Walk For Choice This Saturday!

In case you haven't heard, women's access to medical care, family planning, and abortions are under attack. The recent happenings in Congress (HR 358, HR 3, and the cuts to Title X) are putting women's lives on the line and women's bodies under scrutiny. In light of the recent bills that were introduced to the House, activists in Chicago organized an event that sparked Walks For Choice around the world. If you are just as outraged as I am, walk in solidarity with me and thousands of other people this Saturday, February 26th, 2011 in a Walk For Choice!

The walks are taking place in cities across five countries, so gather your friends and put on some ORANGE in support of women's rights to choose! Some locations for Saturday's walk have not been released yet so be sure to check tweets with hashtags #walk4choice by noon tomorrow!

Get creative with your signs and come up with some cool chants like the folks at Bitch Magazine:

• "If you can't trust me with a choice, how can you trust me with a child?"
• "Keep your rosaries off my ovaries!"
• "If you like safe sex, save Title X!"

For more info, check out their Facebook to find a walk in a city near you! And to show solidarity with reproductive health and rights every day, join the Trust Women Silver Ribbon Campaign.

Anti-Abortion Extremist Faces Trial

After positive outcomes for women’s rights in the 2010 elections, the fight for women’s reproductive rights continues in North Carolina courts.

Pro-life extremist, Flip Benham, faces trial for posting “Wanted” posters that potentially violate the state’s residential picketing laws. These posters have been dispersed throughout North Carolina neighborhoods and feature faces of doctors who perform abortion surgeries along with text that demands negative action towards them. This long overdue trial for the man behind on-going anti-abortion related violence and recent anti-Islam violence, seems to be a large stride in the right direction for pro-choice advocates.

A positive stride indeed, but the struggle for criminal charges in this scenario may be a long battle. Benham claims that he has the right to conduct such activity under the guarantees of the first amendment are difficult to challenge in court under legal doctrine. However, precedence does promise some light at the end of the tunnel. According to NPR, a similar 2002 federal court case decision deemed such anti-abortion activity as illegal because it utilizes “threat of force” in its actions. Another major indicator of the battle ahead is the fact that this trial only violates state and city laws that can at most charge Bentham a few months in jail.

Pro-choice groups vow to take this case to higher courts for criminal charges and hope that pro-abortion doctors receive the justice they deserve. Stay tuned for updates on the trial outcomes and listen to Feminist Majority Foundation’s Kathy Spillar on air with NPR!

Clinic Defense & Campus Organizing - A Natural Partnership

Bonjour Campus Choices! Meghan here, and this is my first of many posts as the newest member of Choices Campus Leadership Program’s team of National Campus Organizers. Although new to this position, I am no stranger to the dangers of clinic harassment and violence, or FMF’s work to assist in defending clinics against it.

This July, I joined FMF as a volunteer to keep the clinics of Charlotte, NC safe from the harassment of Operation Save America’s (OSA) annual clinic siege. If you’ve ever seen your average weekend “sidewalk counselor” protests outside a clinic, take that image and quadruple it. Meditate for a moment for sanity’s sake, and then double it again, totally approximately 250 anti-choice harassers.

As a part the National Clinic Access Project, FMF brought in volunteers from miles and miles away to combat the extreme tactics of OSA, which included posting WANTED posters of the brave and committed abortion providers who staff the Charlotte clinics, holding up oversized posters which featured graphic and medically inaccurate images of dead babies, blocking driveways, and using an amplifier to preach hate to the patients, staff and pro-choice volunteers.

Although there were three clinics that were targeted by OSA, Family Reproductive Health requested a presence of pro-choice clinic defenders throughout the week and we spent the majority of our time there. I had never seen anything like what I saw in Charlotte, and it is hard to articulate how sad and infuriating it was to see the way these self-proclaimed intolerant people would attack women who were simply trying to receive basic reproductive health care.

I would, without a doubt, just as soon favor every woman in America have safe and free access to reproductive health services, but what surprised me most was how much I enjoyed my time in Charlotte. Banding together with dozens of passionate and committed pro-choice volunteers, FMF staff, students from UNCC Feminist Union, and Charlotte Pro-Choice Coalition members to keep FRH and the other Charlotte clinics safe and protected by our efforts – including clinic defense, counter-protesting, legal observation and close contact with law enforcement – was inspiring, to say the least.

On the last day of the clinic siege, we managed to rally over 75 clinic defenders in the wee hours of the morning so that when OSA arrived to set up their Harassment HQ, they promptly turned their vans around and drove away. According to the fantastic clinic staff, it was the first Saturday without harassment and protest in the 8 years the clinic had been open.

Luckily, it is not every Saturday that OSA brings hundreds of people from all over the country to target a clinic, but virtually every day of the year there is some form of harassment outside of hundreds of clinics across the US. Get involved to help keep these clinics safe by joining in our Adopt-a-Clinic Campaign. There are so many ways you can help keep your clinic safe and open. Vocal pro-choice support can keep patients safe when entering the clinic, help maintain law enforcements attention to this issue, and show clinics that their hard work is appreciated and important.

