Posts Tagged ‘planned parenthood’

It’s easy to get distracted by the fights and struggles that take place within our country. It’s logical, really… after all, the effort to pass or block laws that help or hurt Americans are the ones that most obviously impact our lives. And so it’s easy to forget, with our limited time and energy, that people in other countries can have it much worse. I was recently reminded of this by news of a proposed law in Uganda that’s expected to pass soon. The bill’s title? The “Anti-Homosexual Bill.” The bill would do several things. First, it states that anyone who is aware of a gay man and fails to report him to the authorities can face a prison term of three years. Second, it makes it a crime to speak in defense of gays and lesbians in public, with the penalty being a jail term of seven years. Finally, it proscribes a punishment to gay men who are HIV positive and men who are found to be “repeat offenders” of acting on the gay: the death penalty.

Yep. Uganda is proposing to put to death people with HIV and gays, simply because they have HIV or are gay. Again, this legislation is expected to pass.

Now, what does this have to do with hypocrisy in the pro-life movement? Well…

A religious fundamentalist organization called the Family (aka the Fellowship) has been in the news a bit lately. If you’ve never heard of it, you’re not alone… the Family generally tries to keep itself under wraps. Among its current and former members are dozens of high ranking government officials, including Senators, Representatives, military brass, and yes… even Presidents. (Some current members of the family, such as Rep. Heath Shuler of NC, even live at one of the Family’s buildings.)

In case you haven’t guessed yet, the Family has been a huge supporter of the current president of Uganda (a strong proponent of the legislation), funneling money and other resources to the government. The writer of the Anti-Homosexual Bill is even rumored to be a member of the Family. In other words, these powerful politicians in Washington are both directly and indirectly helping to pass a bill in Uganda that seeks to execute gays and lesbians.

So who are the members of the Family? Perhaps surprisingly, it’s not just comprised of evangelical Republicans. Several Democrats are members, including the aforementioned Shuler, Rep. Michael Doyle (D-PA), and the now-infamous Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI). Perhaps unsurprisingly, members tend to be virulently anti-choice.

Because I don’t wish to bore you by running through every member of the Family, I’m just going to focus on two. Two men who have achieved fairly prominent political careers, in part by dialing up the anti-choice, “pro-life,” rhetoric… and who are helping to pass a bill to murder people because of HIV status and because of who they love. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), often called the most conservative member of the Senate, has been an outspoken critic of abortion rights. Earlier this year, on the 36th anniversary of Roe v Wade, he had this to say:”Each year on this day, hundreds of thousands of Americans who support the sanctity of life gather to fight for a culture of life in America.” DeMint values the sanctity of life so much that he thinks people should be put to death because of who they are. If that’s not placing a premium on the value of life, I’m not sure what is.

And then there’s Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), who unsuccessfully tried to secure the 2008 Republican nomination for President. During the campaign, he lambasted Mitt Romney for refusing to call abortion murder. Well, in my admittedly biased opinion, people can argue for decades over whether abortion is murder, Senator Brownback… but you know what is murder? MURDER, you $%#$!.

Again, some of you may feel like I’m being unfair on some of these politicians. Just because they belong to a group doesn’t mean they support everything the group does… and yes. I admit that. But this isn’t some small thing… we’re talking about exterminating of people because of who they are (not to mention further marginalizing, and pushing underground, people with HIV/AIDS… a troubling situation for a country where HIV/AIDS rates appear to be rising). And if any of these men really valued life as much as they claim to, they’d speak out. They’d have to.

But none of them are, which can only lead me to conclude that it’s just an act, a sham. These men don’t really value life. They value rhetoric. They value divisiveness and incitement. These are some of the heroes of the anti-choice movement… and they can’t even come close to believing what they espouse.

I mean, if you’re going to place a premium on the value of life, do it. Don’t just talk about it. Do it. I may not agree with everything you’d stand for, but at least I could respect you. But for these men, it won’t happen… because it’s not politically expedient for them. I find it somewhat ironic that pro-choicers, who are so often labeled murderers or are said to have a complete disregard for life… they’re the ones who seem to care most about it. Who seem to care most about the safety, the treatment, and the well-being of fellow humans. Who don’t use incendiary language to incite violence against others. And who don’t completely disregard the supposed beliefs that are most important to them in a cynical ploy to divide people and garner support.

