who has these lovely gems to be proud of:

* "People don't trust the Muslims when it comes to liberty." [MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 2/9/06]

* "Name for me a book publishing company in this country, particularly in New York, which would allow you to publish a book which would tell the truth about the gay death style." [MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 2/27/04]

* "The gay community has yet to apologize to straight people for all the damage that they have done." [MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 4/11/05]

* Addressing former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) in a press release, Donohue said: "[W]hy didn't you just smack the clergyman in the face? After all, most 15-year-old teenage boys wouldn't allow themselves to be molested. So why did you?" [10/4/06]

* "I'm saying if a Catholic votes for Kerry because they support him on abortion rights, that is to cooperate in evil." [MSNBC's Hardball, 10/21/04]

* "We've already won. Who really cares what Hollywood thinks? All these hacks come out there. Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. It's not a secret, OK? And I'm not afraid to say it. ... Hollywood likes anal sex. They like to see the public square without nativity scenes. I like families. I like children. They like abortions. I believe in traditional values and restraint. They believe in libertinism. We have nothing in common. But you know what? The culture war has been ongoing for a long time. Their side has lost." [MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 12/8/04]

* "Well, look, there are people in Hollywood, not all of them, but there are some people who are nothing more than harlots. They will do anything for the buck. They wouldn't care. If you asked them to their own mother in a movie, they would do so, and they would do it with a smile on their face." [MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 2/9/06]

But it didn't stop there.

Salon.com reported that the Edwards campaign fired both women. But Edwards said they weren't. But then Amanda quit. And Melissa. And now I"m angry - really angry.

Why the uproar? You know full well why the uproar. Because these are women who dared to speak up against the powers that be. These are two women who dared to believe that they could be strong, opinionated women who challenged the discourse of diluted campaign speak in favor of discussing real issues that reflect a diversity of though. Both of these women thought they could be themselves - young women in a society still infused with sexism, racism, classism; a society that still does not address its inherent inequalities & sometimes outright misogyny. Amanda & Melissa thought they could be critical of the radical, fascist elements of Christianity that ensure women and girls remain oppressed; both Amanda and Melissa thought they could take their deep-down-in-their-hearts belief systems out into the world with at least the support of the so-called "Democratic" left.

But it is clear to me that this is not about politics. Read what is up on Pandagon right now. The site is down but Amanda's got a page of evil, violent tirades and threats from the "Christians" who feel insulted by her (blasphemous!) existence as a feminist woman with a yearning to be free.

While Amanda was busy using expletives in her blog writing to emphasize her anger at the status quo (how inappropriate for a woman to express anger at the world in public!), while she was daring to be critical of some of the more anti-woman, patriarchal Catholic doctrines as well as expressing frustration & anger about a whole host of "issues" from reproductive rights to violence against women, she did not know that the world around her continued to bubble and boil with hate towards "her kind":

It's just too bad your mother didn't abort you. You are nothing more than a filthy mouth slut. I bet a couple of years in Iraq being raped and beaten daily would help you appreciate America a little. Need a plane ticket ?

Lest you think that is just one wormy, rotten apple in the hearts & roses bushel, take a visit to the page on Pandagon right now.

John Edwards is a coward. This country is still severely misogynistic. I am enraged. But I am not at all cowed.

Quick Update: Apparently Rebecca Traister sees William Donohue's oh so subtle hatred towards women as well. She's got an article on Salon.com about this.

Also, you've got to check out Echidne's most recent post about this. Please.

HPV Vaccine is Pro-Life

2007-02-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

The governor of Texas (of all governors, of all states!) has written an op-ed extolling the virtues of making the HPV vaccine mandatory for young girls in his state. His take? It's truly a "pro-life" position as it saves girl's & women's lives by helping to prevent cervical cancer. Great idea - why didn't the pro-choicers think of this tack?! Oh, wait, we did. Our minds and bodies are bursting with the inherent knowledge that freedom of access and choice saves lives.

Gov. Rick Perry proclaimed his strong stance against cancer (wow, that's a brave choice!) in this opinion piece in USA Today (sorry, I'm a little grumpy today):

Opposing view: My order protects life
Vaccine mandate will prevent deaths, give parents the final word.

By Rick Perry

As governor of Texas, I will do everything in my power to protect public health. The executive order I signed last Friday will help stop the spread of human papillomavirus (HPV) and prevent cervical cancer in young women.

Some are focused on the cause of this cancer, but I remain focused on the cure. And if I err, I will always err on the side of protecting life.

For the first time in history, a vaccine exists that can prevent a deadly cancer — the second most common form of cancer in women. The HPV vaccine is approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a second vaccine is expected on the market within the next year.

Research shows that the HPV vaccine is highly effective in protecting women against the four leading cancer-causing strains of HPV. Though some might argue that we should wait several years before requiring the vaccine, I believe such a delay unnecessarily risks the lives of young women.

This is not the first vaccine Texas has required for a non-contagious disease. Years ago, Texas required inoculations to prevent the spread of Hepatitis B, spread primarily through sexual contact or shared needles.

Even with this new requirement, parents can still choose to opt out. But we will never eradicate a disease that impacts 20 million Americans with an "opt in" provision because statistics show only one-quarter of the eligible population gets inoculated in such circumstances. The "opt out" provision — standard for all Texas vaccinations —will help us protect three-quarters of our young women.

Parents will still have the final word, and a full debate will take place as our health agency adopts implementation rules before the order takes effect in 19 months. And if Texas legislators want to debate and pass a different vaccine law, there is nothing standing in their way.

If we could stop lung cancer, would some shy away claiming it might encourage tobacco use? This is a rare opportunity to act, and as a pro-life governor, I will always take the side of protecting life.

Rick Perry, a Republican, is governor of Texas.

I praise Governor Perry for coming out in favor of not just providing the vaccine to young girls & women in his state, but making it mandatory, thereby ensuring that all who want it, have access to it. As with any vaccine, a parent of a minor can choose to "opt out" on behalf of their children.

But there is the cynical, maybe just level-headed, part of myself that sees this (and all state policies that have made the HPV vaccine mandatory thus far) as a deal with the devil. It's a handshake between legislators and a powerful drug company lobby. Merck will get the billions, governors & legislators will get the support. Maybe that's just the way politics works. I want the HPV vaccine to be available and, more than that, accessible to any girl or woman who wants it.

And, as the oped states, when you make a vaccine mandatory there is clearly a huge percentage of folks who will get it, who wouldn't otherwise. So, it's a good thing, right?

Girls Gone Wild - NOT!

2007-02-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

When my daughter was three years old and not yet reading, I got her a subscription to a magazine. I know it may have been a little presumptuous. But the magazine I subscribed her to, New Moon Magazine ("Bringing Girls Voices To The World"), is one of those tools in my growing toolbox of "Things to combat popular culture/sexism/patriarchy and help my daughter grow into a smart, loving, creative, beautiful, badass woman - like the girl she is now."

I got the monthly email from New Moon Magazine in my mailbox today featuring their concise attempt to dispel the myth that girls are suddenly getting more "wild" these days - that they are more violent now, that the number of incidences of girl-on-girl assault is increasing in our country and that young female celebrities like Paris Hilton are encouraging that "wild" behavior. According to the Girls Study Group, convened by the U.S. Justice Department, the media's attempts to cover the issue has resulted in overblown statistics and conflated conclusions.

In fact, the idea that young female violence is on the upswing is just plain wrong:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/pp/07028/757491.stm

Newsweek's cover story this week proclaims "The Girls Gone Wild Effect" with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears hanging on each other. The authors of the article attempt to make a case that because young celebrity women are out in public more, partying with seemingly no care in the world, young girls are feeling the "negative effects" of these "Girls Gone Wild." I have to say that the premise seems like a rehashing of the idea that women should be good little females and mind their manners in public or girls will actually get the idea that they don't have to maintain strict standards for how they behave (gasp!) when they grow up.

According to statistics, there is no cause and effect relationship between however Paris or Britney choose to spend their time and girls descent into some kind of wanton craziness or brutality.

Thank you, New Moon Magazine, for being my co-conspirator & my support as I attempt to raise a strong, smart and feisty woman in this country that seems to try and foil me at every other turn.

But my love for New Moon Magazine is multi-layered. Their magazine is filled with stories, poems, art and articles written by girls. They also focus on public policy and political action. Their web site has a section called "Letters to Congress" that highlights political and social issues affecting women and girls around the world and what you can do to impact legislative policies.

And they have a blog. And whaddya know?! I checked it out today for the first time and their newest post is about the Global Gag Rule!! If I had had something like this when I was growing up I could have saved thousands on therapy.

When Pregnant Women Attack

2007-02-06T15:18:00.000-08:00

You know how sick and tired I am of politicians using precious resources and time to create problems where none exist?! Virginia legislators actually spent time and tax payer money writing legislation that would criminalize pregnant women for causing a miscarriage:

Del. S. Chris Jones (R-Suffolk), the sponsor of the bill, said the legislation is aimed at protecting fetuses that are harmed during the late stages of pregnancy. He cited a Suffolk case in which a woman caused a miscarriage the day before she was scheduled to give birth. "If she would have taken it and abandoned it and it would have died, she would have been charged," Jones said.

Is this “when pregnant women attack”?! Really, are we to assume that this Virginia legislator was inundated with stories from his constituents begging & pleading with him to push a law that would put pregnant women in jail (?!) for bringing on a miscarriage? Del. Jones’ premise for this draconian legislation is so flawed; it’s amazing its being taken seriously. First of all, a miscarriage is defined as “the loss of a pregnancy before 20 weeks.” So, unless this woman was scheduled to give birth when she was 20 weeks pregnant, he is not talking of a woman who “caused a miscarriage” but rather, induced an abortion Also, according to the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, most miscarriages occur in the first 3 months. Finally, it’s probably significant to note that approximately 10-15% of all known pregnancies end in miscarriage – and that’s only known pregnancies. Clearly the number is actually higher. How do we tell which one of these women caused her own miscarriage? You tell me. It’s probably safest to assume that if any harm should come to a growing embryo or fetus, we blame the mother & imprison her. Really, we just don’t want bands of women who have recently miscarried roving the streets unpunished.

I had a miscarriage after the birth of my first child. I was almost 12 weeks pregnant at the time. It was devastating. Only after I revealed to my close friends, co-workers and extended family that I had miscarried did I hear the innumerable stories of women who had also miscarried. Does this Virginia legislator propose to investigate all miscarriages? And how are we going to define “causing” a miscarriage?