This blog post is part of the October eZine. To receive our monthly eZine, click here.

Clinic defense: A prochoice band-aid

My clinic escort buddy Username Catbus recently posted reasons why clinic defense is a crummy volunteer gig, and why he does it anyway. His main points:

a) You have to listen to racist jerks yell babykiller epithets at you and patients. Further reading: Our local antis created a handy manual on how to harass women on the street who might be "abortion-minded"

b) It's boring and you risk sunburn/inclement weather/racist jerks

c) Clinic defense best suits volunteers with an even keeled temperament, so it's not for everyone, and

d) If you don't have an even keeled temperament, you're better off doing other prochoice work like lobbying or campaigning for progressive candidates, since clinic defense is just a band-aid for a bigger problem.

But we continue to volunteer because it is generally the most meaningful and rewarding reason to wake up at 7am on a Saturday. Really, clinic defense is my favorite volunteer activity and I encourage everyone who's pro-choice to try it. In addition to the general warm fuzzy feelings you get from volunteering, consider:

a) It's 8:30am. Sleepiness often trumps crankiness at antis.

b) You get to socialize with cool people you might not ordinarily meet. I've met prochoice bloggers, Hill staffers, dog walkers, federal contractors, college kids, and legendary local escort Phil. Far better than okcupid or networking happy hours.

c) You can have a really productive Saturday when you wake up early. Counterpoint: When you go out that evening, your friends will be perky and you will fall asleep in the bar, if you're me.

d) There's no minimum time commitment for volunteering with DC area clinics. Commitment-phobes welcome.

e) No papercuts.

f) It will make you even more pro-choice. Even if you just go to a short volunteer training, you'll feel smarter and angrier about clinic harassment.

If you are in the DC area and want to become a clinic escort, contact the Washington Area Clinic Defense Task Force. If you are elsewhere, join FMF's Adopt-a-Clinic campaign and email campusteam (at) feminist (dot) org for help finding a provider. Comment below and let us know how you're supporting your friendly local abortion provider!

Photo of crisis-pregnancy-center-mobile: j-No on Flickr

Thank You Thursday! 07/29/2010

We are excited to announce that we are adding a new weekly series of blog posts known as "Thank You Thursday!" Our "Thank You Thursday" posts will include a list of people who have done or said something pro-woman that we appreciate. We hope you enjoy seeing who is doing positive work!
This Thursday, we would like to thank:

• U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton for blocking several key passages of Arizona's new immigration law SB 1070
• Memphis City Council Member Janis Fullilove for supporting a proposed LGBT antidiscrimination policy even when faced with death threats
• ESPN Reporter Erin Andrews for advocating for the STALKERS Act
• Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for their efforts to get the Dream Act passed

• and a special thanks to everyone who help with the Pro-Choice Clinic Defense in Charlotte, North Carolina, last week!!!

THANK YOU!!!!!

We've Been Stupak'd

While women won big with health care reform, we took a hard blow when it came to comprehensive reproductive health care, and we are doing so again. However, this time there are no trade-offs.

As soon as next month, transitory health-insurance pools for those with pre-existing conditions will become available. Yesterday the NARAL released a statement that said the new temporary health care plans for high-risk individuals will not include comprehensive reproductive health care. It seems the White House Administration has put a total ban on abortion coverage (with the exception of cases of rape, incest, or if the woman’s life is endangered) even though there is not a single thing in the federal law that restricts the use of federal or state money for abortion coverage within the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plans (PCIPs).

This ban is in essence the same as the Stupak amendment which was defeated months ago. With the enforcement of this ban there is no way women will be able to purchase abortion coverage within the PCIP system even with their own private funds. Because these women fall in the high-risk category, they will not have options outside the PCIP system to find insurance coverage for abortion. That's why they are participating in the PCIP system to begin with, because they can't get coverage anywhere else! So in the end the government is completely denying these women of any possible coverage for abortion period!!

We did not work so hard to defeat the Stupak amendment, to so quickly and without any reason find a Stupak ban enforced now! As the Center for Reproductive Rights stated: "Healthcare reform was a tightly bargained piece of legislation - and with this, the White House is threatening to renege on a fundamental part of its bargain with American women and families who truly need coverage."

Join me in speaking out by telling President Obama that this abortion-coverage ban was not part of the agreement on health reform and that abortion coverage should not be excluded from the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plans!

Still Going After All These Years: The Fight For Choice

In the early 1970s, trail-blazing feminists had a vision for women’s health centers and abortion service providers. Clinics were to function as places where all women could feel strong, safe, and supported - true centers of female empowerment. With the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, guaranteeing women the right to abortion, the pro-choice campaign seemed to be headed towards this idealist destination.

Few feminists of that era would have predicted that in June 2010 the New York Times would publish an article highlighting 11 states that have passed laws restricting or regulating abortion this year alone. Feminists, particularly those who defended clinics in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, are left wondering, "How is the fight for choice still going on?"

