June 6, 2012

A Modest Proposal

Posted by DrK8 under Abortion, Abortion Crisis Pregnancy Centers, Abortion Information, Abortion lies, Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCS)
[122] Comments 

Why don’t we, as a progressive community, introduce legislation that would make it a felony to give healthcare advice to a pregnant woman if the advisor is not a currently licensed healthcare professional? This legislative idea and article was inspired by and with thanks to Todd Stave, Voice of Choice. However, I would add that the legislative bill should read that is would be a felony to give healthcare advice to a pregnant woman if the advisor is not a currently licensed healthcare professional 1) with a recognized OB-GYN specialization and 2) employed within a state-licensed health care facility. The implications for this legislation are such that healthcare advice would mean that clergy, Options Centers volunteers and the protesting general public would be guilty of a felony if they provided any healthcare advice to a pregnant woman. This advice would include any information about the risks of abortion, options, cancer, or emotional distress.  As a bill it would target people who hold signs or offer literature that offer dubious medical claims like “abortion is murder” or “abortion stops a beating heart” or claims that a fetus can feel pain. The reasoning behind this bill would be to protect pregnant women from false medical claims, charlatans who practice medicine without a license and unlicensed individuals posing as counselors who offer unscientific, non medical information whether in the confines of an office or outside on the sidewalk.

Consider, for a moment a particular scenario. Any doctor or nurse who stands on a sidewalk telling you that your obesity is a moral failure and an offense to God, would be immediately discounted as a foolish. It’s no different than unlicensed people “advising” with their quasi-medical counseling at pregnancy centers or on the outskirts of abortion clinics. There are quacks who attempt to counsel pregnant women and have the best intentions. Take for example the protester called Linebacker who wore an apron with a white person’s rendering of what he thought Jesus looked like but who added her own touch. She glued a fetal doll to her apron (see image below, to the right). Persuasive? NO, but it does make the point that what we’re dealing with here are folks who are six peas short of a casserole, a few clowns short a circus, a few bricks short a load. You get the point. So, let’s be honest.
They’re no better than the randy salesmen who try to sell snake oil or Lydia Pinkham’s elixir or who believe that holy water helps or that serpents cure in The Almighty Temple of the Baby Jesus.

It seems only judicious that the authority of doctors to practice medicine and the authority of nurses to practice nursing should remain within their relationships with women patients, within the exam room and not out on the street or in some hole-in-the-wall called pregnancy care. When corporate entities, religious cartels, state or the federal governments or the average anti abortion buffoon attempt to micromanage medical care, they should be in fear of breaking the law. Neither reliable, professional doctors nor nurses would work on the streets outside an abortion clinic or within some fake healthcare facility without risking their license. Only hookers, hoodlums and drunks work the streets. Why should the government or any professional certification organization qualify frauds or potential felons to provide medical information?

There is precedence here. Nurses are not allowed to suggest that a pregnant woman sip some wine to ease her Braxton Hick contractions without violating the parameters of their professional practice. Priests are not supposed to participate in political activities without losing the church’s 5013C status with the IRS. Legislators are not licensed to practice medicine. Dentists aren’t allowed to give immunizations. Pharmacists are not allowed to dispense medications without a prescription.

So in this era of excessive government interference in all things private, it makes perfect sense to expect that those who counsel pregnant women should have the appropriate, state-recognized medical credentials.

 

June 3, 2012

We Miss You, George

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion Information
[47] Comments 

It was three years ago this past Thursday, at about 11 in the morning, when I got a call from an old friend who runs an abortion clinic here in Virginia.  We hadn’t talked in a while, so when I heard her trying to choke out the words, I knew something was terribly wrong.  Finally, I heard her say “they killed George Tiller.”  My dear old friend and colleague had been ushering parishioners into his church when an anti-abortion zealot crept up behind him and shot him in the back of the head.

To be honest, I was more sad than shocked because we all knew – and he did as well – that Doctor George Tiller was a target.  Indeed, there had been an attempt on his live once before.  This was the world he lived in, he took his precautions but he also knew he couldn’t live in an air tight security bubble. 

