Sam Bee FTW
I love this:
Via Susie Bright, because I am so behind on watching the Daily Show lately.
Reproductive Justice Summer 2008 going on now!
I am so inspired by what SPARK (formerly Georgians for Choice) has been doing in response to Operative Save America being in town.
Reproductive Justice Summer 2008
Stand for Justice – Say NO to OSAMonday July 14th: Stand for Justice Say NO to OSA!
- 9- 10 am Press Conference at SisterSong (1237 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd) Bring your signs and spirit.
- 6 pm PPNGO for Choice at Manuel’s Tavern hosted by Planned Parenthood. Play for awesome prizes like free gas cards! Bring some cash. Manuel’s Tavern is at 602 N Highland Ave and 404-525-3447.
Tuesday July 15th: Act Up for Reproductive Justice!
- 9 am sign shaking and banner dropping at Woodruff Park 84 Peachtree St. Bring your signs.
- 6 pm Sidewalk Counseling at OSA’s nightly rally. Carpool from SPARK at 743 Virginia Ave or meet at the Denny’s at 5534 Jimmy Carter Blvd. Bring your signs. Their rally is at Landmark Church at 3737 Holcomb Rd, Norcross.
Wednesday July 16th: Our Bodies, Our Lives!
- 9 am protest at Woodruff Park 84 Peachtree St. Bring your signs.
- 6-7:30 pm SisterSong panel: Women of Color and Abortion. Aderhold Learning Center at Georgia State University (60 Luckie St).
Thursday July 17th: RJ is Sexy! Positive Sexuality Matters!
- 9 am sex positive protest at Woodruff Park 84 Peachtree St. Bring your signs and we’ll have some cardboard poetry.
- 6-9 pm Movie Night at Georgia State University. Library South 8th Floor Colloquium Room (100 Decatur St).
Friday July 18th: Act Up for Reproductive Justice!
- 9 am Last day for banner drops and sign shaking before we bid farewell to OSA. Woodruff Park 84 Peachtree St.
- 5-7 pm Protest at Colony Square (1197 Peachtree St) 404-879-2250.
Saturday July 19th: Goodbye OSA! Don’t Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out!
- 9 am Carpool from SPARK at 743 Virginia Ave or meet at Denny’s at 5534 Jimmy Carter Blvd. Bring your signs as we say goodbye to OSA.
- After the farewell we’ll have a community celebration picnic at Best Friend Park at 6224 Jimmy Carter Blvd near their hotel. Yum.
Contact: Paris: 404-917-7694, Amanda: 770-375-5920, SPARK: 404-532-0022, www.SPARKRJ.org
I only wish I could participate more right now.
Quoting:
Chris Hall on Dr. Waldo L. Fielding’s New York Times piece (which is a must-read, btw)…
The battles that get fought over abortion sometimes seem so repetitive and mired in moralistic bullshit on both sides that it’s sometimes hard to remember what the consequences of failure are. Sometimes “pro-choice” just sounds like a fundraising slogan that nonprofit corporations can use to wring a few extra dollars out of us. It’s easy to forget what the religious right wants us to return to, especially since so many of us never lived through it. Thanks to Dr. Fielding for sharing these unpleasant memories so honestly.
Better late than pregnant
Two days ago was Blog For Choice Day. I didn’t do any blogging in recognition of it this year, because I honestly don’t know what I would say that hasn’t been said more eloquently before. Speaking of which, Antiprincess linked to one of the best posts ever written on the subject (which I bookmarked on del.icio.us exactly a year ago, coincidentally enough), and which everyone should read. It also sums up why I so strongly loathe Daily Kos and other “A-List” liberal blogs, and self-identified “progressives” who prattle on about a big tent and winning elections – with their fingers stuck firmly in their ears, as they reinforce the same old hierarchy of privilege and ass-haberdashery.
One time at Manuel’s, at a meeting about some sort of blogging PAC, I said, “Fuck Kos; I won’t be a part of anything that he’s associated with,” and I think I unwittingly hurt Catherine’s feelings. I felt badly about that, because Catherine is awesome and kicks much ass, and I would never want to hurt her feelings; so Catherine, I’m sorry. I probably should’ve prefaced it with something. That doesn’t mean my general sentiment would’ve been softened, though. And I have a feeling you can understand why I feel the way I do.
Anyway, here’s the introduction.
It’s always painful when places you thought might be one of the last few outposts of sanity’s owner and other readers decide they’re willing to trade your life away, and the lives of others away, and ultimately their own lives away, because for some reason, they genuinely don’t understand what’s at stake. Words are important, and so tonight, at Daily Kos, I as one of the written off, am going to write a diary for the first time, raise my voice, and once AGAIN tell so called ‘friends’ how much they’re hurting the people next to them. To say nothing of how much they’re cutting their own throats in the process.
Sorry Markos, but “abortion” IS the whole ball of wax. It is, for those of you who’ve read their “Art of War” our “dying ground,” it is one of the ‘must defends’ if we’re going to survive. Why? Because far from some cute little women’s issue deserving lip service and to be refiled under some more palatable heading, abortion is autonomy. We lose abortion, and we’ve lost the most basic ownership of our own bodies and lives, no matter what gender you happen to be.
Quick thoughts on choice – and, of course, me me me
Well, it really snuck up on me! Today is the 34th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the U.S., and as such, it’s also Blog for Choice Day. I participated last year. I forgot to sign up this year.
