Why anti-choicers are anti-woman

Allow me to make my disclaimer up front – I understand that some people who don’t believe in abortion have honest, valid reasons and do their best to support women in other ways. I really do. This post is not directed at those individuals. Okay, got that? Good, moving on.

In my debates or mere “eavesdropping” with anti-choicers, I often hear that they’re just trying to “save the woman.” To which I say please. You could care less about that woman. You don’t even really care all that much about your precious fetus. You only care about slut-shaming.

Yeah, I said it.

How could I say such terrible things? Let’s think about this for a minute. You stand outside Planned Parenthood, a.k.a. “The Enemy,” protesting and screaming profanities at the poor women who go in there. Unfortunately, you fail to realize or accept that abortion only makes up 3% of Planned Parenthood’s services, while the rest are life-saving exams, cancer screenings, STI testing, birth control (which, hey, prevents pregnancy and abortion), and education. You berate women who choose to have an abortion for a variety of reasons. You lie about pregnancy statistics to attempt to get your way. All in the name of the fetus.

Who needs a voice anyway?

What you don’t do is support the woman, even if she chooses to keep the baby. According to the USDA, “It will cost a middle-class U.S. family about $222,360 to raise a child born in 2009 to the age of 17.” That’s more money than some people will ever make, but I don’t see you guiding these women to a better job or helping them raise their child. I don’t even see you helping women make smarter sexual choices before getting pregnant – in fact, you’re often against comprehensive sex education, which drastically reduces the rate of teenage pregnancy. Finally, you’re trying to dismantle an organization that provides this education and free or low-cost birth control to women so that women don’t have to make that difficult choice.

TRUTH.

But, wait, women have the right to choose? No wonder you hate us.

Happy Equal Pay Day!

Happy Equal Pay Day, everyone! Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone actually honored this day? Employers around the country would pull in their female employees and say, “You know what? I just realized we’ve been cheating you out of money just because you’re a woman. That stops today!” What an ideal scenario.

What’s the truth? The truth is that college educated women lose $713,000 over a 40-year career due to the wage gap. The truth is that women still earn .77 cents to a man’s dollar. Is some of that attributed to women not bargaining for higher wages like many men do? Sure, some of it is. But consider the case of my friend: She was a manager at Motel 6, yet earned the same amount as a male front desk clerk – and he didn’t bargain for higher wages. She had to go all the way up to the regional manager before the situation was remedied, and she still wasn’t making what she deserved after that.

Let me reiterate – there is NO DIFFERENCE between men and women. There is no reason that a woman should be earning any less than a man for the same role and responsibilities. This needs to end. Today. Speak out about equality in pay!

Also, it’s National Grilled Cheese day.

I get my pap smears at Walgreens

I saw Colbert’s coverage of Planned Parenthood attacks, both from Jon Kyl and Fox and Friends, last night and it was too great to not share.

Again, apologies for the video issues – their embed code just does not work for us. Click to enjoy!

The Colbert Report	Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Pap Smears at Walgreens
www.colbertnation.com
http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:381282
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

Lovers/Haters: Love, love, love

There are a few lovers I want to acknowledge this week, and to be honest, I didn’t feel like thinking about all of the negativity surrounding women’s rights today. Today we are going to celebrate women!

“Women are not a commodity to be haggled over or bartered with. Their bodies, their reproductive rights are theirs and theirs alone!

The GOP and its allies have no fucking authority over what a woman can and cannot do with their bodies.

Women are not property. Women are not slaves. They are human beings–just as us men are!”

This blog post came through my reproductive rights Google alert today and I almost missed it. Thankfully I read the fine print because it’s a great post! My favorite thing about it? It’s written by a feminist male. I love when feminist males speak up about these kinds of issues! I love my ladies, but I have to admit, sometimes it feels like an us vs. them argument, which not only creates unmovable sides but ignores other genders as well. Check it out – it’s a great rant.

“By simply helping preserve their personal records, we can make sure our veterans have the care they need while supporting justice for assault victims.”

Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduced a bill called the Support for Survivors Act to assist victims of sexual assault in the military. The bill would require the military to keep all evidence of sexual assaults committed on servicemembers instead of destroying them and sweeping the issue under the rug. It may not be much, but it’s certainly a start to acknowledging this consistent issue (which I wrote about here).

“To all the women out there with inconvenient dreams, never stop dreaming and never stop fighting.”

I love this post by Abortion Gang (see the blogroll link as well!). It discusses why she uses birth control and why she would choose to have an abortion if her birth control failed. It’s a wonderful post that discusses that nasty “convenience” claim that anti-choicers love to make.

Any lovers you want to highlight?

Tip of the Hat to Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert made my morning. His latest sarcasm was directed at morons in New Hampshire, terrorists, and South Dakota jackasses! And may I just say – it was absolutely brilliant. I apologize that it wouldn’t embed entirely.

“Everybody knows abortions are a classic impulse buy.”

Enjoy!

The Colbert Report	Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Tip/Wag – Cigarette Tax, Abortion Waiting Period & Bargain Travelers
www.colbertnation.com
http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:379063
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

Lovers/Haters: South Dakota (and others) and The City of Love

Haters: South Dakota government

Let’s be honest – South Dakota conservatives have been trying to pass anti-choice legislature for years – but this is the first time they’ve actually been successful. Not only were they successful, they passed a law that is unprecedented since Roe v. Wade – forcing a woman to wait 72 hours and undergo counseling before allowing her to have an abortion. And by “counseling,” I mean undergo shameful outright lies at the hands of severely anti-choice, vitriolic “counselors” at crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) – who were called out recently for their lies. In fact, New York City passed a bill stating that all CPCs must disclose exactly what they offer – meaning they can no longer lie about offering abortion options or any false tactics to convince unsuspecting women to come in and get shamed by hypocrites. Oh yeah, those seem like reliable sources. South Dakota = EPIC FAIL.