As one of the few doctors in the world who performed third trimester abortions, Doctor Tiller always attracted attention.  Even amongst his fellow abortion providers, he was the subject of great interest and, yes, curiosity.  At conventions, attendees would struggle to get up close to this mild mannered Kansas doctor who was always in the middle of the anti-abortion war against providers.  And, yes, some of his colleagues, when talking about his late term abortion practice, would sound a little guilty that their limits were much lower in terms of weeks and then they’d end the conversation with “thank God he is there for those women.” 

The inquisitiveness even extended to pro-lifers.  Years ago, I was invited to meet with about 30 priests at the invitation of Priests for Life and, after a long monologue about the abortion procedure, the clinics and the world of abortion providers, you’d think they would start asking me questions about how abortions were performed, disposed of, etc.  Instead, the first question (and the three subsequent questions) was “What is George Tiller really like?” 

Obviously, the media was fascinated by him as well, especially the likes of Bill O’Reilly who, weeks before his murder, relentlessly referred to Doctor Tiller as “Tiller the Killer.”  Ann Coulter and her group couldn’t resist either, constantly reminding their listeners that Tiller performed abortions “until the moment of birth.” 

Yes, his murder was no surprise to many of us.  We knew we might get the call one day. 

And now Doctor Lee Carhart has taken up the mantle, immediately announcing after George’s murder that he would start doing late term abortions in a clinic in Maryland.  I found out about Lees’ plans on the front page of the Washington Post and my first reaction was that Lee was next on the target list.  Weeks later, I visited Lee on a day when the clinic was the subject of some special protest which attracted a few hundred people in front of the office complex.  Lee, a low key Midwesterner like Tiller, chuckled a bit about the folks outside and just seemed ready to see his patients.  When I left I told him to “be safe.”  I’m not sure if he even heard me. 

Doctors like George Tiller, Lee Carhart, and Warren Hern in Colorado are not naïve.  They chose to perform a very unique and, yes, controversial medical procedure.  Lee and Warren know that it could all end in an instant.  But what keeps them going is the satisfaction of helping women from all over the world who come to them for help.

 

May 30, 2012

Useless as Scuffed Brown Shoes Without Soles

Posted by DrK8 under Abortion Advocates, Abortion Information, Abortion Stigma, Pro Life Deception, Pro Life Lies, Pro Life Terrorism
[45] Comments 

After nearly ten years of observing anti abortion protesters, I’ve come to the conclusion that if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. The commonplace protester is white with red-neck tendencies, scientifically-challenged, medically inept, dogmatically deluded, and generally diversity-defiant. Additionally, among this dreary assortment are folks with waistlines that are in direct correspondence to their intellectual capacity and women who are seriously fashion-challenged. Owing to their brainwashing, they are as useless as scuffed brown shoes without soles. In fact, their products, their messages and their brands are like Wonder Bread in an artisanal bakery, Oscar Mayer bologna in an Italian salumeria or a Hostess Twinkie in a French patissierie. Compared to the creativity of the majority who trust women to make decisions for themselves about abortion and contraception, these interchangeable trolls are boring with a capital B. Standardized, commercialized, reproducible fiends fit for no one, they arrive at clinics across the nation every Saturday morning to worship what they cherish: themselves and imaginary babies. But, they worship with the same old tunes, the same old messages, and the same old signage.

I’ll acknowledge that there are a minority who are more creatively odd than most.  For example, in Allentown, PA, one fruitcake fetal crusader thought it was perfectly OK to use holy water to “baptize” women’s abdomens as they entered the walkway to the clinic. Of course, she did not ask permission for this conjured rite. Another woman, named Mary, performing in the street with chanting and invocations, sprinkled holy water on the clinic door and pedestrian walkway and then doused herself from head to toe with the water. With that last act, I thought the local loony bin had misplaced one of their inmates. Mary was one of those protesters who gave voice to the phantom fetus by yelling “I want to live. Please don’t kill me.” There are other protesters, like Joyce, who thinks ventriloquism will convince women not to abort. She uses a saccharine falsetto voice to grind out “Mommy, Mommy please don’t kill me, Mommy.” Then there’s old white Joe who invokes Martin Luther King’s name as if he was Jesus Junior every time he sees a person of color. Making unknowable claims about King’s position on abortion, Joe wallows in racist comments. But as Dr. Wallace Best, a religion and African American studies professor at Princeton succinctly stated, King “stood for justice, equality and fairness and certainly against any kind of discrimination,” something Joe will never understand nor ever embrace.