And they call pro-choicers the immoral ones.

What do you think? Any more examples of overt hypocrisy within the anti-choice crowd? Share in the comments!

The day was a long one but very rewarding. The group of NC activists met with Congressmen Butterfield, Price, and Kissell. A contingency of brave activists even took on a drop-by meeting at Senator Burr’s office! Our activists also had the opportunity to take part in a noon rally that included 14 members of Congress who spoke. The rally grew so large that a group of 200 people had to be moved into an overflow room!

The day also included a very important meeting with Congressman Etheridge’s staff who represents part of Fayetteville and voted in favor of the Stupak amendment. We had six of the Congressman’s constituents in the room at this meeting all who shared their perspectives and stories in a very moving and poignant way.

Cecile Richards and Planned Parenthood citizen lobbyists meet with Senator Kay Hagan

Throughout the day there was a remarkable energy that could be felt on Capitol Hill. Everywhere you turned, there was a group of people wearing their hot pink t-shirts and Stop Stupak stickers. Our group was especially rewarded by the comments we received from security guards, cafeteria staff, and professional lobbyists who recognized our cause us and thanked us for our efforts.

We finished off the day with an exciting meeting of all 40 North Carolinians with Senator Kay Hagan. We were fortunate to also be joined by PPFA President, Cecile Richards. Both Cecile and Senator Hagan lauded NC’s amazing turnout on the Hill and Senator Hagan reaffirmed her commitment to protect women’s health care services in the health care reform debate.

I know that, while writing some of these posts, I can get a bit repetitive in some of my thoughts. You’ll see me talk a great deal about how opponents of reproductive and other rights have a tendency to make stuff up and pass it off as the truth. I have a bad habit of reading far right-wing websites and so I can sometimes fixate on the activities of the more “out there” (to use the best euphemism I can) members of society. But what probably bothers me the most, what infuriates me every time, is hypocrisy. And unfortunately for me (and my blood pressure), it often seems that politicians most opposed to issues I care deeply about are the most hypocritical.

Take, for example, Mike Huckabee. Huckabee (former governor of Arkansas and Republican Presidential hopeful, current Fox “News” host) recently spoke at a pro-life banquet at Purdue University in Indiana. In front of over 650 attendees, Huckabee said the following:

“We cannot allow our country to get to the point where we decide that one life is expendable and another is valuable. We need to recognize the worth of all human beings, not only in politics, but in culture.”

This sounds innocuous enough, as it’s fairly standard rhetoric. It’s an argument that one could hear from just about any member of the anti-choice crowd. But Huckabee’s famous enough that many of his other comments are in the public sphere and, as we’ll see, it’s fairly easy to ascertain that Mike Huckabee doesn’t recognize the worth of all humans… just the ones he can manipulate for political advantages.

Shortly after Barack Obama’s election, Huckabee went on the televised battle royale known as The View. While there, he talked about the significance of America’s first black president and was questioned about his stance on LGBT rights (the video from the link’s been disabled, but the article has the transcript of the appearance, plus a brilliant deconstruction of what Huckabee’s really saying between the lines). In a nutshell, Huckabee basically states that he doesn’t believe that LGBT rights is a civil rights issue and that, because of this fact, laws shouldn’t be passed to protect LGBT citizens. His rationale for this belief? The fact that not enough gays have been beaten or killed. Yes, seriously.

In other words, in Huckabee’s eyes, for LGBT Americans to be worthy of equal protection under the law, more of them need to be hate crimed (on a side note, I’ve often wondered what the magic number of beatings/killings is to reach civil rights status. Huckabee’s never explicitly stated). That doesn’t really jibe with the whole “respecting the worth of all humans” belief, does it? After all, it seems that if gays are to meet Huckabee’s litmus test for civil rights, more need to die tragically… which indicates that Huckabee does, in fact, find some lives worthy of being sacrificed.

And this is the rub with the anti-choice crowd. They tend to go on and on about the sanctity of life, the worth of every life, of the unborn… but it’s only talk. In reality, it masks what’s really at stake: an attempt to impose a supposed level of morality on others. Anti-choicers like Huckabee don’t have any interest in the sanctity of human life. If they did, they would actively fight to protect every human being… gay, straight… African-American, white… Christian, Muslim… from harm. But they don’t even come close. Instead, it’s just about making others believe what they do… and even worse, it’s about controlling the decisions of others through rhetoric, deception, and a false sense of morality.

