Posts Tagged ‘Palin’

You can’t work in reproductive health care like I have for almost twenty years without thinking a lot about the courage it takes some people to go to work every single day.

As soon as I heard about the tragic shooting of Rep. Giffords on Saturday, I thought, she must be one of us. Maybe my worldview is skewed but I’ve been on the side faced with threats and intimidations long enough to take seriously the “loners” and “weirdos” and vitriolic hate speech.

Sure enough, Giffords is one of ours. She has a 100% voting record on reproductive freedom, from abortion to birth control. She is one of our champions. And, mercifully, by all accounts, she seems to be fighting for her life like a champion.

I know Rep. Giffords wasn’t shot because she believes in a woman’s right to choose but I can’t help blaming the cacophony of dehumanizing name calling and cavalier threats that spew from the Right on a regular basis.

Whether it is health care reform or a woman’s right to choose, the opposition has generally relied on being louder and more willing to use verbal and physical attacks to get their way. Think back to the health care reform town hall meetings.

Next week’s Roe v Wade Anniversary usually sees an increase in both the opposition’s protests and attacks on reproductive health centers. Health care providers will be told to be more cautious, to keep their eyes open, to watch their backs. I can’t imagine any anti-choicer being told the same.

Just this past summer I had a conversation with a particularly pushy supporter of “Choose Life” license plates. I told her I opposed them because they require the state to collect and distribute funds to organizations that purposefully withhold legal health information (i.e. referrals or counseling about abortion) from women. She cavalierly suggested that we get our own pro-choice plates to raise funds for abortion care.  

My response, “No, your side kills our side so, no, we’re not going to suggest people put ‘choice’ on their license plates.” I’m serious.

I’ve purposely avoided reading too much of the Right’s take on the Tucson. Here’s the thing: they will never, ever, ever apologize. They’ll never take responsibility for anything they say. They never have, they never will. Look at the baseless stupidity of the “birthers.”

I’m trying very hard to believe that the assassination attempt and tragic murders this week will be a wake up call, at least to politicians, especially those who use crosshairs in ads against their opponents.

I hope Saturday’s tragedy was the culmination and not the beginning of things getting any worse. 

The wheels have fallen off the truck for the Palin women.

First there’s Bristol touting an abstinence message.  Yes, that’s teen mother, Bristol Palin.  When asked by the very Palin friendly, anti-choice, pro-abstinence interviewer about how Bristol herself had decided to have pre-marital sex, she says, “Umm,  I think that’s too personal to talk about.”   Yep, that’s real helpful!  Thanks Bristol, way to “share your story and give your testimony.”  I’m sure lots of teen girls now will remain abstinent thanks to your shining example.

Then there’s Sarah”always off the rails” Palin giving a paid speech at First Baptist Church of Houston.  Palin says “the biggest advance of the abortion industry in America, truly, has been, of late, the passage of Obamacare.”

REALLY??? 

Remember Stupak.  Remember Ben Nelson. [ Health Care Reform post] Remember subsequent Executive Order. Not to mention local health insurance coverage fights.

Here’s Rachel Maddow on Mama Palin.

Alaska, don’t you want your Palins to come home?  PLEASE.

I’ve done my share of Obama bashing. He has driven me nuts in his total unwillingness to protect and defend reproductive freedom—a core value to his political base. But, enough is enough.

The alternative, my friend, is sheer insanity. Just check out the winner of last night’s Republican primary in Delaware to see for yourself.

Obama is far from perfect but he has delivered and it’s time we amplify his wins, especially for women.

Before Palin’s mama grizzlies, I always thought of myself as a mama bear when defending my young. So, I’ll match her grizzlies any day with my North Carolina black bear mama self and tell you why as a mother I am thankful to President Obama for health care reform.

First, I don’t know a mother on this planet who is not happy about being able to provide healthcare to her children through their 26th birthday. Most of us know how precarious our health coverage was between college and our first decent job.

Who among us did not go without dental care or an annual Pap smear in our early twenties? My own souvenir from that period is a crown I was forced to get after a cavity went beyond redemption during my grad school, no health insurance days. So, thank you, Mr. President, for letting me keep my kids covered until they can stand on their own professional feet.

No one plans to get sick, especially with a chronic or debilitating illness, but it happens every day. And, if you or your family has to stay in the hospital longer than you’d ever imagined, no insurance company can say, too bad, you’ve reached your annual limit. No more of those, thanks to President Obama.

If your worst nightmare comes true and you or a loved one becomes paralyzed or dependent on expensive medical treatments to live, no insurance company can deny you coverage because you’ve reached some arbitrary maximize lifetime limit. Thank you, Mr. President.

Every one who has ever had a child knows how vulnerable a parent feels when their child hurts. Imagine being told your health insurance will not cover your child because her condition existed before you changed jobs and got a new plan. Healthcare reform did away with pre-existing conditions for children.  Thanks again, Mr. President.

The benefits go on. I’ve said nothing about the millions of families who have no health insurance for whom health care reform means affordable, accessible care.

And, what does the opposition offer? Vows to fight abortion, to defend marriage discrimination, to build larger walls to keep immigrants out and to protect America’s richest 2% from paying taxes  Really? This is where America should be headed? No more bashing Obama for me, this is seriously wrong.

It was enough to stop me in my tracks. Opening the mailbox yesterday to find Sarah Palin on the cover of Newsweek with a glowing halo radiating from her head and the words “Saint Sarah” inscribed below.

I searched the cover for clues, trying to figure out why anyone would call Palin a saint. Then I saw “feminism” in smaller print. Please, no, not another story about a woman being a feminist simply by virtue of her gender. 

In a masochistic move, I flipped to the cover story. I didn’t think it could be worse than “Saint Sarah,” but there it was. The story began with Palin’s recounting of the night she found out she was pregnant with her fifth child. Already the governor of Alaska and mother of four children, Palin wrestled alone in a hotel with the mixed emotions of an unplanned pregnancy. She admits to thinking about her alternatives. 

Then the story fast-forwards to Palin’s son Trig, “the best thing that ever happened to [her] family.” Yes, it worked out for Sarah. Shortly after giving birth, she was catapulted into the national political scene and subsequently made millions. A tidy ending to a story that Palin shares to inspire evangelical women across the country.

The story of Trig is Palin’s parable. She uses it to connect with women and teach a lesson. Like a typical woman in America, she faced an unintended pregnancy. Roughly half of the pregnancies in the US are not planned. Palin considered her options and chose to continue the pregnancy.

Apparently, at this point in the tale, ballrooms filled with evangelical women burst into clapping, stomping and whooping it up. Saint Sarah did the right thing. She’s their heroine, strong and strong willed, their “feminist” role model if only they could stomach the word. 

Sarah Palin’s heartfelt recounting of wrestling alone in a hotel with the mixed emotions of an unplanned pregnancy exemplifies what feminists have been saying for decades. Reproductive health decisions are deeply personal and a woman should be able to make them in accordance with her life and values, which is exactly what Palin did.

For those of us who believe in women’s real equality, Palin’s parable reads a little differently. Her refusal to trust other women to make reproductive health decisions for themselves shows that Palin is no saint much less a feminist.