Anyway, the overwhelming majority of protesters use messages that are simply banal. What we’re left with are reruns week in, week out. It’s a stark contrast to the more progressive folks who use vivid messaging in support of women.

In Kentucky, one abortion clinic attracts the best and the worst. The volunteer escorts are the best at walking women to the clinic past some of the most vile protesters I’ve ever seen. They have a Mary there too. She’s one serious whackadoodle, complete with her big bible, hellfire and brimstone. She’s also a shover. She has no problem shoving escorts, no guilt about blocking women from exiting their cars and no difficulty telling women they’re “gonna burn in hell for eternity” or “The bible says thou shalt not kill.” Mary is also a holy roller big into laying on a hands and so animated that I wonder if she’s really just a busker. Joined by this Pentecostal type are snoopy, arrogant priests. They add their crucifixes and rosaries to the cacophony known as the circus of the absurd. There is nothing like a weird brew of stewed priests and salty Baptists to give a Saturday morning its special flavor. It’s what’s on the menu every Saturday morning in this lovely southern city. In comparison to this Barnum & Bailey environment, progressive men and women assert their support for women with ingenious and encouraging messaging.

In Allen, TX, women seeking abortions don’t stand a chance with the droll protesters. Whether speaking in English or Spanish, they swarm women as they attempt to walk on the sidewalk leading to the clinic. Working in pairs, one walks in front of the women, offering help while the one in the back keeps repeating, “You’re making a big mistake. You’re making the biggest mistake of your life.” Other protesters line the sidewalk should to shoulder with their typical accessories: rosaries, Guadalupe image, crucifix, and other assorted signs. Because of the proximity to Mexico, much of the city’s population speaks Spanish. So, the protesters have translated their same old, desert-dry messages. Que lastima! But some bilingual women have created posters that cut right to the heart of the issue.

In North Aurora, IL, the abortion clinic is relatively new but the anti abortion trolls look the same. Same old tired signs, same old anger, same old righteous indignation that women have a choice about what to do with their reproductive health. They use the tiny white coffins lining the sidewalk (been there, done that), plaster the surrounding area with signs (been there, done that), tell women that they will regret their abortion (been there, done that). Yawn!!! Is this the best that this mid-west city can produce? Where is the ingenuity? It’s with the progressives, that’s where!

What I have noticed is that most of the freak shows keep using the same old materials. The same old fetal images. The same old bloody Malachi image that they worship. The same old rosaries and the same old worn bibles. The same old messages. The same old white men and women. The same old dumpy dimwits. It’s like going to going to same movie or reading the same book—the ending is always the same. Even the well-funded extremists like Flip Benham and Troy Newman are forever using the same old stuff. I had to laugh at Newman’s braggadocio back in October 2007 when he claimed his Operation Rescue rocked Fargo, ND with their purported “Truth Truck” and their literature. Well, guess what? It’s 2012 and his latest visit to Fargo this month had the same result. Zip. Zilch.

I’m hoping that one of these days there will be someone with a fresh approach, something new and innovative. But to do that, they’ll have to infuse a bit more intellectual and creative energy. Sadly, intelligence and creativity are missing within the anti abortion cartel. For now, it’s just the same old freak shows, same stuff, different day that net the same old results. Zippity Do Da.

 

May 27, 2012

A Fake Debate on Abortion

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion Information
[36] Comments 

Okay, now everybody just sit back, take a deep breath and have a nice glass of wine.  Chill out.    

Earlier this week, the proverbial poop hit the fan in the pro-choice community when a young woman named Jodi Jacobson wrote a piece for “RH Reality Check.”  The piece was entitled “American Airlines Rejects Female Passenger Because Political Pro-Choice T Shirt is ‘Inappropriate.’”  