Most distressing to me is that this proposed law sets up an expectation that a woman who causes her own miscarriage is guilty of essentially murder. If we are going to criminally penalize women who cause a miscarriage – ending the life of the fetus growing inside her, we must use the legal term, “murder”, to describe the result of the woman’s actions. National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) has been the most vocal and active advocates for pregnant women in the United States working “ to secure the human and civil rights, health and welfare of all women, focusing particularly on pregnant and parenting women, and those who are most vulnerable - low income women, women of color, and drug-using women” and I’m sure they will have a lot to say about this bill.

According to The Washington Post, the Virginia House of Delegates gave “tentative approval” to this bill yesterday, Monday, February 5. They also gave the same approval to a similar bill that would penalize someone, other than the mother, who causes a miscarriage to occur. The other law, the one I like to call “when pregnant women attack”, could result in a woman being imprisoned for up to ten years. So if a woman who is already a mother intentionally causes herself to miscarry, we not only punish the mother but we punish her living, breathing children as well by taking their mother away from them for upwards of ten years.

Once again, we see legislation designed solely to punish a woman for daring to get pregnant when she didn’t mean to or want to. Once again, we punish a woman for the intrinsic power her body can wield.

I’m shocked that this legislation actually made it through the Viriginia House. Final votes on the bill will happen today and if approved the bill will get sent over to the Senate. According to the Washington Post article, however, Republican leaders tried to block it because of its contentious nature (but not because its one more of the most woman-hating, basest pieces of anti-choice legislation that has hit our state governments in recent memory). Also, a 2005 Washington Post poll revealed that most Virginia residents want abortion to remain legal. This inherently anti-choice bill will certainly leave a bad taste in the mouths of most Virginia voters.

I read this article two hours ago and my mouth is still agape. I am truly disgusted. My brother and I have this discussion frequently: how can forced birthers/anti-choicers continue to advocate for the criminalization of abortion without calling for the imprisonment of the one who commits the crime – the woman? Eventually, we knew this was going to happen. I look forward to NAPW’s analysis of this and hope to god we don’t see copycat proposed legislation pop up around the country. Sadly, anti-choice advocates are slowly but surely succeeding at replacing the joy a woman feels, who is happily & willingly pregnant, with fear and terror. If we start prosecuting (and persecuting) pregnant women for “crimes” like miscarriage no pregnant women will be immune.

"Mom, Dad - I'm Pregnant"

2007-01-29T10:54:00.000-08:00

Those two words - I'm pregnant - uttered by young women around the country millions of times over; the amount of teen terror as they try and muster up the courage to tell their parents, ocean-sized. And even if a young woman gets up the guts to talk to her parents; even if a young woman feels that her parents would understand, there are still mountains yet to climb. What are the options? How does one access those options? What if the young woman is pregnant as a result of a rape? What are the laws in her state around abortion? Adoption? What if she wants to keep the baby? Are the resources out there to help a teen care for her child?

The Abortion Conversation Project (ACP) has answers. In their new web site, MomDadImPregnant.com , teens and their parents will find "communication advice for family crisis" in the form of resources, referrals, guidance, help and mostly information presented in a loving and compassionate manner, devoid of the political statements or angry judgements that seem to permeate other resources for pregnant teens and parents.

ACP has created a place where teens can access help to communicate with their parents about their pregnancy and where parents can feel gently guided if they are at a loss for what to say or how to support their pregnant teens. As the press release announcing the advent of the new project puts it,

Yesterday, your mother was nagging you about cleaning your room. Today, how do you tell her you’re pregnant? Your daughter has seemed remote but you never suspected she might be pregnant: how do you respond? The “Mom, Dad, I’m Pregnant” Project of the Abortion Conversation Project, Inc. addresses these questions and more on its new website and in companion handouts, “How Can I Tell my Parents?” and “How Do I Respond?” The website, www.MomDadIMpregnant.com offers specific suggestions for both young men and women and for their mothers and fathers who are dealing with a pregnancy crisis.

And this:

The MomDadIMpregnant.com site includes advice for teens on telling parents about a pregnancy, considering options, information in case of a rape, and special advice for young male partners. Advice for parents highlights how to respond and improve relationships with daughters and sons, as well as special advice for moms and dads. There are sections on Minor’s Rights, and what to do if parents may be abusive, as well as spiritual, legal, and additional resources.

Of course, since the Abortion Conversation Project was initially launched as a project to assist in reducing the stigma around abortion by talking truthfully and honestly about abortion, there will be the usual kicking and screaming from the anti-choice activists. But that's a shame. Because ACP has been the harbinger of positive and radical change in the pro-choice movement since its beginnings in 2004.

ACP has ushered in a new discourse around abortion and reproductive rights. ACP offered the initial support and guidance for publications like Our Truths, Nuestras Verdades (for which I was on the first Board of Directors) - a magazine that seeks to give voice to women's and men's abortion experiences through creative nonfiction, commentary, poetry and visual art. ACP offers resources for how to have an open, honest one-to-one conversation about one's abortion experience or the abortion experience of someone close; they also offer information on how to have community conversations about abortion.

The authenticity of the Abortion Conversation Project for me (a former abortion clinic staffer for 6 1/2 years), is that it was started and it continues to be lead by independent abortion providers. The sincerity with which the ACP desires to open the conversation around abortion and allow women's voices to rise to the top of that conversation changes the discourse around abortion dramatically.

While the anti-choicers are now ready to lead with their "new" strategy that focuses on highlighting women who say they have been hurt by their abortions and the tagline that's resulted ("abortion hurts women"), ACP focuses on how to help women who have had an abortion or women who choose to access abortion deal with their abortions without the stigma and silence that surrounds most women's experience pre- and post-abortion.

I'm very excited for this new resource and I hope Planned Parenthood doesn't let their super-powered, corporatist mindset stand in the way of steering young people and parents towards MomDadImPregnant.com. Can you sense my hostility towards PP? They seem to lead the conversation, with NARAL ProChoice America, around abortion even though the majority of abortions are performed by independent abortion providers thus making organizations like ACP - led by independent abortion providers - more "expert" than PP or NARAL.

ACP represents "the little guys" and they are nimble and authentic enough to know what women, families and communities need to move past abortion as a loaded topic into the real world.

Re-posted on Reproductive Health Reality Check.

The World We Want

2007-01-26T16:40:00.000-08:00

The ACLU gives me hope with this piece. When I wrote the letter to Aradia Women's Health Center's donors & supporters announcing our closure, I ended with this thought:

Our success is due in large part to you, Aradia’s supporters, who have consistently believed in the power of feminist health care and championed Aradia’s mission. I hope our vision statement continues to inspire you and that you carry it forward: Aradia Women's Health Center envisions a world where each woman's individual choices regarding her reproductive and sexual health are respected so that she may live freely and truly reach her highest potential.

Because that is truly what's important - we must all continue our work towards the creation of the world we want to see, the world we want to live in, and the world we want our children to inherit. The dissolution of Aradia is depressing on many levels - but ultimately we need to ensure that we are ever vigilantly carrying forward a vision of a future where all women live in justice and equality.

The World We Want: 34 Years after Roe v. Wade

By Louise Melling, Director, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

Thirty-four years ago this month the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Roe v. Wade, significantly expanding the ability of women across the country to decide when and whether to become a parent. The decision, while immensely important, was only one step in this country’s journey to true reproductive freedom. The world we want includes access to safe and legal abortion care, secures our right to have children when we are ready, and supports programs that foster healthy families and healthy lives for all.

The decision when and whether to become a parent is one of the most private a person can make and one that has a profound affect on all aspects of our lives. To participate fully in society, we must be free to answer for ourselves whether we are ready and capable of being parents. To achieve this world, we must continue to strive for reproductive freedom for everyone.

Supporting the right to have children: In the world we want, women, men, and families have the support they need to maintain healthy lives, healthy pregnancies, and healthy families. Reproductive health care is basic health care. All parents are equipped with the means to care for and educate their children and provide for their families.

Ensuring the right not to have children: In the world we want, all women have meaningful access to contraception and abortion, and both are considered part of basic health care. Unfortunately, in the world we live, we see a growing disparity between the ability of rich and poor women to prevent unintended pregnancies and obtain abortion care.

Educating for healthy lives: In the world we want, the government puts resources into programs that offer real information for real lives. Instead of federally funded abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that fail to give teens information on how to prevent unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, government supported sexuality education would give people the information they need to make healthy decisions when it comes to sex, relationships, and family planning.

The world we want meets the needs of real people working to build a life for themselves and their families. On this 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, it is time to take a critical look at the world we have and start working together to build the world we want.

Anti-Choice Strategy: We Care About Women...except when it comes to their bodies

2007-01-23T16:04:00.000-08:00

The forced birth strategists have decided to try a new strategy. Will we see an end to those disgusting images of bloody and dismembered fetuses on signs at every counter-demonstration of pro-choice rallies; what about the oh-so-crafty activities of the religious zealots hurling insults at women entering abortion clinics; or, finally, the endless legislation dictating what kinds of politically-named, fake procedures can and cannot be performed by doctors?

The New York Times Magazine on Sunday reports on an "evolving antiabortion strategy that aims to "dismantle the framework" of pitting fetuses against women (a perfectly heinous image), instead taking the perspective that abortion is, according to the NY Times article, at the "root of women's psychological ills."

Despite mountains of extremely current evidence to the contrary, anti-choice advocates have apparently decided that abortion hurts women by increasing the risk of: depression, drug abuse and other issues. Or, really, they have decided that maybe that tack will get them ever closer to their goals of ensuring control of women's bodies.

I think the anti-choice activists have a parallel strategy: to break down pro-choice advocates by introducing endless, meaningless, absurd reasons for why abortion should be illegal. Ultimately, I think they are hoping to exhaust us with their clueless approach and stunning lack of concern or compassion for women.

Marcy Bloom is going to write about this for RH Reality Check this week. I look forward to reading what she has to say!

Blog for Choice: The Choices of Mothers

2007-01-22T16:08:00.000-08:00

It's the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade Day and I'm ruminating on what choice means to me - as a mother. For all of the statistics & facts that we hear: 61% of women seeking abortions are already mothers; women who have abortions and women who have children are the SAME women at different points in their lives, I still don't see mothers, as a force, organizing strongly enough, to make a deep dent in the reproductive rights landscape on behalf of all mothers.

When I talk about my perspective on reproductive rights, there is no way I can even begin to frame the issue outside of my role as a mother.

When we throw phrases out like "My body, my choice" and "Motherhood by choice", I think not only of my vehement stance that abortion should be safe, legal and accessible to all women in order for women to be free but that the ways in which women birth, the resource available to women before motherhood, during birth and post-birth are plentiful and accessible.