Now, some of you may be thinking that I’m being a little too hard on Huckabee or that I’m unfairly jumping to conclusions. But honestly… I don’t see how you can have it both ways. You either mean what you say… or you don’t. And it seems pretty clear that Huckabee just doesn’t.

Sadly, Huckabee’s just the tip of the hypocrisy iceberg. Because, as you’ll see in the second half of my posting (Galling Pro-”Life” Hypocrites II: Electric Boogaloo)… things can get much, much worse.

Health care reform is about expanding access to health care—not taking coverage away.    Our CEO, Janet Colm, had an oped “Healthcare reform without abortion coverage is unfair”  published in the Durham Herald.  Here’s an excerpt:

The Stupak Ban is not about public funding for abortion. It’s certainly not about improving health care for women or any other group. It is about undermining women’s reproductive health care options in order to push a broader anti-choice agenda.

We are doing everything in our power to ensure that the Stupak Amendment does not make it into the final bill. But we can’t do it without your help.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

SIGN THE PETITION
If there has ever been a petition to sign, this is the one. Please sign Planned Parenthood’s petition asking President Obama, Majority Leader Reid, and Speaker Pelosi to make sure that this insidious amendment does not make it into the final health care reform bill.

When you’re done signing, please use the “tell-a-friend tool” to ask 10 of your friends to join you in signing.

FACEBOOK
Donate your facebook status to the cause. Use the following message:

Health care reform is about expanding access to health care—not taking coverage away. If you agree, please join me in signing the petition to make sure that the Stupak Amendment does not make it into the final health care reform bill. Then copy this message and donate your status to the cause. http://tinyurl.com/ykco9zo
 

TWITTER
Share this post on twitter. Use the following message:

I’m doing my part to STOP STUPAK—are you? http://tinyurl.com/ykco9zo
 #stopstupak

Thank you for your support.

Check out this excellent video put together by Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota.

Getting Lucky night out in Chapel Hill

The UNC VOX (Voices for Planned Parenthood) group passed out condoms on the late night bus that loops from campus to downtown.  One of the co-chairs, Lee, wrote about their experience for the blog Amplify. 

“It’s remarkable what people will share when we as individuals give our friends and peers the opportunity to engage in dialogue about their sex lives, health, and desire to protect themselves. Sometimes all it takes is giving a stranger a smile and a condom.”

Read the post here.

If you ever have a friend in need, remember to tell them to come to Planned Parenthood- we are here to help.

As you may have heard, the Republican National Committee (RNC) recently came under fire because they included elective abortion coverage in the health care plan they offer to employees. In light of these revelations, the RNC has announced that it will “fix” the “problem” and cease this coverage option.

Before the RNC announced their decision, a right-leaning blog, redstate.com, called for heads to roll, in no uncertain terms. They say:

“In order for the RNC to regain the trust of their donors, they must disclose the names of all people involved in any way of the selection of their health care plan. And those people must be summarily fired. No severance packages, no golden parachutes; fired. For cause.”

While the RNC seems to be in the midst of appeasing a portion of its base, no one’s been fired yet, at least as of this writing. Since the policy’s been in use since 1991, it seems unlikely that whomever signed up for the plan is still with the RNC, a fact that seems lost on the writer of the redstate.com blog. Also lost on most of the commentators (though pointed out in this Politico blog) is that the only individuals commentating on the RNC’s insurance plan thus far are men… RNC chairman Michael Steele, RNC member James Bopp, Jr., RNC Chief of Staff Ken McKay, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA)… in fact, going through the above links, the only quoted woman is Gail Gitcho, an RNC spokesperson… and all she had to offer was the official party line. No personal thoughts or opinions (unlike the aforementioned men). I’m trying to decide if this decided lack of input from women is a failing of the media or the RNC… if it’s the former, it’s a glaring oversight and if it’s the latter, it’s an example of rampant paternalism at best, glaring misogyny at worst. How do Republican women feel about having this debated in the media? And, perhaps more importantly, how do they feel about having their insurance decided by whomever screams the loudest? I’d kind of like to know, though I’m not holding my breath for an answer.