It seems that Jodi had just attended an abortion rights meeting and, shortly thereafter one of the attendees, a woman referred to only as “O,” informed Jodi that she had been prohibited from getting on an American Airlines flight because she was wearing a pro-choice T shirt.  Jodi went immediately to her blog and alerted the troops to this outrage.  The facts were clear to Jodi:  this woman was tossed off because of “her politically salient pro-choice T-shirt…” 

What is going on?  You can’t even say you are pro-choice anymore?  Isn’t it enough that the Republicans are waging a “war on women” in the Congress and in the state legislatures?  Now, we gotta put up with corporate America taking away our civil liberties?    Protestors can hold up gory pictures but the airlines can kick someone off a plane because they are pro-choice?   Rise up fellow pro-choicers!  To arms, to arms!     

Oh, by the way, did I mention that the T shirt said:  “If I wanted the government in my womb, I’d fuck a senator.” 

So, this blog went on about how O was held up, the confusion that ensued, how she missed a connecting flight, etc., etc.  We even were told about how the woman was allegedly berated publicly – and, if true, there is certainly no excuse for that. 

Now, no one can question my pro-choice credentials but I grow weary of my pro-choice friends who, in cases like this, freak out and make an incredibly big assumption that this action on the part of the airlines had to do with abortion rights, protecting a woman’s uterus, free speech, etc.  This fake outrage is just starting to wear a little thin.   And I say “fake” because, guess what, this was not about the abortion issue.  It was about the F word. 

You see, it seems that airlines have some rules – and they are there for all to see.  If anyone had taken the time to check American Airlines’ website, under their “conditions of carriage,” they would have seen that “American may refuse to transport you, or may remove you from your flight at any point, for one or several reasons…(including)…”if you are clothed in a manner that would cause discomfort or offense to other passengers.”  And, to try to explain what happen, American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith told MSNBC: “The only reason she was asked to cover up her T-shirt was the appearance of the ‘F word’ on the T shirt.  The [pro-choice] message is irrelevant to our policy…”

Now, I know we don’t want to believe ole Tim because that would not further our cause.  But, c’mon folks, is there any harm in just sitting back and actually trying to sort out the facts before we start causing such a ruckus?  I guess the answer is “no” because this ONE blog was immediately “shared” with friggin pro-choice person and organization in the country and the result was predictable.  There were immediate calls for boycotting American Airlines and folks were screaming that “O” deserves an apology.  Indeed, I have no doubt that “O”, who I am sure could never in her right mind imagine that the F word would attract attention (wink, wink) is consulting with her lawyers this weekend. 

It’s no wonder that the vast majority of the American public gets so turned off by the “debate” on abortion.

 

May 24, 2012

Unintended Consequences

Posted by DrK8 under Abortion, Abortion Information, Christian Terrorism, Church, Late Term Abortions, Roe V Wade, The Future of Legal Abortion
[67] Comments 

Decades from now, what will the historians say about the morality crusade? How will the movement, led by religiously hysterical conservatives be recorded? The movement of a minority, intending to pass laws impacting the majority population, certainly will be evaluated for its intended and unintended consequences. I’m arguing that the scribes of cultural movements will note, no doubt with regret, that the oppressive laws stimulated the growth of illegal activities. And in the footnotes, some historians will wryly add that many of those who championed the draconian laws were privately against them. I’m not talking about abortion (yet). I am talking about the campaign that was the essence of the mostly failed alcohol prohibition here in the United States. But the similarities between prohibition and the current morality movement against abortion are disconcertingly similar. While there are many to consider, here are just a few.

Culture

Prohibition was fueled by the grim reality that people were dying from extreme forms of alcoholism. The move from drinking beer and wine to guzzling distilled spirits created a nation of drunkards. Those who called for temperance believed it would reduce illness, absenteeism at work, accidents in cities and on farms and, generally, improve the moral character of our nation.

