PREYS.
I cracked open a beer and turned on the TV after work this evening and that's what a woman quoted for this news story was saying. If you watch the accompanying video, you can hear it for yourself, but in case you don't feel like sitting through the commercial they'll make you watch before the video starts, here it is: "We are also very near colleges, universities, and high schools, where the women they will prey upon are not fully understanding what's happening here at this site."
Her name is Brenda Savage, and she's a spokesperson for Right to Life, so maybe I should expect as much from someone like her. But even the story itself was biased; Savage's comment was untrue, offensive, and should have been edited out.
As for the issue at hand: Really, Comfort Suites? You sell your building to Planned Parenthood of all organizations and then get pissed off when you realize that the facility will be used to provide abortions? Isn't it kind of common knowledge that abortion is one of the many services provided by Planned Parenthood?
Please let me be frank for a second: I'm really fucking sick of this shit. I'm pro-choice, proud of it, and do not understand why an organization that helps women as much as Planned Parenthood has been forced to put up with so much anti-choice whining since the last election.
Showing posts with label I stand with PP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I stand with PP. Show all posts
Friday, June 24, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Why I stand with Planned Parenthood
This was written for the I Stand with Planned Parenthood blog carnival, hosted by Fair and Feminist. For a list of participating blogs, click here.
--
I haven't written about reproductive rights since NARAL's sixth annual Blog for Choice Day over a month ago. And it's not because I haven't been paying attention. It's not because there hasn't been anything to write about, either. The GOP has been up to all kinds of no good lately. MoveOn.org has referred to their bullshit (accurately, I think) as a "war on women," and published a list of things that the GOP has done recently to destroy what matters most.
Notice that a few things are missing from that list. Like the Georgia rep who announced that he wants to investigate all miscarriages (to make sure that women haven't induced abortions--talk about demoralizing). And the House's recent vote to bar Planned Parenthood from federal funding. Neither of those things made the list because they came up after it was published.
So see, they're not stopping. I've hardly been able to keep up. that's why there have only been a few brief mentions of all this on my blog: Holy shit, look what the Republifucks are up to now...
It's all so overwhelming. So I'm grateful to Fair and Feminist for hosting this blog carnival, and providing a prompt, therefore forcing me to focus.
So! I stand with Planned Parenthood because really, it'd be stupid not to. What kind of person would I be if I didn't? Everyone should stand with Planned Parenthood--even those who voted to bar it from funding.
Yeah, that's what I said. Because what gets me about this bill is that it works against what the GOP says it wants: no abortion. If you really want to eliminate abortion, you shouldn't cut funding to the very thing that prevents women from having to seek one.
As fellow feminist blogger Katie Stack so eloquently stated on her Facebook page, "You can't have an ideology based on the idea that abortion is murder without taking away pregnant women's autonomy entirely."
And that's what the GOP wants to do. They may not say it (because hello, they know it'll piss us off), but they sure have jumped at the chance to act on it. And regardless of what they say, this bill isn't about protecting anyone--not fetuses, and certainly not pregnant women.
This bill isn't even really about abortion. Public funds aren't allotted for abortions (I think they should be, but that's another rant for another day). So many important services would be barred from funding under the Pence Amendment: Birth control, cancer screenings, HIV testing, etc. So really, what the fuck is the GOP doing, then?
And that's why I consider what happened in the House last week to be one of the most blatantly anti-woman acts I've encountered in my lifetime. If the members of the GOP were really true to their convictions, they'd look more closely and be a little (um, okay, a lot) more careful. But no. Instead, they just want to destroy the one thing they associate with what (or who?) they don't like. Because they see Planned Parenthood as nothing more than a giant baby killer.
(And we're the ones who are labeled extremists?)
In other news, Michigan governor Rick Snyder is busy trying to turn my state into a third world country. So naturally, I'm pissed. But what makes me even angrier is hearing people say, "Well, whatevs. It sucks, but I didn't vote for him." Neither did I. but I do live here. And I don't want to see my home go to shit.
Same thing with what's happening to Planned Parenthood. It's unfair that we have to work this hard, especially since we didn't vote for the people who are causing this to happen. But the reality is that the GOP isn't messing around, and neither should we. The term "forcible rape" was removed from the HR3 bill because we spoke the fuck up and demanded that it be removed. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't the biggest victory in the world. But it's something--proof that if we fight, we can win.
So we must. My mother worries about me, because she knows that the things I care about don't lie on neutral ground. She supports me until I start to piss off a certain group of people (read: the religious right). This is because simply enough, she's a nice person who wants everyone to get along. And I do, too. But the GOP has been pissing me off for a damn long time. Not just pissing me off, actually, but hurting me, and hurting those I care about. So if by voicing my opinion, I'm going to piss them off, then that's good. Because at this point, they need to know how it feels.
I know this blog post has been all rage so far, but know that I am hopeful. Seeing what erupted on my Facebook page and in the blogosphere within minutes of the vote in the House was pretty inspiring. And the Democrats still have control of the Senate. We have a pretty kick-ass president, too.
But that doesn't mean I'm 100% confident. Because it's still hard for me to believe that despite the efforts of everyone I mentioned above, the GOP has managed to do as much damage as it has--and in such little time! If I wasn't worried about anything, I wouldn't be so angry, and I wouldn't be writing.
Hopeful and angry is a good mix for me, though. It makes me do things, makes me act.
So, act. Sign an open letter to Congress. Contact your representatives--see how they voted, and send them a message. See if there's a walk for Choice event going on in your area. (There's one in Detroit on Saturday!) Share your Planned Parenthood story.