But, even if I had signed up, I’m not sure what I would say. Honestly the thought of another incessant abortion debate makes me feel weak at the knees. Not because I don’t stand strong in my convictions – but because I just cannot tolerate much more bullshit, in general. And when it comes to The Abortion Issue, this is one area where my tolerance is extremely low.
I believe abortion should always be safe, legal, and easily attainable for any woman who needs the procedure. No one will ever change my mind on this. Ever. I feel sick when I hear about the ever-increasing restrictions being placed on access to abortion in this country, and I start to wonder what the fuck is the point of having it be nominally legal if it’s damn near impossible to access. And then I start feeling depressed. And I don’t like that.
Every time I hear some conservative talk about “abortion on demand” I want to put my fist through a wall. And you know, what good does that kind of anger do me? None. So, I tend to avoid the topic as much as possible these days, and send my quarterly checks to Planned Parenthood and NNAF. At least I’m doing something, even if sometimes I feel like a coward for not being on the front lines.
Wow, what a downer… sorry. See, this is why I didn’t sign up for Blog for Choice Day!
Your blog endorsement of the day
Nikki’s blog kicks ass. Her new post today especially kicks ass. I would like to reiterate part of it here, in all its ass-kicking glory.
Let me say that again, more obnoxiously, so that those freaks in the blogosphere who think that women get abortions because they are careless, wanton harlots who can’t keep their legs closed get it.Women in this country have a disproportionately hard time getting health care and making a living wage, particularly low-income women and women of color.
Catch the fuck on, asshole. If you actually care about the “murder of millions of babies,” then sack up and do something about the problem, which is our miserable fucking government that can’t even figure out how to provide trains, much less get them to run on time.
I am really upset about the South Dakota ruling as well, but in an attempt to alleviate crushing depression about the direction in which this country is headed, I’ve decided to harbor some hope that such an extreme law will ultimately do more harm than good for the Religious Reich. Kind of like Fred Phelps with the whole “God hates fags” thing.
Blast from the past, and the present
30 years later, why does it all sound so familiar? Did you catch that next-to-last paragraph? If it weren’t for the date on the bottom of the pamphlet, I could swear it was written yesterday.
Also interesting is SB’s observation, earlier today, that the South Dakota abortion bill hasn’t received much mainstream media attention. I guess I took for granted that it was part of the news at large, since I read a lot of “lefty” and feminist blogs, and SB forwarded me an article about it from CNN or somesuch. Silly me, allowing myself to remain cloaked in an insular [dream]world of actual fair-and-balanced media coverage. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… liberal media, my left tit.
And as for South Dakota, all I have to say is, just when I thought nowhere could be scarier than South Carolina, the other “South” state ups the ante by forcing rape victims to bear their attackers’ children. How you like them apples, S.C.?
(Pamphlet via Bitch Lab)
Blind leading the blind
Spurred to action by the response Thomas received from Senator Eric Johnson regarding SB 123, I sent the following letter to the AJC. (I know the wording kind of sucks, but the AJC’s online submission form limits you to 150 words.)
Eric Johnson is one of the sponsors of SB 123, which would allow pharmacists to decline filling prescriptions for drugs which are “believed by the pharmacist” to terminate a pregnancy. However, Senator Johnson has demonstrated an alarming lack of basic information.
The article “Abortion foes target use of pill” states, “‘The bill is not intended to prevent pharmacists from providing contraception, only from participating in an abortion,’ said Johnson, who acknowledged he was not clear on precisely how either drug worked.”
Senator Johnson appears not to know the difference between Plan B (the “morning-after pill”), which prevents pregnancy, and RU-486, which induces abortion. Yet Plan B is the drug for which pharmacists have refused to fill prescriptions, in Georgia and other states.
Until the public, and more importantly, the sponsors of SB 123, understand the fundamental difference between contraceptives and abortifacients, any policy changes will be based on ignorance.
You see that? Take a good, long look at the people who are running this state.
Pre-Roe Recollections
Since I haven’t posted anything in a couple of days due to not having time to actually write anything, I’ll just do another one of those “go read this thing that’s much better than anything I could write” posts.* Hence, from Alley Rat:
One of the trendy weapons in the war on women’s reproductive rights is the introduction of “fetal pain” bills. For example, Wisconsin recently came up with the “Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act”, which would require that pregnant women – oh, excuse me, “mothers” of “unborn children” – be informed that 20 week plus fetuses – oh, excuse me, “children” may feel pain. The underlying assumption, of course, is that women – or “mothers” – are somehow ignorant tarts who maybe wouldn’t be making such a selfish, evil decision to murder their own little babies if they really understood what they were doing. We’ll eventually outlaw it entirely, but in the meantime we’ll just bash the bitches over the head with the idea that they are, first and foremost and always, “mothers” in the eyes of the state. And oh yeah, maybe we’ll make them feel guilty while we’re at it, because God forbid some ignorant slut gets away with a guilt-free pregnancy termination – oh, excuse me, “child murder”.
Also, here is the site she references, which has the doctors sharing their memories of pre-Roe experiences.
* And please, people, don’t turn this into a whole new “Abortion: Good or Evil?!” thread; I do not have the energy to belabor the argument at this juncture. I’m sure you can find plenty of intellectually superior blogs on which to discuss the matter.
Irony of the Day
From Bitch Ph.D.:
God will stop abortion, no matter how many babies he has to kill to do it.
The next person to try and construe this disaster as an affirmation of their brand of fairy-in-the-sky mythology gets my proverbial foot in their proverbial ass.