According to the Times article about 370 state bills regulating abortion have been introduced in 2010. Regulations that have made it through state legislatures include an Oklahoma law requiring women to undergo an ultrasound and listen to a description of the fetus prior to abortion, the banning of all abortions after twenty weeks in Nebraska, and a Tennessee bill requiring clinics to post signs stating it is illegal to coerce women into undergoing an abortion procedure. Even scarier, Utah legislators have passed a law allowing a 17 - year - old girl who paid a man to beat her into a miscarriage to be charged with homicide. While my pro-choice colleagues and I are left baffled by this wave of anti-choice legislation, abortion opponents are welcoming the turning tide. As quoted in the Times, Mary Spaulding Blanch, director of state legislation for the National Right to Life Committee, said, "This is a good year as far as victories." She continues, "I do get the impression that the [state political] climate is friendlier." Friendlier to anti-abortion laws, that is.

In an era where many Americans are unaware or dismissive of the gender inequities that exist in our culture, the question I all too often receive when I reveal my feminist passions is, "What do feminists have to fight for these days, anyway?" While there are an unlistable number of answers to that question, one response the feminists of the 70s didn’t think I would have to say is "choice." As evidenced by the recent passage of restrictive laws in numerous states, however, abortion is very much still on the agenda. So alas, the battle rages onward.

photo credit:Leo in Canberra on flickr.com

Justice Served

Thirty seven minutes. That is how long a jury deliberated the charges against Scott Roeder, 51, in the murder of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider in Wichita, Kansas. After five days of testimony it ended with one sentence: "In the state of Kansas versus Scott Roeder, 2009-CR-1462, we the jury find the defendant, Scott Roeder, guilty of the crime of first-degree murder."

Roeder was also found guilty of two counts of aggravated assault and faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years (prosecutors are seeking the "hard 50" which would make him ineligible for parole for 50 years). The facts of the case were never disputed. Roeder admitted on the stand that on May 31, 2009 he approached Dr. Tiller, who was serving as an usher in his church, placed the gun to his head and shot him. While fleeing the church Roeder threatened two additional church members with his gun before driving away.

But the events of that Sunday were not by chance. Jurors learned of the years of calculated plotting and surveillance by Scott Roeder. While "sidewalk counseling" patients of Dr. Tiller's clinic (including sending them to the nearby crisis pregnancy center) he monitored the patterns and security measures of Dr. Tiller. On the stand, Roeder admitted to considering other ways of killing Dr. Tiller, including a sniper shooting, cutting off his hands, and a car accident, but none of them would guarantee his death. And that had to be certain.

His decision to kill Dr. Tiller in his church was his only possible window of opportunity to ensure his plan would succeed. Frequently protesting outside of the church, Roeder attended services to learn the lay out and exits. He planned to kill Dr. Tiller the weekend before but he was not in attendance. Dr. Tiller, a father and grandfather, was at Disneyland with his family.

Roeder's testimony also detailed what we have always known to be true: that he did not act alone. He regularly visited Shelly Shannon, who shot Dr. Tiller in both hands in 1993, in jail and received information, including Tiller's home address, from organizations like Operation Rescue. A pan of the courtroom audience was a who's who of anti-abortion extremists. Individuals who have been convicted of clinic arsons, authors of the Army of God manual, and signers of the justifiable homicide petition sat in the courtroom every day.

Roeder, whose life was detailed in an extensive piece in GQ magazine, distrusted the government and had little income. So how did he find the money for the murder weapon, his frequent hotel stays, gas, or even the pizza he ate just minutes after assassinating Dr. Tiller? From other anti-abortion extremists.

The Feminist Majority Foundation has called on the Department of Justice to fully investigate the connections of Scott Roeder and the very realy threats they pose to doctors across the country. “We can only hope that the network will be dismantled, and until it’s dismantled, we’re waiting for the next murder,” stated Kathy Spillar, Exectuive Vice President of the Feminist Majority Foundation.

Just days after the conviction of Scott Roeder, Shelly Shannon released a statement from prison issuing a warning that abortion providers will "continue to be stopped." In an interview with the Associated Press before his trial Roeder also warned of "many other similar events planned around the country as long as abortion remains legal."

Dr. Tiller faced these attacks of harrassment, stalking, and violence for years. He was known to wear a bullet proof vest, drive an armored vehicle and lived in a gated community. He routinely changed his patterns and had personal security guards. His clinic was routinely attacked and was equipped with bullet proof glass and metal detectors. All this, just to perform a legal medical procedure.

But we all know that abortion is more than just another medical procedure. Abortion providers like Dr. Tiller save the lives of women. They trust women. And that trust is the thing that scares men like Scott Roeder the most. Today many clinics are currently under attack and we must continue to stay vigilant in the fight against clinic violence and ensure that our law enforcement agencies enforce the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE). Dr. Tiller was a champion for women and his legacy lives on in every activist who writes a thank you note to their local clinic, becomes trained as a clinic escort, donates to an organization that supports safe access to abortion, and chooses to go to medical school and become an abortion provider. We all must remember the power of collective action to stand up for justice.