Planned Parenthood will be suing the state for violation of constitutional rights.

Read more: South Dakota Passes Tougher Regulations on Abortions

Or you could read this entirely misinformed article (just the title shows the writer’s ignorance): South Dakota Abortion Law Empowers Women

Honorable mentions go to Nebraska, Idaho, Kansas, and Alabama for all enacting bans on abortion in some way. Keep drinking of the haterade.

Lovers: New York City

I know this happened last week, but I’m still feeling the love! As mentioned above, New York legislators signed a bill that forces CPCs to have truth in advertising – all centers must now explicitly state on any advertising and on their websites exactly what services they provide. Sad day for CPCs, since they can no longer now pretend like they provide all reproductive choice options under false pretenses. *tear* Mayor Michael Bloomberg was quoted that he’s against abortion, but supports a woman’s right to choose. That’s the basic idea of pro-choice – nobody likes abortion. No, really. Nobody.

Read more: New Law Means Extra Scrutiny For Crisis Pregnancy Centers In NYC

Journal study published on CPCs: Deception, Lies, and Manipulation: Behind Crisis Pregnancy Centers

The fight to be woman

Photo: Above the Law

In the face of all of the anti-women legislature that’s being pushed through our government, it can be difficult to stay hopeful. Let’s not forget, however, that women have been working for centuries to improve their quality of rights. Below I’ve listed a reminder of a few issues that women have dealt with along the way to get us where we are:

– Starting in 1839 with Mississippi, states began to pass laws allowing women to own property separate from their husbands. Before this, any money or property that a woman had going into a marriage became the property of the husband. These laws did not extend to marital property rights, however – in divorce law, husbands still generally kept legal custody of children and property.

– In 1848, the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, NY. Debates lasted for two days and at the end, 68 women and 32 men signed a Declaration of Sentiments, which set the agenda for the women’s rights movement. A set of 12 resolutions was adopted, calling for the equal treatment of men and women under the law and voting rights for women.

– In May of 1869, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association. Their primary goal was to secure voting rights for women by means of a Congressional amendment to the Constitution.

– In 1920, suffragists finally achieved their main goal – the constitutional right for women to vote.

– 1963 brought about the Equal Pay Act, requiring men and women earn equal wages for equal work. Before this, women could be paid less, even if they worked harder or had more laborious jobs than men. As we know, the wage gap has lessened, but not been eradicated – women still earn .77 to the $1.00 that men earn.

– In 1973, as we all know, the U.S. Supreme Court passed a law allowing women to have (rightful) reproductive choice – states could no longer restrict women from choosing to have an abortion during the first three months of pregnancy.

Other areas of struggle: Women prostitutes were prosecuted while their male customers remained unpunished (still an issue to this day); women earned the right to divorce in the mid-1800s, but were not looked upon favorably until mid- to late-1900s; women would be prosecuted at maximum sentence for shooting a man, but men would have a much lighter sentence. I could continue on for pages, but you get my point.

We know what struggle means and we can keep fighting for our innate rights. Equality is not just a possibility – it’s our future.

Read more:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_women_in_the_United_States
http://www.america.gov/st/peopleplace-english/2007/February/20070226171718ajesrom0.6366846.html
http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/03/21/how-women-became-citizens-hint-it-didnt-happen-overnight/

Lovers/Haters: Kansas and Senate

Per usual, there has been more hate than love for women going around lately – here’s the tops for this week.

There has been a lot of hate going on lately, especially surrounding abortion. Here’s one that I thought was particularly ridiculous:

Haters: Kansas

Kansas “Mega Bill” Would Deny Non-Profit Status to Abortion Providers

On National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers, no less. Seriously? Anti-choicers, can’t you just go away?? That’s just ridiculous. You look at one thing that you don’t agree with and so obviously the entire organization must be punished. Planned Parenthood provides some abortions – well, that means that their years of providing low-income women with pap smears, birth control, and education is a waste! Sinners! A nonprofit hospital provides an abortion – forget about their life-saving surgeries and years of caring for sick! Hellfire for them!

Shut up. Seriously, just shut up.

Thankfully (yes, I saved the better for last)…

Lovers: U.S. Senate

Senate Blocks Anti-Choice Push; States Keep It Up

I’m not going to lie – I was a teensy bit worried that the Senate wouldn’t come through on this for us. I thought they would, but the fear was there. I don’t think I need to say what could have happened if the bill had passed. I’ll let Nancy Keenan of NARAL speak for me:

“We commend fair-minded senators for rejecting the anti-choice House leadership’s efforts to defund Planned Parenthood and dismantle the nation’s family-planning centers,” said Nancy Keenan, president of the Washington-based NARAL Pro-Choice America, in a press statement following news of the vote.

We do, too! Thank you, Senate!!

Anti-choice legislation is still being pushed in many, many states. And let’s not forget that the budget STILL hasn’t been settled, so funds could still be eliminated. Our work is certainly not done. Let’s make sure that we continue to support women!

Had a miscarriage? Death for you!

Rep. Bobby Franklin, a Georgia lawmaker (somehow), is actually stating that women who have a miscarriage are not only legally responsible, This isn’t the first time this kind of bill has come about, either – a similar bill failed in Utah a few years ago! This bill would also turn over Roe V. Wade in Georgia. This is the same man who tried to change rape victims to “accusers” last year.

How the hell is this guy getting elected?!?!? Seriously, what is going on in this country? Are we living in the 1700s? It’s sure starting to feel that way.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/304268

That’s it – no more abortion!

This sums up our country perfectly!

Many thanks to Campus Progress for posting! http://campusprogress.org/articles/household_abortion/