Right now women in this country are given very few, abominably few options when it comes to making a decision about when and how to have children. Most women in this country are not even given the proper pre-natal resources to ensure a healthy pregnancy and delivery. Postpartum care is available to the most privileged among us which leaves a great majority of women in this country suffering in silence, thinking that the myth of blissful motherhood must be their faults. Midwifery is barely an option for most women in this country, cesarean sections are becoming standard regardless of what a woman may ultimately want. Paid - or even unpaid maternity leave (or paternity leave) is far too rare to ensure economic security for families with babies, affordable childcare is even scarcer.

The truth is, the idea of "choice" for women when it comes to much of our sexual and reproductive health and lives, is a dream we have chased for far too long. I am not talking solely of ensuring that abortion remains an option available to pregnant women (which, we all know, is not truly an option for most poor, teenage or non-English speaking women in this country) but that our ability to make the best choices for our sexual and reproductive health and lives is being severely hampered in our country - still.

So, on this anniversary of the historic Roe v. Wade decision, when we acknowledge the tenuous platform on which legal abortion balances, we must also be aware that we have not even begun to remedy the threats to motherhood on multiple levels in this country.

Is Hilary Pro-Choice?

2007-01-21T22:16:00.000-08:00

Well, she's done it. Hilary Clinton has declared her intention to run for President of the United States. And Emily's List has their panties in a wad. They are very excited.

I guess if I let myself, I'm excited as well. It's an incredible time to be living through - we may be witness to the first female president of the United States.

But since my topic du jour these days is reproductive health and rights, I'm on a quest to figure out where Ms. Clinton stands in regards to reproductive health & rights. Where do her (and did her) votes lie on the sexual and repro health issues in the Senate?

Hilary on Parental Notification:

I believe in parental notification. I think there are exceptions. There are situations in which the family is so dysfunctional that notification is not appropriate. In general, I think families should be part of helping their children through this.

Hilary on Partial Birth Abortion (you know, the non-existent procedure named by anti-choice political strategists):

I have said many times that I can support a ban on late-term abortions, including partial-birth abortions, so long as the health and life of the mother is protected. I�ve met women who faced this heart-wrenching decision toward the end of a pregnancy. Of course it�s a horrible procedure. No one would argue with that. But if your life is at stake, if your health is at stake, if the potential for having any more children is at stake, this must be a woman�s choice.

Hilary on Abortion:

But I think it's essential that as Americans we look for that common ground that we can all stand upon. [Our] core beliefs and values. can guide us in reaching our goal of keeping abortion safe, legal and rare into the next century.

NARAL gives her a 100% we love you Hilary and would die by you Hilary. But, I, on the other hand do not think that she would be the voice of complete reason on this issue.

More later.

Willful Ignorance

2007-01-17T14:40:00.000-08:00

"The lack of public, comprehensive, and complex sex education in this country contributes to this toxic sexual culture on most college campuses."

Willful Ignorance is Courtney Martin's insightful analysis of the true consequences of abstinence-only "sex ed" (because abstinence-only "education", once and for all, is NOT education its zealotry).

I happened to write about an amazing coalition that formed last year in Washington state (my home) called The Healthy Youth Alliance (see my post below) on Reproductive Health Reality Check this week. I may just continue the conversation for my piece next week...But back to Ms. Martin...

She's absolutely right, of course. Who decided that my children don't need information on how to communicate about sex? For god's sake, they are four and almost eight and they ask about sex, sexuality and their bodies quite a bit. Why do they talk about sex at such young ages, you might ask?

Here's the list:

1. They are exposed to thousands of advertising messages each day that essentially teach them that SEX sells. ("Mama, why does that poster show a woman's boobies sticking completely out of her bra?")
2. From the time they could talk, we taught them that their bodies were their own. We taught them that sex was a beautiful, positive, amazing experience between two people that loved each other. This, of course, inspires them to ask questions about what sex is and who does it.
3. Bratz dolls (have you checked out the Bratz horse? My 4 year old daughter does NOT need a plastic horse that's looking at her with "sexy eyes")
4. Clothing for girls. Can you tell me again why I should buy my daughter an eensy weensy mini-skirt and a belly shirt?!

Our children are naturally curious about their bodies, how babies are made, what sexuality is about because it's NATURAL. As they get older, they become more curious. If we release them on the world with no information about what sex and sexuality is about, how to talk about their own sex and sexuality and how to negotiate sexual relations, we're dis-abling them.

Because we are not giving our young people the information they need to navigate their sexuality, college campuses are teeming with repressive young adults. College students are essentially receptacles of raging hormones and spotty sexual information. Throw in the fact that most of those young people are living independently for the first time - and young women and men are paying too high a price for society's fear of sex.

...Of course the differences in the ways this lack of sexual knowledge manifests itself in young women and men can be vast. And Martin doesn't seem to much focus on this fact. She refers to the fact that abstinence-only zealotry doesn't teach either men or women to talk with each other about their sexual needs:

"The abstinence-only sex education that most young men and women receive does not teach them how to articulate their own sexual needs and respect those articulated by their partners."

But then, she writes:

"One study found that 75 percent of the males and 50 percent of the females involved in college campus acquaintance rapes had been drinking when the incident occurred."

Somehow I don't think that young men raping women on college campuses are just having a difficult time articulating " their own sexual needs" and respecting "those articulated by their partners." I absolutely understand her hypothesis that alcohol plays a definitive role in young people's abilities or lack thereof to handle their own sexuality. But when she talks about rape on campus, she says:

"All parties involved can be hurt by a failure to properly delineate and stick to boundaries."

Well, Courtney, yes that's true. But there is a vast difference between the way men are "hurt" when they choose to rape a woman and the way a woman is hurt when they become victims of rape.

I think Courtney has written an excellent piece and I agree completely that the effects of abstinence-only zealotry is much more deleterious than we realize. It's depressing but here's an upside:

See my post below on the Healthy Youth Alliance - working to ensure that comprehensive, science-based sexuality education becomes a reality for teens in Washington state.
Also, check out the blogosphere for more fabulous commentary on Courtney's article:

http://www.reclusiveleftist.com/?p=525

http://echidneofthesnakes.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_echidneofthesnakes_archive.html#116915596451277383

http://www.campusprogress.org/page/community/post_group/main/C3zy

http://feministlawprofs.law.sc.edu/?p=1410

http://pinkofeministhellcat.typepad.com/pinko_feminist_hellcat/2007/01/saying_yes_acce.html

http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/01/17/because-those-bitches-is-crazy/

Healthy Youth Alliance: Swerving To Avoid Ignorance-based Sex Ed

2007-01-17T13:52:00.000-08:00

My latest on RH Reality Check. The Healthy Youth Alliance released the results of a statewide survey of public schools on what (if anything) they are teaching to our teens when it comes to sex ed.

You can go to: www.healthyyouthalliance.org to see the report!

NBC show 'Scrubs' is my new hero

2007-01-12T06:26:00.000-08:00

Last night, I fell upon the NBC show 'Scrubs' while channel surfing. I admit to having watched this show a few times - though not much - and mostly because I have a 38 year old-woman-with-two-kids crush on Zach Braff.

But last night the show's storyline centered primarily on character Carla Turk's (played by Judy Reyes) plunge into postpartum depression immediately following the birth of her baby.

I gotta tell you - it was gooood. As a woman who suffered (needlessly in my opinion) from postpartum depression after the birth of my most amazing first child, my son, it was incredible to see such a thoughtful and measured portrayal of PPD.

The storyline essentially followed Carla from the moment she came home with her beautiful baby - you know, the time when we mom's are supposed to be blissed out and beautiful, wallowing in o-so-natural mamahood?
Except she wasn't. She was a bawling, sad pile of mess. And her husband, to the writers' credit, was not clueless and stupid or neglectful and frustrated. He kicked it into high gear - he immediately encouraged her to get help, go see a doctor, and continually told her it was normal to have those feelings. When she protested it was just "the weepies", he assured her it seemed more like postpartum depression.

Ahhh, knowledgeable television. I know I seem overly excited about this. But here's the thing. Towards the middle of the show when she was really, really losing it and clearly could not cope, her husband and his colleague - himself with a wife that had suffered through PPD- conspired to get them together so that Carla could hear firsthand that PPD was not only normal but common - from another mother!!

Yea - 'Scrubs' - you did good. You depicted one mother, suffering terribly from PPD & a society that STILL will not ensure that mothers have the resources they need to be healthy mothers, receiving clear, intelligent advice from another mother - a woman who knew exactly what she was talking about, acted kind & supportive and made sure the suffering mama received the help she needed right away.

I know some folks will protest because the last scene portrayed Carla Turk in the blissed- out-on-baby-love stage because of the anti-depressant assistance she finally received. But, again, as a woman who suffered through PPD and also used anti-depressants to get through that stage, I say GO FOR IT. Anything that will make that stage easier, make the mama feel better, help the woman to be able to truly enjoy those first few months of the most mindblowing, outrageous, difficult and heart-bursting time you will ever experience is fine by me.

Here is a blog devoted to gettin' the word out about PPD:
http://postpartumprogress.typepad.com/weblog/

Life Support for Feminist Healthcare? Parts I and II

2007-01-11T06:49:00.000-08:00

Check out my articles on the future of the feminist women's health movement & the centers , like Aradia, it helped spawn.

A huge thank you to Feministing.com, Shakespeare's Sister, and Our Bodies, Ourselves for picking them up!

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2007/01/02/life-support-for-feminist-health-care

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2007/01/09/life-support-for-feminist-health-care-part-ii

WWJD on Political Cortex & Alternet

2006-12-07T11:17:00.000-08:00

http://www.politicalcortex.com/story/2006/12/5/10591/1329

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/45176/

My latest RH Reality post is part of a "top-rated submission" on Political Cortex - a democractically operated political magazine-type web site (that's a long explanation). Check it out!

What Would Jesus Do About The Christian Coalition?

2006-12-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

The Christian Coalition has proven to me once again that their freaky fixation on women's bodies and what we do with them goes beyond simple morality- mania. It extends to a genuine fear of women's bodies and the power we have to do nothing less than destroy the world with them. Why else would they continue to fight against any attempts to re-adjust their focus away from reproductive rights and towards the truly scary issues of poverty, global warming and HIV/AIDS? Clearly, women’s bodies are dangerous to these people.

So, is it any surprise that on Tuesday, November 28th The Christian Coalition voted to accept President-elect Reverend Joel C. Hunter’s resignation before he started because he wanted to expand their core issues beyond the confines of an anti-abortion, anti-homosexuality agenda?

But without an obsessive focus on reproductive rights, how would The Christian Coalition protect against feminists-gone-wild rampages where we gratuitously leave our partners, kill our children and become lesbians ?! The key to ensuring a harmonious bible-based society is keeping tight reins on a woman’s ability to control her own body.