This article was featured in our February 2010 monthly Choices eZine. Sign up for our alerts to stay up-to-date with the latest feminist news and to receive the monthly eZine.

Trusting Women

Perhaps you've heard about a little TV commercial coming up this Sunday during a certain football game. Planned Parenthood just released a video in response to the Focus on the Family spot in this clip below:



Via Jezebel.

Ho Ho, Hey Hey, Roe v. Wade is Here to Stay

DC is one of the most influential places in the world. Such much goes on in this city that it's residents get a chance to take part in events and such that deal with issues that affect the entire country.

Today, I got the opportunity to march in front of the Supreme Court Building to celebrate the 37th Anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Court Decision. Unfortunately, this anniversary is also the date when anti-choice groups decide to flood the National Mall for the March for Life and protest the landmark abortion decision. We knew that we would be out numbered so keeping this in mind, we just wanted to make our presence known.

This was my first time participating in a march like this and it was quite a unique experience. Prior to the march, I was warned that anti-choice demonstrators would try to get in my face and how many of these demonstrators would be young, high school teenagers. This made me a little anxious but I assured myself that if I did not respond to their taunting, they would give up and move onto the next person.

When we walked up to the building and began marching in a circle with our pro-choice signs and chants, dozens of 13-year-olds descended upon us with blue and pink face paint, "I love babies" written on their faces, and red duct tape inscribed with "LIFE" covering their mouths. I really wish I had gotten a picture because it was quite humorous. For these teens, this march was just a fun field trip for which they got to play dress up, hang out with their friends, and yell about things they knew nothing about.

At one point, we were chanting "Stupak has got to go, when you're pregnant let us know" (one of my personal favorites because many of these teens may very well have abortions later on in their teen-years) and many of them ran up to their friends and asked "What is Tupak? Why are they chanting about Tupac?" This just made me shake my head because you would think that if you were really passionate about a cause and were willing to attend a march to speak about your beliefs that you would be educated about your cause. But no, these children are given no valuable information about what they're marching about. All they are told is pro-choice advocates love killing babies and that is what they believe. Sigh.

Thankfully nobody got up in my face, but I may or may not have shouldered a couple of teenagers that tried to get in my way. I had a blast and my new raspy voice is evidence that I chanted to my fullest.

Above is a picture of FMF interns, Khatera, Mariel, and Elena at the march.

Viva Roe!

For Goodness Sake, Just Trust Us!

In honor of the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, NARAL is holding the 5th annual Blog for Choice Day!

I would like to start off with a response to the Newsweek blogpost in The Gaggle about this years Roe v. Wade Anniversary March. I'm slightly offended by some of the assumptions they made.

For example, this years march is shorter and is earlier in the day than in previous years. There could be many reasons for this alteration, but the blogger thought the only clear choice was that "the organizers are getting older, and it’s more difficult for them to walk a long distance". Excuse me? Just because a lot of the protesters are some of the original participants in the abortion movement are over 60, does not mean that they have difficulty walking.

The Gaggle also assumes that there is going to be a lack of young feminists because “older generations had friends and family members who died of complications or found themselves sterilized because of abortion. Young women today don’t have that personal connection.” While we may not have a connection to the past, the current threats to abortion rights are direct threats to our bodies. Abortion laws may not affect our past, but they affect our future so it is our responsibility more than anyone else's to make sure our rights aren't threatened.

Younger feminists are criticized for not being as out there as past generations of feminists. Because of new technologies that allow us to stay home and still reach thousands of people through blogging, we receive a lot of slack for not knowing how to protest. Well I would like you all to know that today I am going to blog and protest. So take that Newsweek! Maybe we are a little physically inactive, but we are able to spread our feminist voice in other methods. You just need to trust us.

This brings me to this year's Blog for Choice Day Question is: What does "Trust Women" mean to you? This is in honor of Dr. George Tiller's famous tag line and button that he frequently wore.

I think that "Trust Women" is one of the more powerful pro-choice statements. It is concise and manages to tell people to stay out of everybody else's business without being offensive. Simply, just trust women and the decisions they want to make about their body and their lives.

Everyone is constantly telling women what to do, what to think, who to be, what to wear. Why is it that people think they have a say in our lives? They say they are trying to protect us from the big bad world, but is it really because they see us as incompetent girls who are unable to decide what is right for us? You don't know me, how could you possibly know what's right for me? Get out of my life and away from my uterus! TRUST ME! You need to trust all women because believe it or not, they are people to.

To see more blog posts about trusting women go to NARAL's Blog for Choice

Guest post: 10 ways to celebrate Roe v. Wade!

Guest post by Jesse Michener, treasurer of Kutztown University's Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance!

