reproductive rights

Unbelievable as it seems, the national offices of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation today announced they are severing their ties with Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Apparently their big right-wing donors pressured them into believing that Planned Parenthood isn't first and foremost a woman's health organization, just like they are.

Read more about this bone-headed move, and sign an open letter to stand with Planned Parenthood as a champion of the right of women to have basic health care and to make their own choices about their bodies.

Men who would control women will stop at nothing to extend their power over reproductive rights. The latest move? Genocidal snake oil. Did you know that every advocate of safe, legal abortion is out to exterminate Black people?

It's tempting to think that regular citizens have no voice in the big game of politics, and for good reason. When you see guys like Paul Stam and Keith "Mini-me" Weatherly cooking up schemes to screw over women in Apex, it feels pretty frustrating.

That's why I'm frequent and enthusiastic boycotter of businesses. For example, I'm still boycotting Whole Foods because their lunatic CEO uses his bully pulpit to preach a dangerous brand of free-market fundamentalism. I also boycott South Carolina for its racist leanings. The list goes on, but the point is the same. I don't want my money going to support things I find morally irresponsible or offensive.

So today, I've officially begun my boycott of Apex and will continue to do so until they reverse their anti-woman health insurance plan.

According to Open Left, NC Dems who voted for the Stupak amendment to restrict women's rights:

Etheridge, Bob NC-2
McIntyre, Mike NC-7

I am a long-time reader of BlueNC, and I just wanted to alert other NC progressives to a health insurance struggle in which I and other faculty members are engaged. To get an idea of what's been going on without my having to get too long-winded about it, please click on the link below:

http://www.gastongazette.com/news/college-36794-discriminated-eeoc.html

Let me add just a few points missing from the article. First, the College had provided contraceptive benefits in its employee health insurance for at least 26 years prior to the President yanking it. Second,the President and his minions have launched a smear campaign against us on rightwing Catholic blogs, particularly that of the Cardinal Newman Society. Any thoughts on the matter?

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


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What it all boils down to is this: Abortion is never an easy choice. Ever. It’s not made lightly, on a lark, for fun. It’s life-changing, one of those turning points that you never forget, a moment where you stand on a crossroads. You pray to whatever gods you believe in, and you do the best you can for yourself, your partner, and your unborn child, and then you do whatever you have to do to never ever be in that situation again. And you go out and fight to make sure that other women still have the same choices that were available to you when you needed them. And you go home at the end of the day and hug your family.

January 22nd, 2008 marks the 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I'll be Joining NARAL and others across the blogosphere in Blog for Choice Day.

I used to spend my weekend mornings reading the newspaper. In fact, for about 20 years, I read the News and Observer nearly every day. Then back in January of 2006, at a time when the newspaper was more delusional than usual, I found this editorial about Supreme Court nominee Alito that quite nearly took my breath away:

But it's significant that unlike some earlier Supreme Court nominees, Alito interprets the Constitution as providing a right to privacy, which undergirds the Roe decision. On a different level, Alito proved himself a patient listener during tense moments in the hearings. That quality, along with the respect he has earned among colleagues on the bench, are reasons to hope he will continue to decide cases on the law and the facts, not on any agenda.

Having watched every minute of the Alito hearings, and finding absolutely no evidence that he believes there is a right to privacy in the Constitution, I used that opportunity to finally cancel my subscription to the paper once and for all.

As it turns out, I was right about the disastrous impact of George Bush's Supreme Court, which is now considered to be just another arm of the Republican Party, and I fear it's going to get worse before it gets better.