Taken directly from the RNC website:

“The Republican Party, like our nation’s founders, believes that government must be limited so that it never becomes powerful enough to infringe on the rights of individuals.”

I’m including this quote for a reason: namely, it’s indicative of something that I just can’t wrap my head around with the right and the far-right. How can people claim to be pro-limited government, yet in favor of laws deciding what a woman can or cannot do with her body? (Or, for that matter, whether two consenting adults of the same-sex can get married?) Isn’t that, in its most basic form, a government that’s beyond “limited?” By the same token, how can one be for “the rights of individuals” and feel that it’s ok to restrict what medical procedures a woman can have? Individual rights are important to the RNC, until they clash with the beliefs of evangelicals.

I’ve said it before and said it again… health care and the right to access to legal medical procedures should not be determined by politics. The RNC, by coming out so vehemently against abortion (and by allowing a small segment of their constituency to affect that decision) has painted itself into a corner. By listening to this part of their base, they’re disregarding one of the fundamental tenets of their party. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like anyone there really cares. Nor do they seem to care about tossing the women in their party under the bus.

After all, what’s a little hypocrisy when Michael Steele and the other heads of the RNC can get some good press coverage… right?

A friend said this morning, ” I never thought I’d be this disappointed that healthcare reform was passed.”  I quickly chimed in with a me too followed closely by a slew of mutual friends.

I’m really, really angry that healthcare reform is being carried forward at the expense of women’s civil liberties.  I’m really angry that the Catholic Church played a role in our government- where is the separation of church and state?  The Stupak ammendment bans abortion coverage from any plan that gets any government subsidy.  This is further than the Hyde Amendment and will impact many, many more women. 

Read this great blog post from Taylor Marsh at Huffington Post.   Here’s another great post, this one on feministing.com.

Leave me your comments- links to other great posts or just your thoughts.

Local bishop, who opposed NC sex education, also opposes health care reform

Almost twenty years later and it’s still embarrassing to admit. I went to a Jesuit College for graduate school because I naively thought Geraldine Ferraro was a typical Catholic.
 

I grew up in Alabama, in a community with no known Catholics of any sort. I sat glued to the television watching the 1984 national Democratic convention when NY Governor Mario Cuomo—another liberal Catholic—delivered his powerful keynote address on the American Dream. As a first time voter, I proudly pulled the lever for the Ferraro/ Mondale ticket. We lost, but I’d been smitten by the belief that Catholics were a force for social justice.

So much so that after finishing college I packed up my bags and moved to NYC to attend the very school Ferraro attended. Imagine my surprise when fliers went up recruiting students to attend the annual anti-choice march in DC on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

I remember standing there, reading the sign, shaking my head in disbelief. Two decades later and I’m still shaking my head.

Last week the United Conference of Catholic Bishops—men who are not permitted to have sex with women and who do not support birth control—sent a memo to all Catholic congregations in the U.S. asking all Catholics in the country to contact their members of Congress to demand that current health care legislation be altered to include anti-choice amendments.

That’s right. Catholic Bishops are using health care reform as just another vehicle for their ongoing effort to take away a woman’s fundamental right to make childbearing decisions.

Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about the nuances of faith. I know the official Catholic position is anti-choice but I also know a whole lot of Catholics are as angry as I am to know that Catholic Bishops are disregarding the health of millions to advance a political agenda. If this makes you angry, TAKE ACTION.

Sign goes up July 30th

We’re READY!  Our new health center in Fayetteville received its opening debut on Thursday.  Not only was the sign erected, but our soon to be open, state-of-the-art health center was featured in an article in the Fayetteville Observer.  Click here to read the article.

The article was great and we have had a plethora of positive comments. And of course, one or two anti-choice comments.  One of my favorite comments was an answer to anti-choice “Tom” by supporter “Leigh-Anne”

*sigh* Yes, Tom. People who perform abortions get some sort of malicious thrill from the whole process. (note the sarcasm) A) You’re not a woman and will never have to make such a choice. Be glad. It’s always different when it’s YOU.
B) No one “likes” abortion. It’s painful and difficult all around.
If you feel so strongly, why not support efforts to provide birth control and education so abortion isn’t necessary to begin with?

I love our supporters.  Over 20 of whom commented on the article.  Looking forward to Opening Doors next week!!