Friday was the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that re-legalized abortion in the United States. This is a day we feminist activists are supposed to be celebrating, but when looking at all of the barriers to obtaining safe, legal abortion, it’s difficult to celebrate.

There are more barriers to a woman’s right to choose today then there have been for decades. Many states have parental consent laws and mandatory delays. Add to that the lack of abortion providers and the harassment they face, and one can see how truly a woman’s right to choose is in jeopardy. That’s why on this anniversary, I think it’s important to remember a quote by Mother Jones, a labor activist, who once said, “Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.”

Before Roe, women died because they were unable to find safe abortion providers, and 37 years later we are still fighting to keep abortion safe and legal. That’s why we as pro-choice activists need to redouble our efforts to protect a woman’s right to choose, so that hopefully we can work to break down many of the barriers to choice that now exist. For this anniversary, I thought of ten things we all can do to support the pro-choice movement.

1. Online Activism: Everyone has a Facebook or a Myspace or a Twitter account. Use yours to support choice. Post pro-choice articles, make your status a pro-choice message, join pro-choice groups and become a fan of pro-choice organizations.

2. Join a group: There are many great pro-choice organizations out there from FMLAs on campus to local NOW chapters. Become involved in these organizations and work with others to make a difference.

3. Donate: Give what you can to organizations that support abortion rights. Organizations like the Feminist Majority, Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation do amazing things. Giving just a little to these organizations can make a big difference.

4. Expose Fake Clinics and other anti-choice organizations: Many people are unaware that Crisis Pregnancy Centers do not refer for or perform abortions. It’s important to educate people on campus and in the community about this, so that people are aware and can make educated choices on where to go for reproductive health care.

5. Come Out: Come out as being pro-choice, discuss the issue with your friends and family, put a pro-choice bumper sticker on your car, wear a pro-choice shirt or button and be proud that you support a woman’s right to choose.

6. Volunteer: Many abortion providers need volunteers and there are many different ways one can. Clinic escorting is just one way to volunteer; this is where people walk patients and their support people through anti-choice protesters into the clinic. To find out how to help, call your local abortion provider and ask how you can help out.

7. VOTE: Becoming politically involved is one of the most important things we can do. Why not join a campaign, sign a petition or run for office. Being politically involved will ensure that future generations will still have the right to choose.

8. Educate Others: Organize an event on campus or do a presentation for a class on a woman’s right to choose. This is a great way to help others become more aware of important issues and to help more people get involved.

9. Advocate for others: Not everyone feels comfortable standing up for their own rights so it’s important for those of us who feel comfortable to speak up. Find out where your campus health center refers students who face an unintended pregnancy. If they don’t give students all of their options, speak up and fight for change.

10. Support All Choices: Last but not least, we need to remember that being pro-choice isn’t just about abortion, it’s about supporting self-determination. Over the last several decades the social safety net in our country has been eroded and it has become harder and harder for women who choose to become parents and adoption is a complicated process. We as feminist need to support women who choose to become parents and women who choose adoption as well.

Photo credit: KU FMLA

Thanks for weighing in, Jesse! If you would like to showcase your feminist group's activism around Roe v. Wade and abortion rights, send your 350 word post to campusteam (at) feminist (dot) org :D

Reproductive Rights Centered on the Global Stage: 15the Anniversary of Cairo Conference

Optimism is truly an understatement of the energy I feel after hearing the resounding and remarkable words of our Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton in her address commemorating the 15th Anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development. Also known as the Cairo Conference of 1994. It is exceptionally refreshing to not only see an undoubtedly pro-choice feminist represent the global interests of this nation, but to also spotlight reproductive health and rights as a fundamental element for the advancement of our world is significantly profound. Her charge to the global community, including the US, to recommit itself to the goals embraced 15 years ago, I think, will be the breakthrough feminist activists have been longing for.

For a moment, let's revisit 1994. A time where 10% of women worldwide used modern forms of contraception, gross inadequacies and inaccessible women's healthcare and health education, AIDS hitting center stage, high illiteracy rates among women and girls, high maternal and infant mortalities, low numbers of female political representation, and increased vulnerabilities resulting from national instability such as the genocide in Rwanda. Though we've come a long way, many of these issues still exist today.

In her remarks, Secretary Clinton highlighted very startling facts that set a tone for urgency to meet the goals of Cairo by 2015. She stated, "Nearly half the women in the developing world deliver their babies without a nurse, a midwife, a doctor, or access to crucial medical care. Global rates of maternal mortality remain perilously high..." She goes on with this alarming statistic, "...one woman dies every minute of every day in pregnancy or childbirth, and for every woman who dies, another 20 suffer from injury, infection or disease every minute."