However, citing “philosophical differences” , Reverend Hunter (author of the tellingly titled "Right Wing, Wrong Bird: Why the Tactics of the Religious Right Won't Fly With Most Conservative Christians") chose to step down before he was scheduled to take over the leadership of this odious organization on January 1st.

Full Story on Reproductive Health Reality Check

A Guttmacher Gift

2006-11-28T10:57:00.000-08:00

Hi folks!

Here is my very first post (entitled A Guttmacher Gift) for Reproductive Health Reality Check - a new-ish web site that focuses on - you guessed it - reproductive health public policy and analysis.

It's a GREAT site filled with fantastic information. What I like best is that it features those of us in the field, working on the ground. So you get a million different perspectives on what's up in the world of reproductive rights and health depending on where we work, where we live, what populations we work with, and what kinds of programs and services our organizations provide.

I'll be writing one post each week so PLEASE, if you have ideas, send 'em my way! And be sure to read and comment on my posts so I know what you're thinking.

Happy Holidays...

Campaign to Partition Women's Bodies

2006-11-16T12:07:00.000-08:00

Posted on Alternet.org

I'm thinking that instead of legislating what women can and cannot do with their own bodies in this country, we should propose a law that partition's women's bodies into sections much like what we seem to be doing with Iraqi land.

Therefore, we can enact one law that lords over a woman's uterus related to all things reproductive: pregnancy, abortion, childbirth. A woman' s uterus may be used to grow and house the pre-born but may not be emptied of its contents via an abortion.

We can then legislate women's breasts allowing for the bearing of boobs on billboards, in strip clubs and in television & print advertising - that is, for purposes solely related to ogling and superficial sexuality.

Public breastfeeding is OUT under those legal tenets. We all know how repulsive breastfeeding is, right?

According to Delta Airlines, breastfeeding your baby on an airplane is tantamount to public drunkenness and will get you thrown off a flight. On October 13th, as a Delta flight was preparing to take off from Burlington, Vermont, a 27 year-old mother, seated in the second to last row in a window seat, preceded to breastfeed her 22 month old child.

A flight attendant asked her to "cover up" and offered her a blanket - which the mother declined. The flight attendant, apparently up-in-arms over this blasphemy, called to a Delta ticket agent to remove the family (!) from the plane. The young mother, feeling extremely embarrassed at that moment, complied.

MSNBC quotes the mother as saying, "It embarrassed me. That was my first reaction, which is a weird reaction for doing something so good for a child."

I'd say so. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services both promote breastfeeding as a tremendous health benefit for the baby as well as, in some instances, for the mother (it has been reported that breastfeeding reduces a woman's risk of breast cancer later in life).

In fact, the CDC is committed to increasing breastfeeding rates throughout the United States. Delta Airlines needs to step up to the plate and institute a company-wide policy that directly addresses public breastfeeding as permissible as well as ensure that their employees are up to snuff with their cultural competency skills.

According to MomsRising.org, a new advocacy web site started by Joan Blades from Moveon.org and Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner (author of The Motherhood Manifesto) this mother was publicly humiliated for doing what doctors, and even large government agencies advocate. They've got a petition going to Delta Airlines to encourage support of breastfeeding mothers.

They are also lobbying to get Congress to pass an amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 called the Breastfeeding Promotion Act. Not sure what that is but it's worth some research...

New Congress, Old Abortion Fight

2006-11-09T16:44:00.000-08:00

We've got twenty additional advocates for reproductive rights in Congress as a result of the election. The South Dakota abortion ban was overturned by voters in that state. Oregon failed to pass an initiative that would have required parental consent for minors before obtaining an abortion.

These are all reasons to celebrate. To be sure, they are victories and I'd like to feel encouraged by them - at least for a few moments - before ruminating on the reproductive rights challenges we are still faced with each and every day.

One of those challenges comes in the form of a federal abortion ban (what pre-lifers have termed the "Partial Birth Abortion ban") currently being heard in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

I have written about the term "partial birth abortion" for Alternet.org in reference to its creation by pro-life advocates who strategically named a non-existent procedure for political purposes and then preceded to artfully frame the issue through this meaningless term.

The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing in once again on whether or not to overturn legislation passed by Congress in 2003 outlawing "partial birth abortion." And this time we've got Justices Alito and Roberts to contend with. Lawyers for the Bush administration faced off against legal advocates for reproductive freedom in front of the justices (Justice Clarence Thomas was out ill) and were grilled specifically about what the procedure entailed.

This is where, for me, it gets sticky (if I say "no pun intended" is that gross?). In reference to the specific procedure outlined in the law, Justice Roberts asked: "We have no evidence in the record as to how often this situation arises?" To which Priscilla Smith, arguing to strike down the federal ban, replied, "No, we don't your honor."

To which I say: if we are discussing a particular procedure, a D&X, that is done only in third trimester abortions and only when the woman's health or life is in danger and only, obviously, under a doctor's supervision and suggestion, then why are we questioning how often "this situation arises"? Why do we care? But, if we are discussing the law the way it is written then I say: we have no evidence as to how often "this situation" arises because the law does not refer to ONE situation but in fact can be interpreted as referring to both second and third trimester abortions.

This piece of legislation has been deceptive from the moment it was crafted. And during arguments in front of the SCOTUS over the last two days, the procedure to which the pro-life backers refer to as "partial birth abortion" but which in reality is a D&X, has been called gruesome and inhumane. Justice Ginsberg has repeatedly questioned the criteria for legislation against a particular procedure based solely on the fact that it is "gruesome" or "disgusting."

A D&X is a medical procedure that is undergone only at a doctor's discretion because it is the safest procedure available for the woman in question. It is undergone but only a few thousand women every year out of more than 1.25 million abortions (90% of abortions occur in the first trimester).

The federal law has been struck down six separate times by courts across the country because of its over-reaching impact on all abortions infringing on a woman's right to access abortion under Roe v. Wade. If history is any indication, this piece of legislation will finally take its resting place in the graveyard of U.S. law. In 2000, a similar piece of legislation in Nebraska was struck down for its lack of an exception for a woman's health.

This Supreme Court battle is not our only fight for reproductive freedom on the horizon. The Hyde Amendment, passed in 1977 prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortions, has been squeezing out low-income women from their constitutional right to access abortion for thirty years and has recently been thrown into the ring again by a coalition of reproductive rights and health organizations and advocates.

The "Hyde - 30 Years is Enough" campaign started by NNAF (the National Network of Abortion Funds) highlights the need for overturning this amendment enacted not long after Roe v. Wade was decided. In particular, this campaign calls for culturally competent family planning services and abortion access for low-income women.

32 states ban state Medicaid to pay for abortion. They are legally obligated to provide coverage in the cases of life endangerment, rape and incest but more often than not fail to do so. One state provides coverage only in cases of life endangerment and 17 states provide state Medicaid coverage for poor women in almost all cases; proudly Washington state is one of those states.

This is an issue that the mainstream pro-choice movement has swept under the rug for a long time because of who the law affects - poor women seeking abortions. But the time is now to use this amendment as a springboard for addressing the inherent cultural, socio-economic and racist biases inherent in the reproductive freedom movement. If we cannot ensure that low-income women are able to access their constitution right to safe abortion care, then legal abortion is not a reality for a large percentage of the women in this country.

More later on the Hyde Amendment. For now, let's unify around these crucial reproductive freedom issues, ride this wave of victory and strategize about how we can use our new congress for bigger and better things!

Election karma

2006-11-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

So, there were some significant wins for Democrats last night. I wonder how this will translate into real benefit for real people. I was watching Brian Williams on NBC this morning. He asked, "What will these election results mean for Democrats and Republicans? What will these results mean for President Bush and his administration?"

I felt strangely left out. What should be on the top of our minds is: what will these election results mean for Americans?

I am heartened and encouraged that we now have the first female speaker of the house in Nancy Pelosi. This is the highest office a woman has attained in the United States government. Should Bush and Cheney meet with an, uh, "untimely" end Nancy Pelosi would lead this country. It's somewhat of a comfort.

And, the South Dakota abortion ban has been rejected by voters in that state as wholly unwanted. However, it's been rejected on the basis of the law being too far-reaching. The law could simply be reworked to include an exception for a woman's life (imagine that) and regain its legal status.

It's not that I'm not thrilled. As of today, Wednesday, November 8th at 12:50PM PST, here are the results of the three primary restrictive state ballot initiatives direct from Beverly Whipple, ED of the Feminist Women's Health Centers in Washington state:

California Proposition 85: Parental Notification 54% NO 46% yes/ 94% of precincts

Oregon Measure 43: Parental Notification 54% NO 46% yes/ 66% of precincts reporting

South Dakota Referendum 6: Ban on Abortion (Yes is vote to overturn ban) 52% yes 48% no / 99% of precincts reporting

and the resounding defeat of Attorney General Kline in Kansas - PRICELESS!

Fight the South Dakota Abortion Ban --

2006-11-02T15:57:00.000-08:00

in South Dakota. Can you get away for the next 6 days on a moment's notice? I just got this email from a listserv I'm on:

You can take action live, in person, in South Dakota – at no expense to yourself!

On November 7th, voters in South Dakota will be voting to either uphold or overturn that state’s recently passed abortion ban (Referred Law 6). We just learned that the ACLU will cover expenses to get more volunteers to South Dakota to work to defeat the ban. Please consider lending a hand over the next 6 days to this important cause. If you cannot go yourself (and even if you can) please pass this message along to your friends, families, and other interested parties. We must ensure that South Dakotans don’t lose their right to choose! Contact is treagan@aclu.org to get involved (ACLU can cover housing if necessary).

If you have the time to spare, NOW is the time to act. In a few days it may be too late. We are in do-or-die mode and if this abortion ban passes, South Dakota will be second only to Nicaragua in its oppressive and virulently anti-family policy.

If I didn't have two young children to care for I would head down. It's not the kind of activism I'm able to engage in at the moment but if you can, GO!

Ew.

2006-10-27T16:02:00.000-07:00

Tesco condemned for selling pole-dancing toy.

Okay, this is straight from the UK. But, ew.

Apparently the woman in the photo above was searching for Christmas gifts for her daughters (ages 10 & 11) online when she came across a pole-dancing kit in the toys and games section of the British company Tesco's web site. The "toy" or "game" (depending on how you use it I suppose?) is called "Peekaboo Pole." Here's a portion of the marketing copy from the web site:

"Soon you'll be flaunting it to the world and earning a fortune in Peekaboo Dance Dollars". (emphasis is mine!)

Clearly Tesco, the company that sells this product, feels it's appropriate to groom girls for glamorous careers as exotic dancers in strip clubs. It seems they'd actually like to be part of the educational process - teaching them how to pole-dance while they're young.