Abortions were available prior to Roe for women of means. For other women, abortions were illegal, unsafe and often deadly. Curiously, there was little to no concern about abortion until Roe. Once it passed, anti abortion sentiment was fueled by images of fetal remains that scavengers collected out of garbage bins and out of clinic freezers. This sentiment was furthered with the misnamed partial birth abortion frenzy debated by hysterical and uninformed legislators. Current anti abortion turmoil has extended to legislation impacting clinic facilities. It’s really a bit of irony to think how similar this is to what finally nailed the coffin on alcohol. Rather than anti drinking campaigns, the anti saloon league worked better by closing all the saloons. It’s conceivable that current legislation might be headed in the same direction to not make abortion inconvenient but to make access impossible by closing clinics.

And when the cultural history of celebrities in the United States is written, the books will note the prohibition stars like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, and the abortion celebrities like Abby Johnson and Troy Newman. They will be featured as single-issue stars who rose to fame then burned out.

Politics

Women were central figures in public protests against drinking alcohol. While the initial movement urged a form of moderation that came from a sincere desire within, rather than a forced decision, the women’s temperance groups eventually urged absolute abstinence.

Women continue to be central figures in public praying and protests outside abortion clinics. Being faithful heterosexuals, they also urge abstinence from sex until marriage.

Prohibition lobbying attracted single-issue voters like abortion attracts single-issue voters. Like Prohibition, the movement toward the repeal of Roe v Wade was started by Republicans and joined, later, by a few conservative Democrats.

Religion

Prohibition was energized by religious fervor, especially Protestants. Abortion is both a Protestant and Catholic issue in general. In the minority, Evangelicals and Fundamentalist Protestants and conservative Catholics have been vocal opponents of Roe.

Language

Prohibition gave our nation new terms like bootlegger, scofflaw, teetotaler, the drys and the wets, and rum running. Legal abortion has provided new vocabulary terms like anti, choice, prolife, and partial birth.

The above are just a few of the similarities between prohibition and abortion. The people who believed in prohibition thought that government could make life better. It’s no different than those who believe the government should overturn Roe to make our nation a more moral nation. But, like those who thought the government had no right to interfere with alcohol consumption, there are those, a majority, who believe that government has no place in legislating morality, including abortion. Prohibition was a failed social experiment that ignited organized crime, killed thousands of innocent citizens in the name of morality and law, and during the period leading to WWI, linked booze with anti-German war propaganda.

It stands to reason that if abortion is outlawed, there will be similar unintended consequences, some quite deadly.

 

May 20, 2012

Preserving Abortion Rights – Part I

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion Centers, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Information, Abortion Pill, RU486 | Tags: , , , , |
[63] Comments 
Abortion

Abortion

Last week I opined about the future of the pro-choice movement in response to the announcement that the head of NARRAL, Nancy Keenan, was stepping down to make room for the next generation of pro-choicers. I said I would talk a little more about what the movement could do to energize the young folks who, according to some polls, are more pro-life than pro-choice.

To me, the first issue is where exactly are we?  I mean, who is winning?

I’m not even sure how to answer that question because I don’t know how you judge.   But I’ll give it a try.

Keenan Abortion

Keenan Abortion

To me, the first thing I’d look at is whether abortion is still safe and legal?   After all, that is what we were hoping for when the Supreme Court was considering Roe v Wade, right?   When the decision came down, we were very happy, although a few pro-choicers were apparently miffed that some restrictions were imposed by the court.  Sure, today Roe v Wade is under siege, as it always will be.  There are these “personhood” amendments, most of which have failed.  But one might make it to the Court and if it got there soon, we’d win but only by a slim margin. Meanwhile, for the most part., women still have access to abortions.  Sure, if you live in Montana, it might take a little more effort to get one but specialized medical care of any nature is probably difficult to access in such a rural state.  No, the plain fact is that women can get abortions so in that regard we are “winning.”

Abortion

Abortion

Meanwhile, those fundraising letters that say the sky is falling refer to the incredible amount of activity taking place on the state level.  The vaginal ultrasound bills, clinic regulations that are really let’s close the clinic bills, parental consent, etc.  There’s a lot going on but because some of these things actually pass, does it mean we are losing?  Not necessarily.  Sure, it will only make it harder for some women to obtain abortions and make it more expensive.  And we have to fight them with all the energy we can muster.  But, in determining whether or not we are winning, I would say that a woman who needs an abortion in this country can still get one.