These disheartening rates are sad, but real. Unfortunately, we've entered into a new decade where the discussion of reproductive health--a direct correlation to a woman's ability to meet and fulfill her greatest potential--is still a debatable topic. How can we debate or compromise on the more than 215 million women globally lack access to contraceptives which contributes to nearly 20 million unsafe abortions each year? How can we argue about the estimated 70 million girls around the world subjected to female genital mutilation? How can we explain the millions suffering from stigma, injury, and in very many cases, fatality due to fistula; often brought about due to pregnancies occurring in girls at a young age? We cannot. Secretary Clinton put it best, "these numbers are not only grim, but after 15 years, they are intolerable. For if we believe that human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights, then we cannot accept the ongoing marginalization of half the world's population. We cannot accept it morally, politically, socially or economically."

Along with heavy feelings about these dark realities came some relief. Clinton exemplified a renewed hope in the new direction the US is taking, supporting the United Nations in creating global programs that integrate women's issues as a way to solve the world's most devastating problems. She admitted that the US has recommitted funding of reproductive healthcare through the United Nations Population Fund and Congress has recently appropriated more than $648 million in foreign assistance dedicated to family planning and reproductive health services worldwide. The US has also pledged funding for new programs and is committed to achieving the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goal Five by reducing 3/4 of the global maternal mortality rate, and instituting universal access to reproductive healthcare.

She also mentioned that the US has launched the Global Health Initiative, a new program that will become the "centerpiece of our foreign policy". Its aim is to assist countries in strengthening their own health care systems, and to ensure that the social and economic factors that impact women's health is ingrained in all global health programs. In addition, this Initiative also serves to reach out to men and boys and encourage them to take part as advocates and allies.

Aside from focusing on women's health care and making available services and programs, the State Department is also interested in expanding opportunities for women to participate in peacebuilding, reversing climate change, and investing in entrepreneurship as a considerable matter for national security. Attitudes and social taboos, she presumes, will shift because of this investment.

At the closing of her remarks, Secretary Clinton drew attention to our role as women, where we may be separated by economic status or education, we must demand, for all of us, to no longer be denied of basic rights. "I've been in many places in many parts of the world where the rich, the educated, the well off, the connected, the powerful, the elite had access to every single form of healthcare. And yet it was denied -- denied by law, denied by culture, denied by taboo, denied by regulation, denied by resources to the vast majority of women in the same societies."

"So part of what we need to do is not only provide services to those who need them, but to change the minds and attitudes of those who can be responsible for delivering those services in countries around the world." She suggests that we close this gap between the haves and the have-nots when it comes to granting rights for all women, "the right that women who have a position in society are able to command cannot, therefore, be denied to the women who live down the street or care for their children or clean their homes or plant their crops, and that we have to do a better job of making the equity argument on behalf of girls and women...."

The anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development is a testament to where we are and where we're going as a global community. The journey for gender equity around the world is by no means over. And though the world may look favorably upon the Obama administration, it is certainly our duty to ensure that they will stay true to their word. I am hopeful that our Secretary of State will continue to lead in charting the pathway to a future where women can live and live freely.

Check out FMF's Global Reproductive Health Campaign and join in the struggle for universal reproductive health care everywhere!

This article was featured in our January 2010 monthly Choices eZine. Sign up for our alerts to stay up-to-date with the latest feminist news and to receive the monthly eZine.

Ughhh

It is so disheartening to see Sarah Palin's anti-choice agenda pushed on the cover of a mainstream gossip magazine. Yes, both the Palins made a "choice," as the cover says. Yet Sarah Palin wants to deprive American women of the right to make that choice. About as ironic as Bristol Palin's abstinence-only advocacy, huh?

More over at Jezebel.

Young Activists and the Apathy Myth

I'm now going to be guestblogging occasionally at Jewesses with Attitude, the blog of the Jewish Women's Archive. Here's the first of what will hopefully be many posts for them!

Ever since Bart Stupak finagled his anti-choice amendment onto the House’s Health Care Reform bill three weeks ago, my life seems to be all Stupak, all the time. I have attended rallies, visited Capitol Hill to talk to my Senators, helped plan a Lobby Day on December 2 with a broad group of progressive organizations known as the Stop Stupak coalition, supported students as they plan their own on-campus actions, and organized online to get the word out as much as possible.

Having done all that, and having been committed to pro-choice activism for many years, I cannot help but take personal offense when I read articles like “In Support of Abortion, It’s Personal vs. Political.” The New York Times is known for both its insightful reporting and ridiculous trend pieces, and this article, from last Sunday, appears to be the latter. Once again, the Times trotted out the typical talking points when it comes to younger women and feminism — that we take our rights for granted, that we only see things in terms of personal choice, and that the movement is GOING TO DIE because we do not appear to care. The author attempts to put a new spin on that old trope by saying that young people (or “millenials,” as no one, except the writers of trend pieces, calls us) view abortion rights in a new way, framing that movement as part of a larger struggle for human rights. This is after they claim that we view abortion as purely a personal issue.