The Tesco web site entices potential buyers of the Peekaboo Pole to "unleash the sex kitten inside...simply extend the Peekaboo pole inside the tube, slip on the sexy tunes and away you go!" However, the company denies that the pole is "sexually oriented" and have agreed to move it from the "Toys and Games" section instead being sold under "Fitness."

Tesco also features another "fitness accessory" presumably geared towards men (?) called Peekaboo Poker featuring a young woman in her underwear hawking the idea for "outrageous fun." The box is clear in its directive: "You set the limit." Somehow that's not much of an assurance to me.

I'm not sure why our society feels that young girls need, want, should be subjected to "toys" that purely objectify them at an incredibly young age. I am incredibly frustrated that it is now acceptable to sexualize girls, young girls, in the name of "entertainment."

My daughter brought home a Bratz doll the other day - a gift from a friend. It's unclear how my daughter was supposed to play with her. The doll was huge - half the size of my four-year old daughter and had a fully developed body and an ambiguously ethnic face with loads of make-up and a head full of wild, auburn hair. She was wearing a long, fur-like coat and looked, well, she looked straight out of a porno film.

How again is my four year old supposed to play with her? What kinds of games, stories, pretend play is she being encouraged to engage in with this oversized porn star doll?!

"Look at me Mommy, my bratz doll is pole-dancing with my brand new Peekaboo Pole-Dancing kit! Someday I'm going to pole-dance in my fur coat too!!"

Today's Lesson: "Making the Womb A Safer Place to Live"

2006-10-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

This Tuesday, October 24th, an anti-choice protest coordinated by an extremely religious, virulently anti-choice organization called Stand True Ministries, will not go on as planned at an elementary school in Livingston, MI.

Two families with children at Hutchins Elementary School were to organize the silent protest at the school as part of the ministries' 3rd annual Day of Silent Solidarity. Stand True coordinated protests will occur at two area high schools. But news travelled fast and parents at the elementary school took quick action to shut down the planned event.

However, a quick glance at the ministries' web site boasts a list of hundreds of participating schools (I saw only one additional elementary school) around the country and into Europe.

The instructions for hosting a "Day of Silent Solidarity" are straightforward. Register your event, inform people, wear red duct tape over your mouth with the word "life" written on it but last (and not the very bit least according to them) is to pray.

All in all, I say why not? Go for it. Have your day of silent solidarity. It's your right of course. However, it is most certainly our right to inform folks about what Stand True Ministries advocates for.

In a nutshell, "Making the womb a safer place to live." Started by a young guy who thought he was going to be the next big Christian rock star (who's the first big one?!), he was called to create this "ministry" when, according to him, he was hanging around an abortion clinic waiting room stuffing pro-life literature into magazines.

Let me stop here for a moment. I have worked at an abortion clinic for six years. I'm not sure what clinic this guy is referring to but I'd say they need to ramp up their security. If his story is true (and I'm inclined to believe it's not), he was allowed to hang around in the waiting room of an abortion clinic with no one noticing, while stuffing "pro-life literature" into the magazines?!

The second part of his story:

I walked over to the window at the reception area and someone opened a door behind the window. I saw a young girl laying on the table with her head turned to me and tears flowing down her eyes. There was a man reaching down between her legs and I suddenly realized how real this was. I was witnessing a child being killed in front of my eyes and a young girl being emotionally damaged.

So, the procedure rooms are right behind the reception area and if you happen to be standing at the reception area at the wrong time, you just might witness an abortion being performed?

I know this absurd tale of the ministries' founder seems a bit beside the point. However, it points to an inherent, well, absurdist quality to these kinds of organizations. They are founded on bizarre lies and serve only to promote lies. Which leads to another one of their claims, or more accurately, tag lines:

"Making the womb a safer place to live."

If making women's wombs safer is his goal, I'd like to start with some facts:

Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures a woman can undergo. It is ten times safer than childbirth (the risk of death associated with childbirth is about ten times greater than that associated with legal abortion).
Less than 1% of women who undergo abortions experience a major complication as a result of either an aspiration (surgical) or medication (pills) abortion.
Abortion has no impact on one's future ability to get pregnant and carry that pregnancy to term.

There are most certainly risks associated with an abortion procedure (including incomplete abortions, perforation of the uterine wall and infection). But those risks are treatable and rare.

So, I guess the founder of Stand True Ministries, in his zest to make my and all of our wombs safer, will need to also ban sexual relations of any kind (even between married folks) that might lead to pregnancy. Pregnancy makes our wombs much more unsafe than abortion ever could. Pregnancy is a risky proposition for both baby and mother.

If you want to make our wombs a safer place to live, why not focus on ensuring health care access for all pregnant women in this country that want to be pregnant? And what about pregnancy in developing nations? The same pregnancy-related complications that affect women in developing countries (severe bleeding, obstructed or prolonged labor, infection or sepsis, pre-eclampsia) due in part to a severe lack of proper pre-natal medical care also threaten the babies lives. In fact, in less developed countries, of the estimated 8 million deaths each year that occur in utero or in the first week of life, the vast majority are associated wtih maternal health problems or poor obstetric care during childbirth.

So, please don't tell me that you care about making women's wombs safer. It's simply not why you're doing this.

Why are they doing "this"? Why are they rallying thousands of folks around the country to participate in their "Day of Silent Solidarity"? Their "Personhood Redefined" brochure gives me a clue. It starts out: "Three times in recent history personhood has been redefined and stripped away from a group of people. Their very rights as a human have been taken away by men who had no right to do so." Sound familiar? They are of course advocating for the rights of the fetus and do it with reference to three main "issues": The Dred Scott decision, The Holocaust and Roe vs. Wade.

In essence, Stand True Ministries believes that fetuses, Jews and African-Americans are legally one and the same.

The Stand True "Day of Silent Solidarity" protest that was planned at this elementary school in Michigan as well as at high schools, colleges, and universities around the country, are not about "standing true" at all. They are about screaming lies - even in their silence. The young people who are participating are being ministered to by an organization that preaches distortions from the pulpit in the name of truth and love.

Crisis Pregnancy Centers are the Answer?!

2006-10-10T17:17:00.000-07:00

Then what's the question?

Who received more than $60 million last year from our federal government and is receiving thousands more from Minnesota's state government to scare women and provide false and misleading information to women thinking about abortion?

Crisis Pregnancy Centers, that's who.

And now this:Finding Common Ground On The Abortion Divide

Does Minnesota want to prevent abortions, really? Because this is NOT the way to do it, I assure you. I am all for prioritizing low-income women in our federal and state public policies. I support giving mothers and mothers-to-be the assistance they need to provide for the children they have and the children they are expecting. However, I can tell you that there are other ways to do it. Giving Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) thousands of dollars under the guise of "preventing abortions" is a crisis itself.

CPCs don't "prevent abortion." CPCs use scare tactics and false information to force women to choose parenting or adoption. Forcing a woman to choose any option is wrong. The goal here is to provide women with information and resources so they can choose the best option for themselves and their families. So, I don't see how, as the title of this article suggests, we are finding "common ground on the abortion divide."

In recent weeks, I have been working with local pro-choice advocates including NARAL, fellow women's health centers and a nonprofit legal organization to tackle some extremely disturbing issues for women in our area seeking out free pregnancy testing and ending up at CPCs.

Reports from women in our area who have mistakenly or not wound up at a Crisis Pregnancy Center range from not being able to retain a record of their pregnancy test results, therefore unable to apply for medical coupons through the state to pay for an abortion (or simply for medical care), to being given an ultrasound with a mass circled on it of something outside her uterus and told that this was her baby. Stories from women also include being hounded via telephone by CPC staff wanting to make sure that they were not going to get an abortion; one woman talked of her experience of mistaking a Crisis Pregnancy Center that opened up shop in a mall, for the Planned Parenthood right next door.

Reportedly, this is a common practice for Crisis Pregnancy Centers, some of which are using this as a strategy for luring women away from abortion clinics.

I fully support a woman's right to access a range of information and services. But when these centers resort to trickery and deception under the guise of "helping women", it becomes unethical and even worse - harmful to the very women they say they are attemting to help.

To be clear, this is not simply a clash of pro-choice vs. pro-life perspectives. Crisis pregnancy centers provide information on adoption and parenting, as do abortion clinics. That can be crucial information for a woman who is weighing her options to receive. It is not even, to go one step further, that CPCs are blatantly anti-abortion. As long as they are open about that fact, they have every right to exist and offer assistance.

It is that crisis pregnancy centers are more often than not run by extremely religious outfits. We are talking about federally and state-funded religious organizations offering non-regulated medical care to women and providing these women with inaccurate and limited information so that they will not - and many times cannot - access abortion.

A man named Robert Pearson opened the first pregnancy center designed to be explicitly (what I call) pre-life. Pearson started a foundation and soon after created a manual called HOW TO START AND OPERATE YOUR OWN PROLIFE OUTREACH CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER. According to an article in an Indiana newspaper earlier this year, "Until the mid-’90s, many CPCs were run according to the principles laid out in Pearson’s 1984 manual, which asserted that “A killer, who in this case is the girl who wants to kill her baby, has no right to information that will help her kill her baby.” How to Start and Operate Your Own Pro-Life Outreach Crisis Pregnancy Center advocated activities ranging from the use of misleading clinic names — “If the girl who would be going to the abortion chamber sees your office with a similar name, she will probably come into your center” — to withholding the results of a client’s pregnancy test (available in two to five minutes) and keeping the woman at the CPC for up to an hour in order to show her graphic anti-abortion videos.

“The mission of the CPC,” according to the current Central Indiana Crisis Pregnancy Center Web site, “is to affirm the value of life by providing a network of care to those experiencing pregnancy-related crisis and by compassionately presenting biblical truth resulting in changed lives to the glory of God.”

Men are Like Waffles, Women are Like Spaghetti

So, now we know CPCs are religious missions run by those who have little regard for the woman as a human being and with even less regard for her well-being. But a quick glance at one of the largest organizations running CPCs currently, Heartbeat International, tells an even deeper tale.

Heartbeat International would like to set up CPCs in every city in every state in this country. And they have a Pearson-like set of instructions for opening an "affiliate." The list of resources for potential affiliates includes a brochure on "Resting in God's Presence", how to discuss abortion and most telling: packets on what they deem "Sexual Integrity" which includes books with titles like "Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti", "Does Birth Control Cause Abortion?" and "Contraception, Why Not?" Their message includes clear instructions on remaining abstinent until marriage.

Ultimately, I would have little problem with Crisis Pregnancy Centers if they a) did not receive immense federal subsidies, b) use deceptive and misleading methods to "reach out" to and/or provide services for women and c) harass and intimidate women once in their care.