Once we’ve had that discussion, if I were there at the NARAL offices strategizing about how we can garner even more support for our position, particularly amongst the younger generation.  And, as I’ve said in the past, is ditch the old, weathered and nonsensical “choice” mantra.  What?  Do you think most 21 year olds, men or women, know what “choice” even means?  I’ll tell you this – my bank uses the phrase, suggesting that we have a “choice” in banks.  I’ve seen it used elsewhere.  The term has been co-opted and by using it over and over again, we lose sight of our main goal – to preserve safe and legal ABORTION.

Indeed, just recently I read about a fundraiser that NARAL is having on May 24 and it’s called the “Power of Choice” reception.  Putting aside the verbiage for a second, the thing that got me was that the celebrities hosting the event are Sally Kellerman and Amy Madigan, among other octogenarians.  Do you think anyone under 50 knows who Sally Kellerman is?   This is not the way to pass the mantle on to the younger generation.

Meanwhile, the antis use the word abortion all the time and our silence or worse, our “choice” response, is killing us.  It’s getting us nowhere.  I’m sorry, it’s just not sexy enough – and that’s what you need to get people’s attention.

So, I’d ditch “choice.”   Where I would go after that, well, I don’t have the energy at this time nor the space.  I gotta think more about that…

Related articles
 

May 16, 2012

Consent in Rape Culture and AntiAbortion Culture

Posted by DrK8 under Abortion, Abortion Information, Abortion lies, Abortion Stigma, Abortion Terrorism, Abortion Violence, Pro Life Terrorism
[16] Comments 

I’m traveling for this month….out west with all the wild ones. So here’s something to ponder.

I’ve noticed some frightening commonalities between rape culture and antiabortion culture. According to Marshall University Women’s Center, rape culture normalizes violence against women. It’s perpetuated through the use of misogynistic language, the objectification of women’s bodies and the glamorization of sexual violence, thereby creating a society that disregards women’s rights and safety.

So when I look at anti abortion culture, it’s not too different, in principle, because it uses misogynistic language, the objectification of women’s bodies as incubators for fetuses and the glamorized morality of violence against women seeking abortions and against professionals providing abortions. This anti abortion culture creates a milieu that disregards women’s reproductive rights and their safety at abortion clinics. In fact, anti abortion culture is founded on a perverted desire that turns people away from goodness, enslaves them to a need that is forever unsatisfied and roots itself in depravity (some would call it sin).

Rape culture teaches young adolescents that heterosexuality in THE norm. It teaches young men that it’s OK to make rape jokes, to watch pornography and to degrade males who aren’t hyper-masculine. Anti abortion culture is not much different–it teaches young men and women that heterosexuality is the only acceptable sexual orientation. It teaches them that it’s OK to stigmatize women who choose abortion, to threaten them with violence, and to foist their grotesque media on innocent women. And while some might object to the comparison of rape culture to anti abortion culture, the issue of consent is hard to deny.

Some research and legal definitions of rape are based on the idea that non-consent should be assumed until someone actively consents, whether verbally or nonverbally. While research and legal definitions might work for rape, it’s harder to define consent when anti abortion protesters actively accost women outside abortion clinics. Whether verbally or nonverbally, an anti abortion protester doesn’t need consent to violate a woman because of free speech rights. A woman entering a clinic may be unable to freely give consent to anti abortion protesters who attempt to violate her privacy as a result of fear, the threat of harm, or a sense of obligation or coercion to listen to their messages. And anti abortion protesters take every advantage of these women with the same gratuitous violence as a rapist, only they hide behind their thin veneer of religiosity.

Rape culture like anti abortion culture:

Blames the woman

Defines the female as promiscuous

Allows sexually aggressive men to avoid responsibility for their behavior

Tolerates sexual harassment

Objectifies women’s bodies

And most importantly, both rape culture and anti abortion culture require no consent to degrade women.