My problem with this article (and the many that have come before it) is two-fold. First and most obviously, I am insulted by the premise as a twenty-something activist. Too often, younger women are written off as not caring about their rights, a condescending and foolish assumption. I travel a lot, and everywhere I have been, from Tuscaloosa, AL to Beloit, WI, I have found feminists. They are pushing their school administrators to take sexual assault seriously and raising money for women’s education in Afghanistan and volunteering at their local comprehensive women’s health clinics as escorts. They are blogging, tweeting, and organizing on Facebook, using these online tools to build a stronger community and reach more people than ever before. When young women are dismissed as apathetic, it hurts the larger movement.

Secondly, the premise of the Times piece is built on a type of “good ol days” nostalgia, remembering an era in which all young women rallied for their rights. Just as there are apathetic people now, there were apathetic people then. To imply that all women were activists and understood reproductive rights in a women’s empowerment framework is both historically inaccurate and does not appropriately honor those who did work like crazy for change—protests do not plan themselves and laws do not magically appear. There were many dedicated individuals in the baby boomer generation who threw their whole lives into this cause, and to make it seem as if everyone was into abortion rights and feminism downplays their struggles.

I am always wary of any kind of generational framing of activism. I don’t buy into the “waves” concept in women’s history. The struggles of today are connected to the struggles of the past. If younger women do not understand the achievements and failures of those who came before them, we will not succeed. If older women do not work with younger activists, listen to them, and encourage them to take on positions of power within the larger feminist movement, we will not succeed. I will be on Capitol Hill tomorrow, lobbying for the Stupak amendment and advocate for healthcare reform, and I look forward to seeing both young and old faces.

This Past Monday was a Success-- Join in Next Monday!

Excerpt from NOW's Blog-- Join them on Monday Nov. 16th and 23rd from 12:00 noon to 1:00pm in front of the Russel Senate Office Building to protest the Stupak Amendment. This past Monday sounded like a great success-- so lets get out there and make this next one even better!

Protest Stupak Amendment Next Two Mondays

by Liza Doubossarskaia, NOW Communications Intern
Strip Stupak!

Last weekend feminist activists watched in distress as, one by one, 240 members of Congress, many of whom were Democrats, voted to pass the Stupak Amendment, which severely interferes with a woman's right to choose. If the Stupak Amendment is included in the final version of the health care reform bill, it will: prevent women receiving tax subsidies from using their own money to purchase private insurance that covers abortion; prevent women participating in the public health insurance exchange from using 100 percent of their own money to purchase private insurance that covers abortion; and make it next to impossible for low-income women to obtain an abortion.

The Democratic leadership might have decided to compromise women's rights in order to push through the health care bill, but women whose lives are directly affected by Stupak's draconian measures will not stay silent.
Signs at the November 9th protest against the Stupak Amendement

Just this Monday, activists from NOW and the Feminist Majority gathered to express their discontent by staging a rally in front of the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. I was there and am happy to report that the rally was a smashing success. There were about 30 of us altogether -- an impressive number considering we only had 24 hours to organize the event. We proudly marched around the block, letting our voices be heard, so that our representatives would know how ardently we disapprove of their actions. All of the activists present had great energy, and everyone around us was definitely paying attention.
Activist: My Body. My Money. My Choice.

As we walked, other women stopped to cheer us on and state their displeasure with the Stupak Amendment. Quite a few of them asked for our NOW stickers, so we gladly passed them out.

Our rally also attracted a couple of anti-choice protesters. One of them followed us around, shouting at us from a megaphone. His intent was clear: he was trying to intimidate us, to make us go away. However, his megaphone proved to be no match for the combined power of our voices, and we easily drowned him out.

NOW encourages you to join us and other activists Monday, Nov. 16 and 23, from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm in front of the Russell Senate Office Building. This is a great opportunity to network with your fellow women's rights activists and get some fresh air while you're at it.

Women are 51 percent of the population, yet we are continuously subjected to discriminatory laws. It is time we let our politicians know that their disregard for reproductive health care is unacceptable and that we will not idly stand by and watch as our rights are being taken away.

Original blog found at: http://www.now.org/news/blogs/index.php/sayit/

Picture Credit: NOW Blog

First comes anger, then comes action

Okay, okay. So we all know that the Stupak-Pitts amendment is a massive threat to abortion rights and a giant F-You from Congress to 51% of the American population. We're angry. We're not going to take it anymore. So now what??

• First and foremost--call your Senator. Call often. Let him or her know that Stupak-Pitts is not acceptable, and that you will not support any members of Congress who will not take a stand for abortion rights. Call the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 or use the Feminist Majority's nifty online form.
  
• Hold a protest on your campus and in your community. Visit your Senator's district office. Write an op-ed for your campus newspaper, explaining why Stupak-Pitts represents a giant step backwards for American women. Hold a letter writing/call-in group meeting for your campus group.
  
• If you're in DC, join NOW's lunchtime Senate protests, November 16 and 23.
  
• If you aren't in DC, consider traveling here to be part of the action.There will be a massive lobby day and rally on December 2, 2009, being planned collaboratively by all the major national feminist and progressive organizations. Many more details to come!
  

Contribute more ideas in the comments! Email campusteam@feminist.org if you are interested in getting involved.