What to do about it? Carolyn Maloney, a Democratic Representative from New York, introduced a bill last year called Stop Deceptive Advertising in Women's Services Act. The bill is designed to legislate how Crisis Pregnancy Centers can advertise their services, specifically regulating the way they advertise their "abortion services." Although Maloney has said that she doubts the bill will go anywhere in a Congress saturated with Republicans inextricably tied to the religious conservatives, it is a start. Go to Rep. Maloney's web site for more information.

For more information on Crisis Pregnancy Centers, the National Abortion Federation has some excellent resources.

Young Poets

2006-09-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

This is what has made my heart full today. How can you see the world as bad when there are young children writing poetry like this? It's from a local organization's, Powerful Schools, free poetry class. Powerful Schools provides free after school classes in a handful of schools down in South Seattle (where we live) where the kids are more "in need" of free programs like this. How lucky we are, truly.

I took off the kid's names for the sake of their privacy.

Vowels: A,E,I,O,U and Sometimes Y

A
The sound that
comes out and
makes an apple.

E
The shape of the
end of a rake.

I
The letter that
switches around and
makes an H.

O
The mouth of yours
which opens and shuts.

U
The symbol
of the smile
on your face
(or a frown that
makes you feel down.)

Y
The two fingers
you use
to make a
funny bunny’s
ears.

My Dog Sky

My little dog is named Sky. People
say he is shaky as a wire
but I don’t care. They say he isn’t
one speck of silver, but a speck
of dirt, but I don’t care. They
say if the sun was to come
today it would burn all the dirt
off him, but I say “good,” and
“I don’t care, he needed a bath anyway.”
They say if it snowed, he wouldn’t dare
to shiver because all the
dirt would keep him warm.
They say he is dark, is a
night time sky, but I don’t
care; they say he is crazy
just like the people on the
road trying to get through
traffic last Sunday. But
I don’t care because
I love my dog and
I always will.

"What's a feminist" follow-up!

2006-08-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

Feminists for Life are still pushing the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Services Act of 2005.

Basically they want federal money to subsidize campus centers around the country that, under the guise of "providing services for pregnant and parenting students" actually give them incomplete information, espouse a pro-life perspective and get women to either parent or put their child up for adoption. This is what the Feminists for Life web site says about the topic of pregnancy on campus:

“Schools can talk about everything else in orientation, classes and the student newspaper—drinking, drugs, rohypnol, sexual assault, STDs, domestic violence and gay rights—but they never bring up pregnancy. When a woman doesn't see anyone else succeeding as a student parent, she assumes that the administration won't support her. Most often the clinic automatically refers her to an abortion clinic. There is a better way.”

Oh, it's a fantastic idea to include how easy and wonderful it can be to become a student parent at age 18. And, the last line says it all. Of course the ultimate purpose of these "centers" is to steer women away from abortion and be clear that they really have only two "choices" - parenting or adoption.

What's a feminist anyway?

2006-08-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

On August 5th, a Feminists for Life board member purchased the house where Susan B. Anthony was born handing it over the organization to care for and manage it. Feminists for Life is particularly thrilled with this development because, as some may know, Susan B. Anthony (and for that matter, her compatriot Elizabeth Cady Stanton) was, uh, what we now call "pro-life."

Yes, that's right.

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the leaders of the suffragest movement, arguably two of the most important figures in the birth of feminism were pro-life. And Feminists for Life have made the brilliant move to leverage that fact.

But was Susan B. Anthony really pro-life in the way that we define that politically burdened word today? I would argue that, no, she wasn't. And certainly not in the way that Feminists for Life use her position to bolster their cause.

Susan B. Anthony argued against abortion as an option for women in the mid-19th century when abortion was an often unsafe and sometimes deadly medical procedure for women - very true at that time and most certainly a reason to advocate against undergoing an abortion procedure. Ms. Anthony also argued that abortion was not an option for women in a society ruled by men because they did not have the same options available to them in general. Ms. Anthony obviously went on to demand that women's "options" including the right to vote were given to them. She believed that women chose abortion only when they were forced into it. Ultimately, she believed, "When a woman destroys the life of her unborn child, it is a sign that, by education or circumstances, she has been greatly wronged."

But would her position have changed if she were living today when abortion is one of the safest medical procedures available? When women do have many more opportunities to chose the lives they want to lead?

Now I don't believe that when a woman has an abortion that means she has been necessarily "wronged" by education or circumstances. However, as I wrote in my last post, we see that the number of women in the lower socio-economic strata who are getting abortions is increasing as the number of more affluent women accessing abortion is decreasing. This is a sign, I believe, that lower income women are not getting the access to tools, education and information to take full control over the reproductive lives.

Susan B. Anthony, however, was also a racist. At that time, she fought for a woman's right to vote, based on her belief that the "ignorant" black man or immigrant man was much more poorly suited to vote.

So, was she really a feminist? What is a feminist? Does it matter? Can we really look to these historical figures as symbols of our movement today? If not, how do we learn from them, make sense of their nuanced positions and move forward? Obviously, Susan B. Anthony may not be the best role model for feminism today without looking at the historical context within which she lived.

I can say without question that Feminists for Life does not work to ensure that ALL women have what they need to lead healthy lives. They focus on those laws and policies that primarily affect college-aged women who become pregnant. They lobby for health insurance for young women who are pregnant based solely on the fact that they are pregnant - not taking into account the millions who do not WANT to be pregnant and who need help before they are pregnant.

If they truly want to make sure that young women in college are given the tools to lead healthy and happy lives wouldn't they ensure access to accurate sexuality education? Wouldn't they advocate for access to contraception and contraceptive services for these women? And curiously, why is it primarily the women in college who deserve their attention? Well, one can hazard a guess. Apparently they believe that those women of college-age who do not attend college are not as deserving of these particular governmental policies.

I think we need to either reclaim the word "feminist" or phase it out. Cause I'm starting to feel like it means nothing anymore.

The economics of abortion - Guttmacher Institute Rocks Again!!

2006-08-03T16:38:00.000-07:00

U.S. Abortion Decline Close to Stalling as Disparities in Unintended Pregnancy Grow

The decades-long decline in the U.S. abortion rate slowed yet again in 2003, adding to mounting evidence that the nation is failing to help women prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the need for abortion, according to a new analysis by the Guttmacher Institute. Guttmacher Institute researchers reported in May that while the overall rate of unintended pregnancy in the U.S. remained unchanged between 1994 and 2001, rates increased by 29% among poor women, even as they declined by 20% for more affluent women.

“These trends are alarming, and should be a wake-up call to policymakers at the federal and state levels to do more to help women, especially those at greatest risk, avoid unwanted pregnancies,” argues Dr. Camp. “There is an urgent need to strengthen evidence-based policies that have been proven to reduce unintended pregnancy and the need for abortion. These include improving public funding for contraceptive services for poor women at the state and federal levels by expanding Medicaid eligibility and Title X funding, and ensuring that the Food and Drug Administration acts on its own experts’ advice to grant over-the-counter status for the emergency contraceptive Plan B without further delay.”

The above is from the most recent news release from one of my most favorite sources of information on current reproductive health trends - the New York City based Guttmacher Institute (www.guttmacher.org). Dr. Sharon Camp, President of the Guttmacher Institute, is obviously attempting to remain calm in the face of what I see as an all-out assault on women, particularly lower-income women. We have known for a long while now that abortion rates have been declining among upper income women. At the same time, abortions have been increasing among lower income women. This should not be a surprise. Our federal government has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into unscientific, ultimately failed abstinence-ONLY programs and "crisis pregnancy centers" (centers which are essentially pro-life advocacy organizations tied more often than not to ultra-religious Christian denominations with a particularly narrow forced birth agenda) in the name of preventing unplanned pregnancies.

However, as both qualitative and quantitative studies and anecdotal evidence have shown over and over again, abstinence-only education does not succeed in preventing either unplanned pregnancy OR in lowering rates of sexually transmitted infections among young people. In Bush's home state of Texas, the abstinence-only programs implemented in the public schools proved completely ineffective at educating young people, delaying sexual activity and ultimately reducing teen pregnancy. In addition, rates of sexually transmitted infections among the young people in these particular towns soared. In fact, students in almost all high school grades were more sexually active after undergoing abstinence only education!

To be fair, trends show that students in that particular age group would have increased their sexual activity anyway at that time in their lives. Therefore, at best, this abstinence-only education did absolutely nothing to change students' sexual behavior. At worst, it put them in grave danger of contracting infections that potentially pose a real threat to their health and lives. How in good conscience, can these zealots who are intent on politicizing their religious and personal value systems, encourage policies and programs that are dangerous or just plain don't work?

What's truly appalling is that the federal government, OUR government, spent $131 million last year (2005) on abstinence-only education - "education" that has not given our youth the tools they need to lead healthy lives. The administration has certainly not let up in 2006, continuing to increase funding for these morality and religious-based programs (which, come on, should not be called education but agenda) while at the same time decreasing funding for - or all out ignoring - medically and scientifically proven health education programs that would have a positive effect on our young people's sexual health. Once again, studies show that an age-appropriate, medically accurate sexual health curriculum that includes information about both contraception as well as abstinence is the most effective method of reaching and teaching teens thereby reducing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection rates.

In addition, access to over the counter emergency contraception - a birth control method which has the potential to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies by the millions - has been caught in what we all know is a political net, held up for years by the FDA and an administration intent on strangling us with their moral nooses. Emergency contraception could be one of the single most important tools for women of any age in the effort to prevent pregnancy- but especially for lower-income women for whom lack of access to consistent birth control coverage can be a problem.

45.8 million Americans do not have health care coverage. Women in this country without health insurance are less likely to use birth control if they have to pay for it out of pocket - simply because then they cannot afford it. At $25/dose and the possibility for over-the-counter access, emergency contraception can be a tremendous reproductive health tool for women who do not want to get pregnant.

One only needs to look at this country's increasing numbers of women in need of publicly funded contraception to see how this affects the growing abortion disparity. According to the Guttmacher Institute, about half of the 66.3 million women in this country of reproductive age (33.4 million women) were in need of contraceptive services. Of those women–17.4 million–were in need of publicly funded contraceptive services and supplies, an increase of one million women since 2000.

To be clear, these women are low-income and they are not getting the birth control services they need to take control of their reproductive and sexual health care. According to Guttmacher "the number of women who have incomes below 250% of the federal poverty level or are younger than 20–increased by 6%. Meanwhile, the number of women of reproductive age and the total number of women in need of contraceptive services each rose by only 1%, indicating that the broader economic trends of the period, rather than population growth, drove the change."