 

May 13, 2012

A Tale of Two Pro-Choicers

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion Doctor, Abortion Information, Abortion Pill, Methotrexate, RU486 | Tags: , , , , , |
[76] Comments 
Abortion

Abortion

I want to talk about two pro-choice people who have been in the news lately.

The first is a pro-choice activist named Ted Shulman.  It seems that this turkey recently pled guilty to making death threats against Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life and Princeton Professor Robert George.  He could face up to 51 months in federal custody and will be sentenced on September 12.  He has called himself the “first pro-choice terrorist.”

Maybe I’m missing something here, but I’ve done some research and am bothered that I have not seen the major pro-choice groups condemning this nut ball.  For many, many years we have been quick to criticize the pro-life movement when they seem to disappear when one of their own engages in acts of violence or, if they do condemn the action, it is always with the caveat that “if the abortionist did not engage in the act of killing himself perhaps this would not have happened” or words to that effect.

Well, this pro-choicer is not going to play games with something as serious as this.  Let me for the record condemn the actions of Mr. Shulman and I hope he does serve his time.  What this guy did was wrong – period.

Abortion

Abortion

The other person I want to talk about is Nancy Keenan, the Executive Director of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights League, who recently announced that she will be leaving the organization after the November presidential elections.

Interestingly, Nancy said she is moving on because it’s time to let the “younger folks” take over the reins.  Now, Nancy is only 60 years old which, to me at least, still seems “not very old” but she makes a good point.

Many years ago, I was the Director of Government Affairs for NARAL.  Literally two days after I joined the staff, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a constitutional amendment overturned Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion.  During that time, millions of dollars rolled into the NARAL office and it seemed like every day we were hiring a new staff person.  Meanwhile, there were rallies all across the country, marches on Washington, television commercials.  It was a very exciting time and many younger folks were engaged in the debate.

Ultimately, we won the battle as we defeated the amendment handily.  But, once we turned back the threat to legal abortion, many of those activists left the movement and moved on to other issues.  That is ironic down side when you win something.

Then, in the ensuing years the Supreme Court, the U.S. Congress and the state legislatures started chipping away at Roe but those battles weren’t “sexy” enough to get all the troops revved up again.  There was no prominent “devil” to focus on.  On the other hand, the pro-life movement always had the fetus to keep its attention so they kept the pressure up.  Later the clinic protest movement grew bigger as some decided to take the battle to the streets, right at the spot where “babies were being killed.”

Polls can always be deceiving but generally it does appear that there are more young folks involved in the pro-life movement than the pro-choice movement.  One possible reason is that they now have their “devil” in Barack Obama, who they like to call the “most pro-abortion President in our history.”

Frankly, if I were back at NARAL, I’m not sure what I would do to try to get the younger generation more energized.  They certainly don’t remember the old days of illegal abortion and campaigns to try to remind them have failed.  Meanwhile, it’s hard to get energized about a right that they have grown up with.

Nancy has the right idea.  But she and NARAL have a tough task ahead.

Related articles
 

May 10, 2012

State of Refuge creates a State of Refusal

Posted by DrK8 under Abortion & Religion, Abortion Terrorism, Lies, Pro Life Lies, Pro Life Terrorism
[19] Comments 

Flip Benham and his anti abortion cohorts have developed a loose coalition of like-minded street preachers to save five states from abortion. In what he imagines as a “national vision to expand a concept discovered in the Old Testament,” Benham believes they will be successful in closing the one remaining abortion clinic in Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Mississippi. Launching this campaign in Fargo North Dakota to create what he imagines as a “state of refuge” from abortion, Benham’s vision was like a catechism for draconian righteousness of the regime of reproduction. Imagining himself as the high priest for moral order, Flip has been waging a war on abortion by breaking the law when threatening the lives of physicians, misinterpreting the bible to suit his agenda and wasting municipal resources when his ill-conceived protests require police coverage. Like the war on terror that mixes allegory with actuality, Benham’s war on abortion is a dyslexic moniker for a war on good women who need the services of the targeted clinics. He and his apostles of perpetual psychosis think it is socially, morally and politically acceptable to chant vicious and demented assertions in a public arena.