FAQ about Stupak-Pitts, Part I

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, you have probably noticed that the majority of our recent blog posts are in response to the Stupak-Pitts Amendment that is part of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, passed by the House late Saturday night. In an effort to give you more basic background knowledge on this amendment, we summarized some answers from a FAQ put out by Planned Parenthood.

What is the Stupak-Pitts Amendment?

If passed, this amendment would prohibit any coverage of abortion in the health care exchange or marketplace, applying to both the public option and private insurance sold in the exchange. The final effect of the amendment would be a ban on abortion in the entire health care exchange, both for women who have government subsidies and women who pay their premiums entirely out of pocket.

The Vote to pass Stupak-Pitts wasn’t even close in the House (40 vote margin), how do you expect it to be stripped?

Representatives, and Americans alike, are just now realizing the full effect that Stupak-Pitts could have on America. Rep. DeGette, head of the Pro-Choice Caucus has already begun signing up members who will oppose the final bill if Stupak-Pitts is not stripped.

The House Bill goes next to the Senate where a number of senators have already spoken out against the Amendment.

Keep your eye out for more Q&A, we will be posting throughout the day!

photo credit: Kevin Burkett on Flickr

The Catholic Double $tandard and the Health Debate

Believe me, I could go on and on and on and on about how outraged I am with the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, I really could. But for this blog, I want to point out something a little different in this health care debate.

For the past few months that abortion has been front and center in the health care debate, a very popular argument being made by social conservatives is “I don’t want my tax dollars paying for abortions!” Great, I get that. I’ve heard you say more ridiculous things, and this, I can actually understand. A lot of people do. This is why the original House bill included a stipulation that would require all plans to separate between private and public dollars in the new system—ensuring federal dollars would not be used to fund abortions.

But that’s too risky, you say? How can we be sure that these dollars are, indeed, separated, and used appropriately? Well... ask the Catholics. They've been doin' it for years.

Catholic organizations have a long standing history of being able to lawfully manage their money to ensure that the money they receive through government funding are not allocated for religious programs (you know…because we at least have to appear to be abiding by the separation of Church and State.) Riddle me this. If they’ve been doing this for years, decades even, why is it that Catholic Bishops are one of the largest opponents of this House compromise? Because they are hypocrites.

Hypocricy exists not only in their opposition to the compromise that would enroll health care providers in the same sort of 'program' to which they subscribe. Oh no, it goes beyond that. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (UCSSB) were the ones who ASKED for the compromise! The UCSSB called for any final health care bill to include "abortion-neutral" policy. In their own words, the USCCB defined abortion-neutral policy as maintaining current policies on funding, mandates, and conscience protections because they " represent sound morality, wise policy and political reality" (RH Reality Check) Of course, however, once the Capps Amendment was introduced, an amendment that did precisely what the USCCB originally called for, they were all of a sudden some of the most out-spoken opponents on "abortion-neutral" policy.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and its allies on the Hill distorted facts about these policies, and by distort I mean they ignored/covered up/spoke as if it didn’t exist, sending the message to Americans that the government was attempting to fund abortions and they must be stopped. Right. Well, Congress bought it. And instead of applying a system that has been working between the Church and the Government for decades to health care, they practically banned any and all financial support for medical abortions.

If separation of private and public dollars can work for the Church, it can work for, and save, women’s reproductive rights

Read the collaborative opinion piece by NARAL Pro-Choice President Nancy Keenan and Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice, in Politico for more information.

What Happens When Eggs are Classified as People: Eyes on Mexico.

Back in 2007, when Mexico City legalized abortions during the first 12 weeks, many people, both pro-choice and anti-choice, thought that this law would spread to the rest of the country.

Instead, Mexico has seen a backlash, and many states have introduced stricter laws on abortion, even including egg-as-person laws (kind of what like many US states are trying to do, only so far no US state has passed one of these laws.)

The passage of personhood laws in Mexico allows us a grim opportunity to see what could happen in the US if such laws are passed here.

The Atlantic reported various consequences of egg-as-person laws:

Jalisco: punishment for induced abortion is four to 12 months in prison if she doesn't have a "bad reputation," had her abortion in the first 5 months, successfully hid her pregnancy, or became pregnant in an illegitmate union. If she fails one of these requirements, the term DOUBLES; if she fails two, it TRIPLES. Oh, and if a judge says she deserves medical treatment instead of jail time, a counselor will help her reorient herself towards "family values."

Quintana Roo: A woman was imprisoned for "homocide" because she had an abortion

Access to the abortion pill is limited, resulting in shoddy street versions that may endanger a woman's life; plus, when doctors discover use of abortion pill, they send their patients away in handcuffs.

Pro-choice activists are fighting back, and Opinion polls show that 62 percent of Mexicans think the government shouldn't intervene in a woman's right to chose. Until public policy reflects public opinion, however, strict legal restrictions on abortion will continue to put women at risk.

Photo Credit: Petezin on flickr.com