This is not rocket science. This is a public health concern for all of us. Women of a particular income level are not receiving the education and the tools they need to lead happy, productive and healthy lives. Once again, this administration has managed to widen the gap between rich and poor. The leaders in Congress who are not taking a stand to ensure that our state and federal governments take care of all citizens - not just those in the upper-income levels - are acting foolishly and cold-heartedly.

The abstinence-only pushers. the legislators who refuse to enact laws to increase government spending for tried and true health care and educational programs that take care of our citizens, and the problematic influence of certain moral perspectives on what should be a scientific decision by our Food and Drug Administration, have a strong and terrible impact on women's lives in this country but more than that they have an impact on the lives of all of us who are of certain socio-economic strata. Women must understand that this is first and foremost an issue of economics and only secondarily a gender issue. The war has been waged by this administration time and again - and it is against the poor and middle income for sure.

This is the World You Live In

2006-07-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

Well, Bush's war is finally coming home. My children, 4 and 7, have asked me more times than I'd like to say if the Iraq war would "move" to our country. It's not the Iraq war, maybe. But a Muslim-American man has exploded his hatred and rage here in Seattle onto six Jewish women killing one and critically wounding five others, including one pregnant woman.

This afternoon, around the time I was picking my four year old daughter up from her downtown Seattle pre-school, an unidentified man entered the downtown offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and opened fire screaming, "I am a Muslim American angry at Israel!"

I'm not sure what to say. This man is a murderer. He deserves no sympathy. But what drove him to kill a Jewish woman and wound as many others as he could before being caught by police? To brazenly sweep into a Jewish agency with the intent of informing the world, or at least our community, that he was bursting with anger over this never ending war between Israel and the Palestinian people? A war that has spilled out onto Lebanese soil and will surely spread throughout the Middle East with the aid of President Bush and the United States.

I am sad and I am scared. I have been trying not to think of the kind of world my children will inherit preferring just to work myopically as hard as I can to change the world. But I slammed on the brakes tonight and the car came to a screeching halt. This is the world my children live in. This is the world my Jewish children live in. This is the world your Muslim children live in. This is the world your African American children live in. This is the world your Palestinian children live in. This is the world your Somali children live in. This is the world your Israeli children live in.

Harry and The Potters & Draco and The Malfoys!

2006-07-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

Excuse the personal post for a moment. Took the kids with our friends Ellie, Cedar and Raven to 826 Seattle where our good friend Alex works (shout out to Alex!!) to see Harry and The Potters play with Draco and The Malfoys opening for them.

Holy Sh*T these young kids can play that rock n roll! It was truly amazing. We've been listening to the Harry and The Potters latest CD for the last two days straight. Please go see them!!!!

John Stossel of ABC News Now an Ardent Abortion Rights Supporter!

2006-07-15T22:11:00.000-07:00

John Stossel's campaign for reproductive rights! (Crooks and Liars VIDEO)

I'm not sure what to say about this interview with John Stossell regarding the the law against selling ones' organs on the open market.

John Stossell is amazed, no - he seems genuinely angered - over the 1984 bill spearheaded by Al Gore that banned the sale of human organs from either dead or living donors because "...it is the ultimate conceit to say 'you don't own your body. I, Al Gore,...own your body. I decide what's moral for you to do with your body.' "

Now, I truly have not given much thought (luckily, I have not had to) regarding whether or not organ selling should be legal or not. My belief is that legalized organ selling is likely a dangerous, slippery slope. Mr. Stossel's article this week in Jewish World Review certainly makes it clear that there are far too many people out there waiting for organs and far too many people who die waiting - that is abominable and organ donation is not solving the problem.

I'm angered, however, because in this society we can have a brainless "news" reporter arguing for (according to him) "poor people's free will" to sell their own organs based on the fact that government has no right to tell you what you can or cannot do with your own body but nothing about what this framework means for women's and girl's reproductive rights.

John Stossel opens his 7/6/2006 Jewish World Review article protesting the criminalization of organ selling with this line:

"Who owns your body? You? Or Al Gore?"

Excuse me Mr. Stossell? You're honestly arguing for one's right to decide whether one can sell a second kidney or a spleen based on a reproductive justice framework?! I hope you are actively and openly pro-choice - I really do.

Women are now in the midst of an all-out battle for our reproductive rights. We are fighting tooth and nail for our right to decide without government interference when we may have children, how many children we will have, access to the means to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections and access to appropriate and accurate sexual health information. We must rally in South Dakota to ensure that if we are raped there we will not be forced by that state's legislature to bear a rapist's child. We must take to the streets in South Dakota to urge the citizens there to protect women's and girl's health and lives if they are pregnant and want an abortion to save their health or lives. We must write letters daily and attend public hearings in Washington state to tell pharmacists that we will not accept barriers to filling a prescription for safe and legal emergency contraception.

And John Stossel is angry that his right to decide what he does or does not want to do with his own body could be impeded by our legislators?! Where is his outrage at our crumbling reproductive rights? Where is his outrage with legislators in states where teenagers are being forced to tell a parent who has committed incest against them that they are pregnant with that parent's child in order to get an abortion? Where is his outrage when young, pregnant low income women cannot scrape up enough money to pay for an abortion they desperately want in order to ensure that the children they already have are taken care of in they best way they can. Where is his outrage with pharmacists who decide what is "moral" for women when they deny us our right to birth control?

This interview with John Stossel is truly eye-opening. His anger at daring to be told what he can or cannot do with his own body is telling. He seems to not recognize the impact of what he's saying - as if this idea of government intrusion into our rights over our own bodies is ridiculous.

Yes, Mr. Stossel, it is hard to imagine, isn't it? And, now, the next time you are in El Salvador and you are forced to bear a child against your will and become pregnant again and seek an illegal abortion only to be tried and convicted in a court of law for having that dangerous, illegal abortion - only then do you have the right to be outraged.

In the meantime, please email him (as I will do) and tell him what this unimaginable scenario (you know, having our legislators decide what is morally acceptable for one to do with one's body) is like. Then tell him that you'll be looking for him to do a significant story on 20/20 about the absolute atrocity of the United States (and for that matter - the world's) government telling women what they can or cannot do with their own bodies.
JohnStossel@abcnews.com

Did You Know Search Engines can be ProLife?!

2006-07-13T21:31:00.000-07:00

Alternet published this one!

Those lovely looking men on your left? Why that's Joe and Jack - "the good Catholic boys" - who started "ProLifeSearch.com" powered by Google! That's them handing over a check to the Executive Director of a "women's health center." Well, you know, it's a health center in the sense that they talk to women and they, you know, talk vaguely about health.

50% of the user generated profits of the world's first "prolife search engine" go to lovely pro-life organizations like Priests for Life and One More Soul (which teaches us that "... the use of contraception harms everyone involved...the use of contraception leads to abortion"). There are dozens of approved pro-life charities to which Joe and Jack cannot wait to donate. Some people even decide to directly donate money to these charities via ProLifeSearch.com "in memory of the unborn children of abortion" or "in memory of Terri Schiavo." Yes, Terri Schiavo.

I decided to test out the search engine. Of course, what was the first word I put into the engine? How can you NOT put the word "abortion" into a prolife search engine? That little box was just screaming for the word abortion. So, I typed it in - slowly. I thought maybe fire and brimstone would burst forth from my screen. Maybe an alarm would sound? Maybe my computer would get tagged as some sort of computer-intruder?! No. It's just a regular search engine. Regular pro-choice and pro-life sites came up. I found the abortion clinic I work for easily.

What's funny to me is that they actually make a point of saying that their search engine is "safe" for kids to use because they've filtered out the porn (seemingly it's okay if your kids find accurate information on abortion though): At ProLifeSearch.com we use a special program filter called SafeSearch. With SafeSearch, sites and web pages containing adult themed and explicit sexual content are excluded from web search results.

So, apparently it's okay if the teenage children of these prelifers need to find an abortion clinic for themselves or their girlfriends using ProLifeSearch.com? Because we get a lot of clients at our clinic who self-identify as prolife, who say their parents are prolife and would "kill them" if they found out where they were, but they just really, really need to get this one abortion.

I have to say, why don't we come up with ideas like this? There are 13 states that now allow their citizens to purchase "Choose Life" license plates with the proceeds going towards prolife organizations. There are 0 states with similar license plate deals for prochoice organizations. I really don't think these strange social entrepeneurial experiments should be a priority for reproductive justice advocates. But they are smart and creative ways to ensure that these organizations are getting the broad support they need to remain healthy and to continue to meet their missions.

Warning: Poor Slogans Ahead

2006-06-26T08:42:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest from the Plan B boycott of Ralph's Thriftway in Olympia. All I have to say is: friends don't let friends create slogans for signs like the ones below. A Grocer is not a Doctor?

What does that mean?!

I support the action, of course. I just don't know why there has been no evolution in the messaging of our movement - none. Information for those near Olympia is below:

The current schedule for picketing outside of Ralph's Thriftway (whose pharmacy refuses to carry emergency contraception) is: Wednesday, June 28th, 5-7 p.m., Thursday, June 29th, 5-7 p.m., Friday, June 30th, 5-7 p.m. and Sunday, July 2, 5-7 p.m.

I'm curious as to what slogans people have thought of putting on signs. We will be getting more buttons made this week, so please email me with your ideas. Some that I've heard so far have been:

Keep Contraception Legal

Stick to Lettuce

A Grocer is not a Doctor

No mandatory motherhood

Don't Turn Back the Clock

Honk For Choice

I've used Plan B

Jesus Loves Plan B

Keep your groceries off my ovaries

Boycott Ralph's

Please see our website at www.PlanBOly.org for more information.

Feds Set to Kick Millions off Medicaid

2006-06-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

Haven't heard this one in the news, huh?

According to federal legislation- that apparently slid through with nary a noise from most- new citizenship verification for those who rely on Medicaid to ensure health care coverage could mean that millions of elderly and young children (you know - nursing home residents, children in foster care - those that the administration could care less about) find themselves without the required documentation to receive their medicaid coverage by July 1st.

President Bush has signed into law a rule that would require those millions to produce birth certificates or passports to prove their United States citizenship. Yes, that means that an 85 year-old on a limited income struggling to maintain health care coverage who cannot find their birth certificate by July 1st will be permanently kicked off.

For low-income women who seek abortions in states that cover abortions through Medicaid (like Washington state) this will mean one more hurdle, no, barrier, to abortion access. The other day our clinic manager and I were discussing this near our waiting room. That day there happened to be a number of appointments with Latina clients. Looking out into the waiting room, our clinic manager remarked that none of these women would be able to have the abortions they have legally sought out.

Our front desk phone counselors help low-income women who have decided to have an abortion sign up for the medical coupons (medicaid) they need to pay for their abortions. Many of these women are Latina women, native Spanish speakers who do not have this kind of citizenship documentation readily available.