And whatever you do, don't fall for the rhetoric.
--
I haven't written about reproductive rights since NARAL's sixth annual Blog for Choice Day over a month ago. And it's not because I haven't been paying attention. It's not because there hasn't been anything to write about, either. The GOP has been up to all kinds of no good lately. MoveOn.org has referred to their bullshit (accurately, I think) as a "war on women," and published a list of things that the GOP has done recently to destroy what matters most.
Notice that a few things are missing from that list. Like the Georgia rep who announced that he wants to investigate all miscarriages (to make sure that women haven't induced abortions--talk about demoralizing). And the House's recent vote to bar Planned Parenthood from federal funding. Neither of those things made the list because they came up after it was published.
So see, they're not stopping. I've hardly been able to keep up. that's why there have only been a few brief mentions of all this on my blog: Holy shit, look what the Republifucks are up to now...
It's all so overwhelming. So I'm grateful to Fair and Feminist for hosting this blog carnival, and providing a prompt, therefore forcing me to focus.
So! I stand with Planned Parenthood because really, it'd be stupid not to. What kind of person would I be if I didn't? Everyone should stand with Planned Parenthood--even those who voted to bar it from funding.
Yeah, that's what I said. Because what gets me about this bill is that it works against what the GOP says it wants: no abortion. If you really want to eliminate abortion, you shouldn't cut funding to the very thing that prevents women from having to seek one.
As fellow feminist blogger Katie Stack so eloquently stated on her Facebook page, "You can't have an ideology based on the idea that abortion is murder without taking away pregnant women's autonomy entirely."
And that's what the GOP wants to do. They may not say it (because hello, they know it'll piss us off), but they sure have jumped at the chance to act on it. And regardless of what they say, this bill isn't about protecting anyone--not fetuses, and certainly not pregnant women.
This bill isn't even really about abortion. Public funds aren't allotted for abortions (I think they should be, but that's another rant for another day). So many important services would be barred from funding under the Pence Amendment: Birth control, cancer screenings, HIV testing, etc. So really, what the fuck is the GOP doing, then?
And that's why I consider what happened in the House last week to be one of the most blatantly anti-woman acts I've encountered in my lifetime. If the members of the GOP were really true to their convictions, they'd look more closely and be a little (um, okay, a lot) more careful. But no. Instead, they just want to destroy the one thing they associate with what (or who?) they don't like. Because they see Planned Parenthood as nothing more than a giant baby killer.
(And we're the ones who are labeled extremists?)
In other news, Michigan governor Rick Snyder is busy trying to turn my state into a third world country. So naturally, I'm pissed. But what makes me even angrier is hearing people say, "Well, whatevs. It sucks, but I didn't vote for him." Neither did I. but I do live here. And I don't want to see my home go to shit.
Same thing with what's happening to Planned Parenthood. It's unfair that we have to work this hard, especially since we didn't vote for the people who are causing this to happen. But the reality is that the GOP isn't messing around, and neither should we. The term "forcible rape" was removed from the HR3 bill because we spoke the fuck up and demanded that it be removed. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't the biggest victory in the world. But it's something--proof that if we fight, we can win.
So we must. My mother worries about me, because she knows that the things I care about don't lie on neutral ground. She supports me until I start to piss off a certain group of people (read: the religious right). This is because simply enough, she's a nice person who wants everyone to get along. And I do, too. But the GOP has been pissing me off for a damn long time. Not just pissing me off, actually, but hurting me, and hurting those I care about. So if by voicing my opinion, I'm going to piss them off, then that's good. Because at this point, they need to know how it feels.
I know this blog post has been all rage so far, but know that I am hopeful. Seeing what erupted on my Facebook page and in the blogosphere within minutes of the vote in the House was pretty inspiring. And the Democrats still have control of the Senate. We have a pretty kick-ass president, too.
But that doesn't mean I'm 100% confident. Because it's still hard for me to believe that despite the efforts of everyone I mentioned above, the GOP has managed to do as much damage as it has--and in such little time! If I wasn't worried about anything, I wouldn't be so angry, and I wouldn't be writing.
Hopeful and angry is a good mix for me, though. It makes me do things, makes me act.
So, act. Sign an open letter to Congress. Contact your representatives--see how they voted, and send them a message. See if there's a walk for Choice event going on in your area. (There's one in Detroit on Saturday!) Share your Planned Parenthood story.
And whatever you do, don't fall for the rhetoric.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Announcing the "I Stand with Planned Parenthood" blog carnival, 2/25/2011
Earlier this afternoon, the House of Representatives voted 240-185 to "bar Planned Parenthood health centers from all federal funding for birth control, cancer screenings, HIV testing, and other live-saving care." To say I'm upset would be putting it lightly.
Luckily, Shelley over at Fair and Feminist has wasted no time putting together a blog carnival in support of Planned Parenthood.
If you'd like to participate (and I hope you will), click here. Leave your name, blog title, and URL as a comment, and add this badge to your blog.
If you've had it with the GOP's anti-choice bullshit, I hope you'll blog about why you stand with Planned Parenthood on Friday, February 25. Be sure to tag your post "I stand with PP."
Luckily, Shelley over at Fair and Feminist has wasted no time putting together a blog carnival in support of Planned Parenthood.
If you'd like to participate (and I hope you will), click here. Leave your name, blog title, and URL as a comment, and add this badge to your blog.
If you've had it with the GOP's anti-choice bullshit, I hope you'll blog about why you stand with Planned Parenthood on Friday, February 25. Be sure to tag your post "I stand with PP."
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