But the Fargo community response to the State of Refuge campaign was typical. People were outraged at the grotesque images that protesters trot out, inconvenienced by the crowded sidewalks and disgusted by the group’s use of small children tasked with leafleting in traffic. Reports from the only clinic were also typical. No woman changed her mind to keep her appointment for an abortion. Rather than a state of refuge, Fargo became a state of refusal—refusing to give in to Christo-fascists bullies, evangelistic thugs, and shame-mongering dogs.

After Fargo, the klavern of counterfeit prophets will move their altars of hatred to the remaining states. And, I suspect, they will once again demonstrate that their sacred delusions and rabid theology will create yet another state of refusal.

 

May 6, 2012

The Dance at the Clinic

Posted by Pat Richards under Abortion, Abortion Information | Tags: , |
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Anti Abortion Christian Terrorist appears very happy?

Anti Abortion Christian Terrorist appears very happy?

There’s a video tape circulating on youtube.com showing the outside of an abortion clinic.  And, from the looks of what occurs on the tape, it looks like the constant battle between pro-choice and pro-life forces has not changed in years.  It’s the same ole, same ole.

The video is from a camera affixed to the New Woman All Women Health Center in Birmingham, Alabama.  This is the clinic that was bombed by Eric Rudolph years ago and it has been the target of anti-abortion protestors for years.  Recently, the owner of the clinic agreed to surrender the facility’s license following a state investigation that found that two patients were given an overdose of a drug meant to limit blood loss and had to be transferred by ambulance to a hospital. Under an agreement with the Dept of Health, the clinic will cease performing abortions by May 11 and surrender its license by May 18 unless a new provider can obtain an operating license.

Abortion Clinic

Abortion Clinic

Putting that issue aside, the video is what really fascinated me.  It begins with Mr. Jeff White, a long time anti abortion activist, and some other heavy set white fellow walking on the sidewalk at the entrance to the clinic.  There is a short iron fence supposedly keeping them off of the property but there is an opening for patients to enter the facility.

Suddenly, a sprinkler on the clinic property comes on and the jet spray goes back and forth onto the sidewalk.  From what I can tell, the spray is also hitting portions of the street.  I am sure that it was a coincidence that the lawn needed watering at the same time the protestors were in range.  Mr. White then runs onto the property inside the gate and steps on the spray.  About five more protestors arrive.  White is clearly trespassing and, about four minutes later, a police car pulls up and the owner of the clinic, Diane Derzis, comes out to talk to the policeman who is sitting in the car.   White then steps off the sprinkler and Derzis goes over to adjust it so it begins sprinkling the protestors again.

Christian Conservatives attacking the basic Rights of Women . .

Christian Conservatives attacking the basic Rights of Women . .

Then White goes back onto the property, looking like he wants to adjust the spray, Derzis comes over and kneels down but it looks like she puts her hand on White and he then pushes her to the ground.

Then starts the dance.

Other police cars pull up.   In the meantime, some nice Christian types join their friends with four big signs with pictures of dead fetuses.  The signs are pointing right at the clinic.  Meanwhile, the police escort White into the police car (while he is talking on his cell phone) but White keeps walking out of the car before they close the door.  I don’t know what is happening there.  And the police are surrounded by the protestors who are trying to get their two cents in with the authorities – authorities who clearly don’t want to be there.  Everyone is taking pictures, giving their side of the story, all the while White keeps getting in and out of the car.  A clinic staff person is also taking pictures.  It just goes around and around.

I’m almost starting to feel sorry for these pathetic, old anti-abortion advocates who feel the need to stand outside of an abortion clinic.  They’re clearly not stopping any abortions.  Hell, I don’t know if they even get a chance to talk to any women who are going into the clinic.  They are a total joke, losers who could be umpiring at the local Little League game or working at the homeless shelter at that time.

You know what I think compels some of them to be there?   My theory is that some of them just enjoy staring at women who have had sex.  It’s a sick thought, I know but I’m convinced that these are the same slobs who will call these women “whores” and who will advise them to “keep their legs closed,” as many of them are want to say.

It’s just pathetic.

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