Thankfully, there are provisions written that, if passed, would "correct" this new damaging policy. The provisions include exempting all of those on Medicare as well as SSI (Social Security Insurance) recipients - sparing over 7 million elderly and disabled American citizens (including 1.5 million nursing home residents!); and foster care children. The provisions would also allow for birth records documentation to be in electronic form so that a state agency could e-mail the required documentation to a state DSHS agency making it less burdensome for the state agencies as well as the citizen applicants.

Lastly, the July 1st deadline is ridiculous. This administration is ready and willing to kick 50 million folks off of Medicaid in the next two weeks unless they can present this documentation asap. Do these folks use the U.S. mail? Have they ever dealt with a freakin' state agency before? Anyone who has ever been on welfare, unemployment, medicaid, medicare, applied for a driver's license or in any way dealt with a state agency before should know that it takes weeks, sometimes months, for applications to processed, forms to be sent, approved, recieved by or transmitted to the right person.

To think that it is in any way feasible for 50 million people to come up with either a birth certificate or a passport in the next two weeks is just absurd.

By the way, hold on to your hats, according to the New York Times: "The main proponents of the new requirements were two Republican House members from Georgia, Representatives Charlie Norwood and Nathan Deal."

So, as I am prone to do, write letters to the folks on two different committees: the Finance committee and Energy & Commerce committee - both of whom are the ones debating a "Pension Conference Report" that this technical corrections bill would be a part of.

If you're in Washington state, Rep. Jay Inslee is on the Energy and Commerce Comittee: http://www.house.gov/inslee/contact/index.html. Contact him!!!!

Boycott over Plan B Update!

2006-06-22T16:54:00.000-07:00

Here is the information I received from the Plan B boycott team:

Here are links to two news articles about the Ralph's Thriftway situation here in Olympia:

http://theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060621/NEWS/606210310

http://www.olywip.org/wip/?q=node/53.

As for the boycott, we are asking people to at least boycott for the month of July, although many people, such as myself, will not shop at any business owned by the Stormans corporation (Ralph's Thriftway, Bayview Thriftway, Daniel's House of Prayer) until Ralph's Thriftway pharmacy stocks Plan B.

We are beginning a picket line at Ralph's Thriftway on Wednesday, June 28th,
5-7 p.m., and continuing on the 29th, 5-7 p.m., 6/30, 5-7 p.m., and 7/2, 5-7 p.m. We will probably continue picketing throughout the month of July, but we haven't nailed down specific times beyond those listed above. We would love to have you join us!

Women who have abortions

2006-06-22T15:15:00.000-07:00

So, I work at an abortion clinic. I have been involved with the reproductive rights movement for a long time - in particular the movement towards elevating women's voices to the forefront of this pro-choice/pro-life debate that is becoming increasing irrelevant as those on both sides cement their positions deeper and deeper.

I lead the development of a booklet at our center called "I Had An Abortion: Real Women. Real Choices." It is a collection of real women's stories about their experiences with abortion and the events and feelings leading up to and following the abortions.

I was on the board of a start-up magazine called Our Truths, Nuestras Verdades that seeks to provide a safe space for women and men to share their experiences with abortion as well as political commentary and analyses. I have written about the significance of women's stories resonating louder in this endless political debate because there is nothing, nothing that will change for women until we are able to come to terms with what we do with our own bodies, the power we hold over life and death. Until women are able to dialogue about this, talk freely and openly about our abortions, our births, our miscarriages, our children's deaths (and I don't mean necessarily in a public forum) we will NOT be able to claim we truly control our own bodies - even if abortion remains legal.

The truth is it's a vicious circle - keeping women unempowered, confused and shamed about their bodies only serves to ensure that women do not necessarily have the tools to make the best decisions about our lives and health. And please don't misunderstand me - abortion is NOT a bad decision in and of itself. However, if we do not allow women to feel empowered and in control of our bodies which includes pregnancy, we are not giving women the tools to be healthy and powerful.

There is a growing and vocal movement of us - The Abortion Diaries, Speak Out: I Had An Abortion, i'mnotsorry.net and many others I probably don't even know about - working towards a very concrete goal: women carving out the space in the world to deal with their abortion experiences, in the context of their larger reproductive health lives , in a healthy and appropriate way.

There is no one who has worked in reproductive health care that would ever say that having an abortion has absolutely no emotional ramifications - it's ridiculous. But so what?! Why should a procedure that has emotional ramifications for women automatically result in the complete dissolution of that procedure? Why does the pro-choice movement try so desperately to pretend that it has no emotional ramifications? Why does the pro-life movement pretend that emotional ramifications are absolutely untenable, impossible to deal with and the explanation for why that procedure should be outlawed?!

I'm tired of both sides of this debate getting it wrong. I'm tired of the political extremists (of which I must admit I am one) speaking on behalf of all women in this country and around the world. If we do not listen to women we will never "resolve" this. We are all yelling so loudly we can't hear the voices that matter most.

Cervical Cancer Vaccines are Evil

2006-06-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

Or so the hard-core religious pre-lifers would have us believe. For those who are not aware: there are two vaccines currently approved by the FDA and awaiting approval from ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) that would innoculate against some of the strains of the sexually transmitted infection, HPV, that most commonly lead to cervical cancer!

There are over one hundred different strains of HPV. But types 6, 11, 16 and 18 cause 90 percent of genital warts and 70 percent of cervical cancer is caused by types 16 and 18. The vaccine that is most exciting is Gardasil which would protect against the above four strains.

HPV is common; about 80 percent of sexually active people have had an infection with HPV, although most of those cases clear on their own. If HPV genital infection can be prevented, it will make a major impact on the occurrence of cervical cancer.

The lives of thousands of women in the United States and hundreds of thousands of women in the Global South would be saved with the development of these vaccines. The Gates Foundation recently awarded PATH, an international public health organization, $28 million to bring this vaccine to developing nations.

The vaccine would be most effective when administered to girls well before they are sexually active - 9 - 12 years old - in this country. And since HPV is an STI (sexually transmitted infection/disease) we've got the religious pre-lifers hot on our tails!! They say NO! to this pagan, heathen, evil cancer prevention tool.

Absolutely not!

Why, an HPV vaccine available - and maybe even mandatory - for young girls would absolutely lead to free-sexploration, wild and crazy sex-mania for these young girls. Of course it would! If the hardline Christian right prelifers did not maintain control over my body, my daughter's body, your daughter's body, what would happen? Oh, right, their suffocating ideologies would fall by the wayside, their societal power would diminish and, g-d forbid, we'd be a true nation of equals.

Check out the president of Human Life International's letter to his "followers":

HPV Vaccine-Another Deception of the Culture of Death by Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer

Spirit & Life
Human Life International e-Newsletter

Volume 01, Number 20 | Friday, June 16, 2006

The big news recently is that the FDA has just approved a new vaccine supposedly to inoculate women against cervical cancer. Predictably, the media and health professionals are touting this as the greatest thing since the Salk vaccine, but they are also engaging in a propaganda campaign aimed at distorting the public's perception of it. I for one will stand against what I consider this newest marriage of the culture of death with junk science, and I believe we all should. In the next few weeks I intend to examine a number of aspects of this Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine for the benefit of parents who may some day be coerced into getting their kids vaccinated with it.

Let me start by pointing out a few basic elements of this vaccine and its service as a tool of the culture of death. First of all, did you ever wonder why all of a sudden we need a vaccine for just one sexually transmitted disease? Just to give you a little perspective: in the nineteen sixties, before the advent of the birth control pill and other forms of abortion-causing drugs, there were only three sexually transmitted diseases which at that time were known as venereal diseases, a name derived from Venus, the pagan goddess of sexual promiscuity.
Because of the exponential increase in illicit sexual activity in the past four decades, the number of distinct sexually transmitted diseases has risen to over thirty, not to mention the multiple strains of the distinct diseases. The Human Papilloma Virus, for example, is just one sexually transmitted disease, but it has over 100 different strains!
Only a small number of these strains actually lead to cancer and most of its victims don't know they have it and cure themselves over time.

Now, to put it into even clearer perspective: the much-touted HPV vaccine treats only two strains of HPV and two strains of genital warts.
This is a tour-de-force against HPV isn't it?

The most wretched hypocrisy of the promoters of this vaccine, however, is that, rather than calling it a vaccine against a couple strains of one of the dozens of sexually transmitted diseases, they are calling it a vaccine against cervical cancer. Well, it will certainly protect some women from cervical cancer in the future but that's not the point. The point is that there are overwhelming numbers of diseases, strains and even cancers that this vaccine does not protect from, all of which are gotten by the very same sexual act. Thinking that this vaccine gives blanket protection against cervical cancer (which of course is how it's perceived because that is how it's being promoted) is like believing that thirty people jumping out of the same airplane will all be protected because one of them is wearing a parachute.

This HPV vaccine, my friends, is a classic case of the culture of death playing fast and loose with people's lives. They use junk science to hook our terribly un-reflective culture on a promise that will benefit only a miniscule portion of the population, and then the false perception of security surrounding their newest ruse hooks everyone else into behaviors and lifestyles that perpetuate the damage and decay our decency.

Don't fall for it because pretty soon they will be forcing you-and your kids-to drink their potions to the dregs.

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International

And so it continues

2006-06-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

Ralph’s Thriftway in Olympia, WA - one hour south of Seattle where I live - just announced that they will discontinue offering Plan B (emergency contraception) to its customers on moral grounds. The owners of the grocery store believe that women do not have the right to access Plan B and so they will not carry it. There is a large and vocal boycott growing down in Olympia. The store is under no legal requirement to stock Plan B but it’s their moral refusal that is truly disturbing.

"I don't want to get into a detailed debate," Kevin Stormans, one of the co-owners of Ralph's and Bayview Thriftways, said in an interview Tuesday. "I just think people have to choose when they believe life begins. There are questions about this drug on that issue."

Of course he doesn't want to get into a detailed debate. He has decided for all women that we do not have a right to use safe, legal contraception. What's to debate? Good ole Kevin.

I will post more info as I receive it but feel free to check out the article in today’s Olympian.

http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060621/NEWS/606210310

I was compelled to create this

2006-06-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

I was compelled to create this blog through a mixture of revulsion and hope - hence the name "tikvahgirl" - tikvah is the hebrew word for hope.

The Senate voted yesterday NOT to raise the minimum wage approximately $2/hour from $5.15 to $7.25/hour. Meanwhile they voted to give themselves another raise (shock!) so your representatives are now making more than $168,500/year. The full-time minimum wage worker's salary is a bit above $10,000/year. I know people - it's really not like those guys and a handful of women to put their own self-wants and needs above their constituents. I mean, really, they are usually so giving, so generous.

I don't know what came over them.