Posts Tagged: anti-choice
Mike Huckabee, Controlling Libidos and Natural Family Planning
Recently, obvious mind reader of women/Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said some troublesome things about contraception coverage. He said that the recent improvements with reproductive health “insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar [??] coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it.” The whole “controlling libido” comment reminds me so much of how anti-choice folks push natural family planning, or NFP, as the all-encompassing solution to avoiding hormonal birth control. NFP is a method in which a person uses signs of their body, such as cervical mucus and timing of menstrual periods in order to time… Read more »
Make Roe Real: Buffer Zones, and Drawing the Line Between Freedom of Speech and Violence
In the summer of 2012, I attended the Youth Organizing Policy Institute (YOPI) hosted by Planned Parenthood. It was the first reproductive policy conference (or hell, first conference of ANY kind) I’d ever attended. I was excited and energized to get started on meeting other young people passionate about the same issues I was. The conference itself was being held in Denver, inside the facilities of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains—a Planned Parenthood clinic that’s known for the anti-choice protesters that hang around outside it. The hotel where most conference goers stayed was right across the street from the clinic, so we were informed of how easy it’d be to walk to over to the conference. We were also warned about the anti-choice protesters we might encounter outside the… Read more »
Harassment – Coming to an Abortion Clinic Near You!
As if shutting down reproductive health clinics throughout the country with ridiculous restrictions and TRAP laws, anti-choice activists are making it even more difficult for people to exercise their freedom of choice. This past Wednesday, the US Supreme Courth began the hearings to the McCullen v. Coakley case. The Massachusetts buffer zone law creates a 35-feet bubble between protesters and the health clinic. Eleanor McCullen, an avid sidewalk “counselor” argues that first amendment rights are being violated when they are denied their right to practice freedom of speech wherever they choose. Well Eleanor, there’s a huge difference between free speech and hate speech. The current law seems to be a fair balance where anti-choice protesters are allowed to vocalize their message, just 35 feet away. The buffer zone provides a… Read more »
The Truth Behind the So-Called “Culture of Life”
Something that has been getting under my skin recently is the preservation of “life” at all costs by anti-choice activists and politicians. No matter what the circumstances, no matter how painful or risky it is, all “life” must be maintained. So-called pro-lifers have become so obsessed with making sure that a heartbeat is sustained that they’ll ignore the circumstances surrounding it. In fact, that is the entire flaw around being anti-choice. The intricacies and complexities of a person’s life are completely ignored. This goes beyond just the choice to terminate a pregnancy.
Keeping an Eye on the “Incremental” Abortion Restrictions in Ohio
I set out to write this piece about the impact that Governor Kasich’s budget bill has had in Ohio since it was signed into law six months ago. I thought the budget bill, or House Bill 59, was the worst blow to Ohio reproductive rights. What I didn’t know was that while House Bill 59 was a pretty tough blow, it was just one of many tough blows to the state’s fragmented reproductive rights protections. Turns out reproductive rights in Ohio have been steadily chipped away by the state’s government officials for over twenty years. Unless you have been part of the small group of people on the ground fighting back, you may not have known. And it’s all because of the approach the state government officials have taken. Instead… Read more »
Some Words for the Man Who Told Me I Should Be Ashamed
The summer of 2012, I was a public affairs intern at Planned Parenthood Advocates of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. I’d just finished my freshman year, and two months before the plan had been to get a job as a barista back home, to live yearning endlessly for my college town, where even if it’s not perfect, is at least a place where the pro-choice bumper stickers don’t get scraped off my car. But somehow in my feminist awakening
“I Work at an Abortion Clinic” – Life as an Advocate
“What do you do for a living?” This is not always the easiest question, especially if you work at a health clinic that provides abortion care. Recently I read this article about people who work at abortion clinics (presumably patient advocates and doctors) being pressured to leave their jobs by anti-choice groups. In many ways, pressuring patient advocates to leave reminded me of my own position as an advocate at a domestic violence shelter, and
Reproductive Rights in America Have Gotten Worse After Tiller
I know enough about abortion politics in this country, but I still didn’t know what to expect going in to see the movie After Tiller. For anyone planning on seeing it, and I urge everyone to see it, you might want to bring a some tissues. After Tiller is a documentary film that looks at late term abortion in the aftermath of Dr. George Tiller’s murder. The movie follows the four remaining doctors who perform all of the late term abortions in America. Dr. Tiller performed late term abortions in his clinic in Kansas. He was murdered in church by the anti-choice extremist Scott Roeder in May of 2009. Dr. Tiller was performing usher duties at Reformation Lutheran Church when Roeder walked in, shot and killed him. In an article… Read more »
Propaganda on Halloween: How Anti-Choice Tricks Are Not a Treat
Trick or Treat: It feels like the one place where a kid can be a kid, dress up as their favorite character, and parents/caretakers can snatch up some of those beloved Paydays or Snickers that little Susie or Timmy can’t stand. Imagine when you are digging around in the pillowcase full of candy for that precious chocolate gold when you pull out a pamphlet with the words, “53 Million Killed,” with a picture of a fetus. I recently came across an article on Think Progress about some anti-choice groups handing out propaganda to Trick or Treaters with their Reeses Cups and Laffy Taffy, with this message.
Responsibility and Reproduction: Abortion as Radical Self-Care
What is the typical picture that anti-choice politicians paint of a person who chooses abortion? She is a cisgender straight woman (of course). She consented to sex with a cisgender straight man (of course), which means she that she consented to becoming pregnant. She’s not married, nor does she have children. She’s young and irresponsible. She should have known better than to have sex! The anti-choice view behind sex is pretty obvious: Don’t have sex unless you’re married, because obviously
